ALA manufacturers have received letters from Dick Upton and me over the past few weeks as reminders to register ceiling fan and residential lighting products in various databases to comply with either California or federal legislation. These are mandatory requirements with penalties for non-compliance; but the products differ for each database.

Even though both "registration" and "certification" are being used on the various instruction sheets, "certification" is what is really going on. The purpose of the legislation behind each database is to have manufacturers "certify" that their products meet the energy efficiency requirements currently in place. If you're new to the whole process, read the material on the websites that I've listed below to get started.

California

Residential Products Involved: Lamps (light bulbs), fluorescent lamp ballasts, ceiling fans, light kits, portable luminaires, LED luminaires (all including permanently installed and outdoor types) and lighting controls. 

The database listings are open for anyone to view and it may be helpful to see what others have posted, so, start here. To look at the data, click on either the "Quick Search" or "Advanced Search" tabs at the top of the page. Note that you can choose to view all of the data columns or just some of them, and you can also view the data as a Microsoft Excel file.

Product certification instructions and entry forms are here. Under the "Manufacturers" heading, read the "General Instructions ..." first and then go to the "Certification Packets for Appliances" page. Open the "fans" and "lighting" folders and then download the .zip files that you need.

DOE

Residential Products Involved: General service, reflector and decorative lamps, fluorescent lamps (including CFLs) and ballasts, ceiling fans, light kits and torchieres.

Start with the Federal Regulations listed as "Title 10, Part 429," which is titled, "Certification, Compliance and Enforcement for Consumer Products and Commercial and Industrial Equipment." I found an easy-to- use version located here or you can get to it here with a little more effort. The DOE requires annual "certification reports" by the dates shown in Paragraph 429.12 (March 1 or September 1 for residential lighting products).

To submit information, visit the DOE's Compliance Certification Management System (CCMS). You have to register to actually submit product information, but you can view the forms and instructions without registering by clicking "Product Templates." You can also view the products listed in the database by clicking "Compliance Certification Database" on the left side of the page.

FTC Energy Labeling

Lamps (light bulbs) and ceiling fans require product labels that conform to Federal Trade Commission rules. Until recently, a separate compliance report had to be submitted; but, as of January 13, 2013, the compliance report can be submitted via the DOE process for lamps (light bulbs) but not for ceiling fans. The document that explains how this works is FTC-2013-0003-0001.  

ALA Engineering Committee Meets May 7-8

The annual meeting of the American Lighting Association Engineering Committee is scheduled for May 7-8, 2013. Thanks to a kind invitation from Intertek, we'll be meeting at their facility in Arlington Heights, Ill., which is not far from Chicago's O'Hare airport. I'll be sending out meeting information and an agenda shortly.

This is a technical meeting but any ALA member is welcome to attend. Contact me if you want to be added to the meeting mailing list. Engineering committee members and those on our technical mailing list will receive information automatically.

Topics on the agenda include lighting standards updates from UL and CSA, changes in the National Electrical Code, a report on the Light + Seniors Research Symposium and developments involving the ENERGY STAR Lamps and Luminaires standards.