December 30, 2020
To keep pace with new technology and help simplify product safety requirements for manufacturers, UL has combined UL 1673, the Standard for Electric Space Heating Cables; UL 1683, the Outline for Electric Heating Products for Installation Under Floor Coverings; and UL 1693, the Standard for Electric Radiant Heating Panels and Heating Panel Sets, and has published a comprehensive new Standard for Electric Heating Systems for Floor and Ceiling Installation: UL 2683, the Standard for Electrical Heating Systems for Floor and Ceiling Installation.
Electric radiant heating systems are a convenient and effective method of providing comfort heat to rooms or spaces. These systems work by providing a heat source within or below a floor or within or above a ceiling, which in turn provides heat to the surrounding environment via conduction, convection and/or radiant heat transfer. Electric radiant heating systems typically consist of cables, panels or mats/sheets and are intended to be installed as fixed equipment.
UL 2683 not only supersedes the legacy standards but also includes newly developed requirements for current trends in heating systems technology. Product types covered under UL 2683 include:
- Heating cable for floor and ceiling installation
- Heating panels, mats and sheets for floor and ceiling installation
- Modular flooring heating systems
- Self-regulating heating systems
- Low-voltage heating systems
- Under-carpet heating systems
A variety of stakeholders within the industry collaborated on the development of this new Standard. The result is an up-to-date ANSI-approved consensus Standard that can now be used for the evaluation and certification of a wider array of electric heating products.
During the transition period to UL 2683, the existing legacy Standards may still be used to support product certifications. As of Oct. 1, 2022, UL plans to use UL 2683 for all new products covered by the scope of this Standard. For products also certified by UL for the Canadian market (C-UL), UL will work with manufacturers to ensure compliance with the most up-to-date Canadian standards as well, for example, CSA C22.2 No. 130:16).
We offer certification for these products for global markets. This information pertains to navigating the new and revised requirements for the U.S. and Canada and to provide guidance to manufacturers with existing UL or C-UL certifications or for new products being developed for the U.S. or Canadian markets.
The following process will be used for certification requirement changes for electric radiant heating equipment associated with UL 2683, and the legacy Standards that it’s replacing, as well as for CSA C22.2 No. 130:16, the Canadian standard that replaced CSA C22.2 No. 130-03 and CSA C22.2 No. 130.2. Note that certification requirement changes were previously known as industry file reviews.
Starting Oct. 1, 2022, electric radiant heating equipment intended for the U.S. market will only be evaluated to UL 2683. Products intended for the Canadian market will continue to be evaluated to CSA C22.2 No. 130:16. The table below provides general guidelines that may apply to you. Please contact UL’s Appliances team of engineers to discuss specifics for your product and certifications.
|
UL/ |
Product |
Prior to Oct. 1, 2022 |
After Oct. 1, 2022 |
|
UL |
Certified to UL 499 |
New products must be evaluated to the latest version of UL 2683. |
Any existing UL Certified products and all new products must be evaluated to the latest version of UL 2683. |
|
Certified to UL 1673 UL 1683 UL 1693 |
Existing products may need to be evaluated to determine compliance. |
Existing UL Certified products may maintain their certifications to UL 1673/UL 1683/UL 1693 unless the product is modified. When a revision to a product that was evaluated to UL 1673/UL 1683/UL 1693 is submitted, the changes to the equipment design, application, installation or function, i.e., alternate construction, regardless of whether or not testing is involved, must be evaluated to determine whether the revised design is required to comply with all requirements in the latest version of UL 2683. |
|
|
New submittal |
The product is recommended to be evaluated to UL 2683. |
The product must be evaluated to UL 2683. |
|
|
C-UL |
Certified to edition older than CSA C22.2 No. 130-03 |
New products must be evaluated to the latest version of CSA C22.2 No. 130:16. |
Any existing C-UL Certified product and all new products must be evaluated to the latest version of CSA C22.2 No. 130:16. |
|
Certified to C22.2 No. 130-03 or later |
The product may need to be evaluated to determine compliance. |
Certified products may maintain their certifications to CSA C22.2 No. 130-03 unless the product is modified. When a revision to a product that was evaluated to CSA C22.2 No. 130-03 is submitted, the changes to the equipment design, application, installation or function, i.e., alternate construction, regardless of whether or not testing is involved, must be evaluated to determine whether the revised design is required to comply with all requirements in the latest version of CSA C22.2 No. 130:16. |
|
|
New submittal |
The product must be evaluated to CSA C22.2 No. 130:16. |
The product must be evaluated to CSA C22.2 No. 130:16. |
By transitioning your electric radiant heating equipment certifications to UL 2683/CSA C22.2 No. 130:16, We can help you get your equipment to market in accordance with the most up-to-date safety requirements for the U.S. and Canadian markets. Using UL for certification of all of your electric radiant heating equipment for the U.S. and Canada, and other global markets of interest to you, provides a certification process that will help save time, reduce costs and streamline access to these markets.
If you already have a product certification from another product certifier, UL has a friendly and convenient process to convert these certifications to UL, leveraging your existing certification work to reduce any retesting.
For more information about UL 2683, training offerings for this new Standard, and submitting products for certification for the U.S., Canada or globally, visit: www.UL.com/appliances.