Forced Circulation Generator Engine Block Heaters for Nonresidential Standby Generators

At a Glance

Category

planning

Status

active

Fuel type

electric

Sector

agricultural, commercial, industrial

Applications

motors/drives

Sunset date

Jul 31, 2026

Standby generators, or “gensets”, are used to power buildings in the event of an electric grid outage. As they are often needed to turn on within a matter of seconds, gensets utilize heaters to keep their engine blocks warm and at the ready. The conventional style of engine block heaters, called thermosiphon heaters, are simple and rely on natural convection alone to circulate coolant throughout the engine. While effective, the convection process requires a significant temperature gradient in the coolant loop in order to function properly. A newer type of block heating, called forced circulation, utilizes a pump to circulate coolant, rather than relying on convection alone. These heaters do not need to maintain such a large temperature gradient in the coolant loop, which can lead to lower average loop temperatures – and as a result, potential energy savings and less coolant system wear and tear.

Workbook

Latest Version

Commercial Standby Generator Block Heaters v3.1

Commercial Standby Generator Block Heaters v3.1

Approved at July 2023 RTF Meeting, QA Complete

Date

Sep 28, 2023

Version number

3.1

Past Versions

version	date	document
3.0	Aug 07, 2023	Commercial Standby Generator Block Heaters v3.0 Approved at July 2023 RTF Meeting. Submitted to QA.
2.0	Apr 18, 2022	Commercial Standby Generator Block Heaters v2.0 Updated with 2021 Plan cost effectiveness methodology
1.2	Sep 27, 2021	Commercial Standby Generator Block Heaters v1.2 Reran through ProCost 3.1.05 to correct for minor error
1.1	Aug 07, 2020	Commercial Standby Generator Block Heaters v1.1 QC complete.
1.0	Jun 23, 2020	Commercial Standby Generator Block Heaters v1.0 Approved at the June RTF Meeting. Currently undergoing QC.

Supporting Documents

Commercial Generator Block Heaters Research Strategy (June 2020)

Jun 24, 2020

Approved at the June 2020 RTF meeting. Describes the RTF’s candidate approach to better understand average energy savings, and the key drivers of energy savings, that result from replacing a thermosiphon engine block heater with a forced circulation engine block heater in a non-residential standby generator.

Commercial Generator Block Heaters Analysis of Program Data (June 2023)

Decisions

Expand All Decisions

Latest decision

Decision details

Decided

July 18, 2023

Approve Measure Updates

Decision Details

Approve the updates to the Forced Circulation Engine Block Heaters for Non-Residential Standby Generators UES and Research Strategy as presented;
– Keep the Category at Planning;
– Keep the Status at Active; and
– Set the sunset date to July 31, 2026

Decided

June 21, 2023

Extend Sunset Dates of Measures

Decision Details

Extend the sunset date of the:
-Circulators Pumps UES to December 31, 2023
-Forced Circulation Generator Engine Block Heaters for Non-residential Standby Generators UES to October 31, 2023.

Decided

June 24, 2020

Approved New Measure

Decision Details

Adopt the new Planning UES measure Forced Circulation Engine Block Heaters for Non-Residential Standby Generators as Presented. Use restaurant heating load shape, set the measure category to Planning, set the measure status to Active, and set the sunset date to June 30, 2023.

Decided

November 19, 2019

Allocate Resources to New Measure Development

Decision Details

Allocate resources to:

Small Commercial DHPs
Generator Engine Block Heaters
ENERGY STAR Air Purifiers
Non-Residential LED Wallpacks
Residential High Efficiency Central AC
Advanced Kitchen Ventilation Controls
Retrofit or Upgrade Doors on Existing Display Cases
Air Curtains for Walk-Ins
Floating Controls for Multiplex Refrigeration System
Display Case Upgrade and Replacement

Do not allocate resource to:

Workstation Power Management Devices
Anti-Fouling Refrigerant Additives
ENERGY STAR Dehumidifiers