September 29, 2010—The Department of Energy (DOE) announced September 23 that it has taken action against Air-Con, International, requiring the company to stop selling certain air conditioning systems in the U.S. that have been shown to violate minimum energy efficiency appliance standards. DOE has removed nearly 70 different non-compliant products from the market since 2009.
In March 2010, the Department issued a subpoena requiring Air-Con to submit information about the energy consumption of its products and how the company marketed and sold them in the U.S. Based on Air-Con’s responses, the Department found that the company imported and distributed nearly 2,000 air conditioning units rated at 10 SEER, while the federal standard requires a minimum 13 SEER rating. The ACN-/18/24-GCH and ACN-MTS-09CO/12CO/09EV/12EV air conditioning unit models are covered by this announcement.
DOE’s “Notice of Noncompliance Determination and Proposed Civil Penalty” proposes the maximum penalty for selling non-compliant products and requires Air-Con to immediately cease further U.S. sales and provide written notification to its customers that purchased these units. Air-Con is also required to update the information it has provided to the Department, including a record of the company’s U.S. sales since it last responded to DOE. If Air-Con fails to cease distribution of these models in the U.S., the Department will seek a judicial order to prevent further sales.
