The Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute announced May 13 that its Controls Product Section will be divided into two new sections: Air Conditioning & Refrigeration (ACR) Electronic Controls & Gas Controls

When the Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute and the Gas Appliance Manufacturers Association  merged to form AHRI in 2008, sections from each association combined to form the Controls Product Section.

While it encompassed all types of control products, in recent years it has focused more on gas control issues. At the AHRI Spring Meeting earlier this month, AHRI's board of directors approved a plan to divide the section into two discrete sections.

The ACR Electronic Controls Section will encompass controllers and auxiliary control devices, which are primarily designed to aid in the unattended operation, energy efficiency, electric utility demand reduction, cloud connectivity, fault detection and diagnosis, cyber security, or safe operation of components of comfort conditioning equipment and commercial and industrial refrigeration equipment covered by AHRI's other product sections. Devices must be responsive to at least one of the following conditions: time, temperature, pressure, humidity, fluid flow, air quality, current, voltage, power, demand reduction, or pricing signals.

The Gas Controls Section will encompass controls including components and accessories for use on gas-fired utilization equipment (including, but not limited to, combination gas controls, manual gas valves, gas appliance pressure regulators, automatic gas valves, automatic gas ignition systems, flame sensors, monitors and programmers, gas filters and sediment traps, thermostatic system components, automatic flue and vent dampers, oxygen depletion sensing devices, pressure sensors and switches, and line pressure regulators).

General purpose motor starters and circuit breakers, all low voltage thermostats, and component controllers and auxiliary controlling devices used in equipment not covered by the scopes of other AHRI sections are specifically excluded from both product sections.