Preface

This is the fourth edition of CSA B415.1, Performance testing of solid-biofuel-burning heating appliances. It supersedes the previous editions, published in 2010 and 2000 under the title Performance testing of solid-fuel-burning heating appliances, and published in 1992 under the title Performance Testing of Solid-Fuel-Burning Stoves, Inserts, and Low-Burn-Rate Factory-Built Appliances.

This Standard can be used as a stand-alone document that can be referenced by the appropriate authority having jurisdiction (AHJ).

The major changes from the previous edition are as follows:
a) this Standard has been restructured to comply with current CSA Group requirements;
b) the general layout has been restructured to make this Standard easier to follow for each type of product covered;
c) the types of products covered by this Standard have been clarified and expanded;
d) site-built heating appliances and hybrid heaters have been added as new product types covered by this Standard;
e) definitions have been added for hybrid hydronic heaters and hybrid forced-air heaters;
f) certain definitions have been clarified and updated (e.g., factory-built fireplace, masonry heater, room heater);
g) reference publications have been updated to the latest editions;
h) informative Annex B, pertaining to the total combustible carbon method for determination of energy efficiency, has been deleted;
i) for many types of appliances, content has been replaced with a referenced standard (e.g., ASTM E2515, ASTM E3053), allowing for less text duplication, better harmonization with the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA), and improved alignment with other International or Regional Standards;
j) this Standard now includes references to and uses definitions from the CSA ISO 17225 series of Standards on graded solid biofuels;
k) emission requirements have been added for hybrid hydronic heaters and hybrid forced-air heaters;
l) emission limits for room heaters have been lowered and harmonized with the U.S. EPA;
m) emission limits for forced-air furnaces and hydronic heaters have been lowered and harmonized with the U.S. EPA, with compliance deadlines of January 1, 2025, and January 1, 2024, respectively;
n) an emission cap applicable to any single test run has been added for forced-air furnaces;
o) the test method for forced-air furnaces (i.e., duct velocity measurement) has been clarified and improved based on lab experience since this Standard was last published;
p) a test method has been developed using portable flue gas analyzers for measuring the gaseous emissions and thermal efficiency of site-built appliances;
q) test fuel characteristics for automatically fuelled appliances have been clarified and expanded;
r) CEN EN 303-5 has been recognized in this Standard for third-party certified automatically fed hydronic heaters with a nominal heat output between 50 and 500 kW;
s) an emission requirement (expressed in mg/Nm3) and a minimum delivered thermal efficiency requirement have been added for third-party certified automatically fed hydronic heaters tested to CEN EN 303-5; and
t) output and efficiency calculations have been modified to address appliances that generate electricity.