440 Room Air Conditioner

[shieldcracker]

What does the NEC mean by shall be considered an ac appliance of the air-cooled window, console or in-wall type that is installed in the conditioned room....
The term ac could mean alternating current or air conditioning. The term console is a very loose term, in HVAC it is associated with ductless mini-split systems whose indoor unit has a top and bottom supply air discharge and is mounted about 1/3 to 2/3 the height of the wall. Mistakenly Hi-wall and Floor standing indoor units have also been called consoles even though these units have only one supply air discharge. Another possibility is that console is referring to a self contained portable air conditioner, however this type unit does not require installation where the three types mentioned above (underlined) require installation.

 

[infinity]

What code section contains the underlined text?

 

[don_resqcapt19]

440.60 General.
Part VII shall apply to electrically energized room air conditioners that control temperature and humidity. For the purpose of Part VII, a room air conditioner (with or without provisions for heating) shall be considered as an ac appliance of the air-cooled window, console, or in-wall type that is installed in the conditioned room and that incorporates a hermetic refrigerant motor-compressor(s). Part VII covers equipment rated not over 250 volts, single phase, and the equipment shall be permitted to be cord- and attachment-plug-connected.

A room air conditioner that is rated 3-phase or rated over 250 volts shall be directly connected to a wiring method recognized in Chapter 3, and Part VII shall not apply.

It is 100% clear that ac equals air conditioning when you look at the complete section. The words you quoted are just spelling out the application of Part VII of Article 440. If the equipment being installed is not of that type, Part VII does not apply. Console for a room air conditioner is a defined term in UL 484, the standard for room air conditioners.

 

[shieldcracker]

What code section contains the underlined text?

Art 440.60 General

 

[gadfly56]

I saw "440 Air conditioner" and I thought, "Gee, that's what my '69 Dodge Dart had." Four open windows at 40 miles per hour.

 

[shieldcracker]

It is 100% clear that ac equals air conditioning when you look at the complete section. The words you quoted are just spelling out the application of Part VII of Article 440. If the equipment being installed is not of that type, Part VII does not apply. Console for a room air conditioner is a defined term in UL 484, the standard for room air conditioners.

I will admit that my ac inquiry can be inferred from the text. However the meaning of console cannot be extracted from the NEC, and UL484-7E does not provide much help either, can you?
IMHO the NEC is heavy enough to have imprecise wording such as these.

 

[don_resqcapt19]

I will admit that my ac inquiry can be inferred from the text. However the meaning of console cannot be extracted from the NEC, and UL484-7E does not provide much help either, can you?
IMHO the NEC is heavy enough to have imprecise wording such as these.

So submit a Public Input to fix it. I don't see a real world issue here. The system is open for submitting PIs to change the 2026 code until 9/7/23.