🪵 Testing of solid-fuel roomheaters — product part PN-EN 16510-2-1

Construction PN-EN 16510-2-1

Overview

SCOPE FROM THE PKN CATALOGUE CARD, QUOTED VERBATIM (our translation): "This document applies to solid-fuel roomheaters (freestanding or built-in, without functional modifications, operating with the fire door only closed or closed or open). The appliances are intended for heating residential rooms. They may be equipped with a boiler (an integrated part of the appliance containing water intended to be heated) which supplies hot water to central heating systems."

SIX PERMITTED FUELS — A CLOSED LIST. The card lists them explicitly: wood logs, untreated compressed wood, wood pellets, brown coal briquettes, mineral solid fuels, peat briquettes. An appliance intended for a fuel outside this list is not covered by this product part.

THE EXCLUSION THAT DECIDES THE CHOICE OF PRODUCT PART. The scope says (our translation): "This document does not apply to appliances equipped with a fan assisting the supply of combustion air", nor to mechanically fed appliances. A heater with mechanical pellet feeding therefore goes to product part 2-6, not here — even though wood pellets appear on the list of fuels permitted in 2-1. What decides is the method of fuel feeding and the method of supplying the air, not the fuel itself.

THE PRODUCT PART DOES NOT WORK ON ITS OWN. The 16510 series is built in two stages: part 1 contains the general requirements and the test methods common to all appliances, and the product parts of group 2 — the requirements specific to the type of product. Citing product part 2-1 alone in an accreditation scope is not enough to describe the test; citing part 1 alone, in turn, does not indicate the type of appliance. Both documents should be in the report.

NEW TYPE DESIGNATIONS — A CHANGE COMPARED WITH THE OLD STANDARD. The notified laboratory (Institute of Power Engineering — PIB, CUE Department) describes this change as follows: in the standards EN 13240 and EN 13229 the division was based on nine categories — e.g. 1c meant an appliance with closed fire doors (1), an insert built into a recess or enclosed (c) — whereas for appliances covered by product parts 2-1 and 2-2 there are six types. For appliances with an open combustion chamber these are types B, BE and BF, and for appliances with a closed chamber — CA, CC and CM. Assigning the type requires establishing: whether the combustion chamber is open or closed, whether there is a combustion air connection system, how the doors are closed (manually or automatically) and whether they can be locked or connected to a controller signalling opening.

THE TIGHTNESS TEST — NUMBERS TOGETHER WITH THE REFERENCE CONDITION. The same source states that no tightness requirements are imposed on heaters of type B and BE, whereas for appliances of type CA, CC and CM the tightness test is carried out at three overpressure values from 5 to 15 Pa, and the result read from the curve drawn through these points refers to an overpressure of 10 Pa and has a limit of 3 m³/h under standard conditions. After the test, the product of the carbon monoxide concentration measured in the combustion products and the leakage rate is determined, whose value should not be greater than 2400 ppm·m³/h. For heaters of type B and BE, on the other hand, the standby loss at a negative pressure of 1 Pa is determined.

DURATION OF THE TEST — DIFFERENT FOR TWO WAYS OF FIRING. According to the same source, the test duration for roomheaters and inset appliances with intermittent burning of firewood at nominal heat output is 40 minutes, and for continuous-burning heaters fired with firewood at nominal heat output — 1.5 hours. Recording of the emission parameters starts just after the fuel is loaded, and from that moment the measurement of dust emission also runs, throughout the burn-off of the fuel charge. During the first three minutes of the test raking, riddling or opening the door slightly is allowed — anything that will speed up ignition; then the door must be closed and the test continued.

THE FIRE SAFETY TEST. The source describes it as one of the most important tests for roomheaters and inset appliances: the chimney draught is set to 15±2 Pa, and the test is carried out with fir wood of dimensions 6 × 4 cm or 5 × 5 cm. The mass of the charge is determined from the calorific value and the dimensions of the grate, the length of the pieces of wood having to cover at least two thirds of the width and depth of the combustion chamber, and the mass of the charge having to be at least 150 % of the mass of the fuel used for the balance tests. The temperatures of the walls of the test corner during thermal overload, the temperatures of the operating devices and the flue gas temperature are measured; the temperatures recorded in the radiation zone must not exceed the ambient temperature by more than 65 K.

WHERE THESE VALUES COME FROM — AND WHAT WE DO NOT KNOW ABOUT THEM. The above numbers come from an article by an employee of an accredited notified laboratory, describing the standards of the EN 16510 series (the PN equivalents adopted as identical). They do not come from the text of the standard, which we did not have. We treat them as a reliable description of testing practice, not as a quotation from the document — the wording of the standard applies to the test.

WHAT WE DO NOT GIVE. We did not have the text of the product part — PKN sells it (31 pages, ICS 97.100.30, English version). WE DO NOT GIVE: the emission and efficiency limit values for the individual types, the full test conditions, the method of referring concentrations to the oxygen content of the flue gas or the rules for calculating the results.

Method principle

The roomheater is installed on a test rig according to the general part of the series and fuel from the list permitted in the product part is burned, while thermal quantities and the composition of the flue gas are measured simultaneously. Product part 2-1 adds to this: the assignment of the appliance to one of six types, the tightness requirements referred to a specified overpressure, the test duration appropriate to the method of firing, and the fire safety test at a set chimney draught. The methods common to the whole series remain in part PN-EN 16510-1.

Applications

• Initial type testing (ITT) of freestanding and built-in solid-fuel roomheaters
• Tests for the declaration of performance of a construction product in system 3
• Tests of heaters with an integrated boiler supplying a central heating installation
• Updating of citations in the accreditation scope after the withdrawal of PN-EN 13240:2008
• Control tests within factory production control

Key parameters

Standard

Standard number

PN-EN 16510-2-1:2023-06 (wersja angielska; wprowadza EN 16510-2-1:2022 [IDT])

Title (PL)

Mieszkaniowe urządzenia spalające paliwo stałe — Część 2-1: Ogrzewacze pokojowe

Title (EN)

Residential solid fuel burning appliances — Part 2-1: Roomheaters

Step-by-step procedure

1. Checking whether the appliance belongs to this product part

   Freestanding or built-in roomheater, without functional modifications, with manual fuel feeding. An appliance with a fan assisting the combustion air or a mechanically fed one does NOT belong here — it goes to product part 2-6.

2. Checking the fuel

   The fuel must be one of the six listed in the scope. The presence of pellets on the list does not change the qualification of the appliance — the method of fuel feeding decides.

3. Assigning the type of appliance

   Establish: combustion chamber open or closed, presence of a combustion air connection system, the method of closing the doors and whether they can be locked or connected to a controller. On this basis assign type B, BE, BF, CA, CC or CM.

4. Tightness test (types CA, CC, CM)

   Measurement at three overpressure values from 5 to 15 Pa; the result read from the curve refers to an overpressure of 10 Pa. No tightness requirements are imposed for types B and BE — for them the standby loss at a negative pressure of 1 Pa is determined.

5. Balance test at nominal heat output

   With intermittent burning of firewood the test duration is 40 minutes, with continuous burning of firewood — 1.5 hours. Recording of the parameters and measurement of dust start just after the fuel is loaded.

6. Fire safety test

   Chimney draught set to 15±2 Pa, a charge of fir wood with a mass of at least 150 % of the mass of the fuel from the balance tests. Measurement of the temperatures of the walls, of the operating devices and of the flue gas.

7. Compilation of results citing BOTH documents

   In the report cite product part PN-EN 16510-2-1 TOGETHER WITH the general part PN-EN 16510-1. Citing the product part alone does not describe the common methods, citing part 1 alone does not indicate the type of appliance.

Required equipment and apparatus

Reagents, media and consumables

Health and safety (OHS)

• The fire safety test is a deliberate thermal overload of the appliance — the rig must have fire protection and constant supervision
• Carbon monoxide is odourless and deadly toxic — a CO detector and effective ventilation of the test room are required
• The surfaces of the appliance and of the measuring walls reach high temperatures — protective clothing and gloves
• Flue gas from wood contains polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons — sampling through a closed system, without inhalation
• Ash and unburnt wood are removed after cooling down, into non-combustible containers

Frequently asked questions