Appliance Advisor

Appliance Advisor Issue 2: 2019 Also in this issue Convenience and Safety operators today have features that allow Page 2 you to view the status of your garage door • Unattended Operation Working Together: and open or close the door from your phone. for Residential Garage Unattended Operation for This can offer additional convenience when Door Operators a package is being delivered, when you need Residential Garage Door Page 3 to let someone into the garage, or if the Operators garage was mistakenly left open. • Spotlight: Letter From Domenico Written by: Steve Kuscsik, Principal Engineer Page 4 – Motor Operated and Radiant Heating As with many conveniences brought about Products by technology, the safety implications also • Public Workshops need to be considered. An automatically • Increased Confidence An automatic garage door is a common operated garage door can be a large and in Appliance Software heavy moving object, with people moving convenience in many households. It allows Page 5 easy access to your garage — and even your about in the driveway and inside the garage. • Spa Energy Efficiency home - simply by the touch of a button The risk of injury or entrapment underneath Requirements on your key chain remote, your car visor, a a garage door is real. Thankfully, the garage keypad mounted outside the garage, or on a door and operator industry, the Consumer Page 6 wall inside your garage. Product Safety Commission (CPSC), and • Filtering Your Options product certification agencies, such as Page 7 UL, have worked hard to help ensure that With the large increase in smartphone • GMA Corner use today, and the number of apps and these products meet a common level of Page 14 connected devices continuing to increase, safety. The main safety Standard in the the garage door operator has not been U.S. and Canada that addresses garage • Standards Corner left out. In fact, some view the garage door operators is UL 325, the Standard for Page 16 Door, Drapery, Gate, Louver, and Window door ecosystem as leading in terms • Spotlight: IoT security of automation, convenience, security, Operators and Systems. Top 20 Design and connectedness. Many garage door Principles • Spotlight: Spotlight – UL’s New myUL™ • Upcoming Tradeshows continued on page 2 > 1 Appliance Advisor | Issue 2 2019 When a smartphone is used to close • If the door does not fully close Meeting these requirements is not your garage door, the industry refers due to an obstruction, activation just a good idea or a best practice. to this as “unattended operation.” It of a photo eye, edge sensor In fact, it is a mandatory part of the is unattended in the sense that the or inherent reversal system industry Standard UL 325 and is also person “operating” the door may after two attempts from the established as part of U.S. Federal not be in the immediate vicinity of smartphone’s unattended signal, law according to the U.S. Consumer the moving door. When a person the door operator system must Product Commission (CSPC) code 16 operating the door is in the immediate lock out or ignore additional CFR Part 1211. area, they play a role in observing the attempts to close from the door area, and deciding if it is safe to unattended system. This is to Unattended operation is not limited close the door. Unattended operation prevent someone from a remote to activation via smartphone. Many via mobile phone allows operation of location repeatedly starting the garage door operators also have the door from almost anywhere in the door in the downward direction, timers that allow the user to set a world that has a cellular or internet when it is unsafe to do so. The time period whereby a door that connection. The person pressing ability to close the door via remains open for a certain period of the “button” on the phone could be smartphone can be reset when time will close automatically, without anywhere, from at the office to across someone in the area of the door a user pressing the wall control the continent, and is not likely in the presses a “local” control to move or remote control. Since a person immediate area to observe the door the door. may not be in the immediate area and decide if it’s safe to close or open when the door closes, this feature is the door. • Unattended operation is only considered a version of unattended permitted for vertically moving operation. The operator system must This added convenience is embraced sectional garage doors – the most have the same additional safety by industry and users alike. However, common type – and horizontally features as described above. for this feature to work on residential sliding doors. It is not permitted garage door operators, it is required for one-piece overhead doors and So, should you check before buying to be coupled with several additional swing type garage doors. a device that claims to allow a safety features. These additional • An accessory device that is sold as smartphone to close your garage features are intended to provide an an add-on to an existing garage door? Absolutely! As the saying goes, alert before the door closes, limit door operator must explain in “Not all devices are created equal.” the number of attempts to close the the instructions which door Some garage door operators have door, and to work only on compatible operators it is compatible with. added these features built in to the door systems that have more modern main operator, so a separate device safety features, such as photo eyes. • Some accessories are required to is not needed. There are also several have the visible and audible alerts accessory/add-on devices sold on the Several of the specific requirements built-in as part of the accessory market that do in fact comply with are: that you buy and install. all the proper safety requirements. • Before the door can close, a visual However, there continues to be a alert in the garage must flash number of accessory-type devices for at least 5 seconds. There are on the market that do not meet the requirements for the visibility, essential safety requirements – the flash rate, etc. requirements that are industry standard and required by law. Many • Before the door can close, an of these are sold online, some by well- audible alert in the garage must known retailers. sound for at least 5 seconds. There are requirements for the sound level and frequency. continued on page 3 > 2 Issue 2 2019 | Appliance Advisor How do you know if a device that After all, when it comes to your garage provides smartphone control for your door, added convenience should garage door has all the necessary not come at the sacrifice of safety. safety features? This can most readily With properly compliant devices for be verified by looking for a UL Mark unattended operation of the garage on the garage door operator, or on the door, it doesn’t have to! accessory if it is purchased separately. Although federal law provides Information about the CPSC alternative means of providing evidence requirements for residential garage door of compliance, a UL certification operators can be found at cpsc.gov and Mark on the product is the most via this direct link. common way to tell. Manufacturers, door operator dealers and installers/ Additional information about UL can be service companies should ensure that found at UL.com and and here to learn the products they carry and install more about UL 325 Standard are properly certified for compliance with UL 325. Retailers who offer these products for sale should be sure that the devices they sell are in fact fully complaint with the regulations. If not, the reputation of the company and the safety of the users could be at stake. In short, look for evidence that the garage door operator or the accessory that you are buying clearly shows that it meets the UL 325 safety requirements. Spotlight: Letter From Domenico With the evolution of the industry toward global platforms, UL is able to provide easy access to the global The appliances industry is evolving, so is UL. market. Learn more on http://ul-certification.com/. Do you know that UL is the No. 1 certifier for UL and International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) based Stay tuned for the next steps of UL’s global journey. standards globally? With a double-digit growth year over year (YoY) of issued CB certificates, more than tripling in five years, UL is also representing one of the most relevant Domenico Chicco notified bodies in the Household (HOUS) category – Global Business Development – Appliances Industries Appliances/Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC). 3 Appliance Advisor | Issue 2 2019 Upcoming Education and Training for the UL’s Embedded Systems Design Partner services help you tackle those challenges and increase confidence that your Appliance Industry innovation won’t be a barrier for market access. Our subject matter experts provide anything from ad hoc assistance of At UL’s Knowledge Solutions, our goal is to help you develop implementing embedded system design robustness in your safe, useful products that meet and exceed your customers’ new product development process to formal gap analysis needs. Here you will find dozens of training courses taught and auditing of your software validation activities. We by qualified instructors, both public workshops and online can help your architecture and features align with market e-learning courses. requirements, which can help prevent delays and barriers to project launches. Whether provided though quick phone Public Workshops calls, sit down workshops, auditing or training engagements, our experts provide you with knowledge and assessments Designing for Compliance to UL 60730: Automatic Electrical that are as formal or as informal you want.

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