The Origin of UL and Specifically UL 1482 - Standard for Safety Solid-Fuel Type Room Heaters

[BrotherBart]

OK Since compliance to UL standards is such a big thing for us as it applies to wood stove safety I thought I would post a link to this paper published in 1990 that gives insight into what UL is, where it came from and how the UL 1482 "Standard for Safety Solid-Fuel Type Room Heaters" came to be. It is a long read, and will bore most people to distraction, but here it is in all its glory for the interested. This is where that label on your wood stove came from.

http://tinyurl.com/2n886v

Just to pique your curiosity, this is one paragraph from the paper:

"The practical necessities attendant to laboratory product testing help explain why guesswork often takes the place of science. In writing performance requirements, UL's engineers are sensitive to the cost of the endeavor. UL will not undertake costly scientific experiments where guesswork seems satisfactory."

 

[webbie]

Interesting reads:
"NFPA standards-setting is apparently characterized by lively interest-group politics. The health care industry battles with the building trades; the makers of plastic pipe oppose those who sell metal. Both standards were the source of scandals earlier this decade when specific commercial interests attempted to "pack" the annual convention to change the standard through an unusual floor vote"

 

[webbie]

Another interesting point that the article mentions is that UL does very little testing of materials, because it is too expensive to do so. Instead, they use the concept of a "standard" metal thickness, etc.....and they also use the "equivalent" theory:

"However, all of UL's design standards are qualified by an "equivalence statement" that, in theory, allows for technological innovation. This reads:
A product employing materials or having forms of construction differing from those detailed in the requirements of this Standard may be examined and tested in accordance with the intent of these requirements and, if found to be substantially equivalent, may be judged to comply with the Standard.
This clause is invoked "at least once a week," according to a UL attorney, who would not disclose any details about whether or when it has been applied to wood stoves (or any other specific product). "