§ 39-27-3. Definitions.

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RI Code › Title 39 › Chapter 39-27 › Section 39-27-3

This text was captured on Aug 14, 2026. It is a snapshot, not a live feed, so check the official code before relying on it.

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As used in this chapter:

(1) Automatic commercial icemaker means a factory-made assembly that is shipped in one or more packages that consists of a condensing unit and ice-making section operating as an integrated unit, that makes and harvests ice cubes, and that may store and dispense ice. This term includes machines with capacities between and including fifty (50) and two thousand five hundred (2,500) pounds per twenty-four (24) hours.

(2) Ballast means a device used with an electric discharge lamp to obtain necessary circuit conditions (voltage, current and waveform) for starting and operating the lamp.

(3) Boiler means a self-contained, low-pressure appliance for supplying steam or hot water primarily designed for space heating.

(4) Bottle-type water dispenser means a water dispenser that uses a bottle or reservoir as the source of potable water.

(5) Chief of Energy and Community Services means the head official of the Rhode Island state energy office.

(6) Commercial clothes washer means a soft-mount horizontal or vertical-axis clothes washer that:

(i) Has a clothes container compartment no greater than three and one-half cubic feet (3.5 cu ft.) in the case of a horizontal-axis product or no greater than four cubic feet (4 cu ft.) in the case of a vertical-axis product; and

(ii) Is designed for use by more than one household, such as in multifamily housing, apartments, or coin laundries.

(7) Commercial hot food holding cabinet means an appliance that is a heated, fully-enclosed compartment with one or more solid doors, and that is designed to maintain the temperature of hot food that has been cooked in a separate appliance. Commercial hot food holding cabinet does not include heated glass merchandizing cabinets, drawer warmers, or cook-and-hold appliances.

(8) Commercial pre-rinse spray valve means a hand-held device designed and marketed for use with commercial dishwashing and ware washing equipment and that sprays water on dishes, flatware, and other food service items for the purpose of removing food residue prior to their cleaning.

(9) Commercial refrigerator, freezer, and refrigerator-freezer means self-contained refrigeration equipment that:

(i) Is not a consumer product as regulated pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 6291 and subsequent sections;

(ii) Operates at a chilled, frozen, combination chilled/frozen, or variable temperature for the purpose of storing and/or merchandising food, beverages, and/or ice;

(iii) May have transparent and/or solid hinged doors, sliding doors, or a combination of hinged and sliding doors; and

(iv) Incorporates most components involved in the vapor compression cycle and the refrigerated compartment in a single cabinet.

This term does not include:

(i) Units with eighty-five cubic feet (85 cu. ft.) or more of internal volume;

(ii) Walk-in refrigerators or freezers;

(iii) Units with no doors; or

(iv) Freezers specifically designed for ice cream.

(10) Commission means the Rhode Island public utilities commission.

(11) Compensation means money or any other valuable thing, regardless of form, received, or to be received, by a person for services rendered.

(12) Electricity ratio is the ratio of furnace electricity use to total furnace energy use. Electricity ratio = (3.412*EAE/(1000*Ef +3.412*EAE)) where EAE (average annual auxiliary electrical consumption) and EF (average annual fuel energy consumption) are defined in Appendix N to subpart B of part 430 of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

(13) High-intensity discharge lamp means a lamp in which light is produced by the passage of an electric current through a vapor or gas, and in which the light-producing arc is stabilized by bulb wall temperature and the arc tube has a bulb wall loading in excess of three watts (3 W) per square centimeter.

in Appendix N to subpart B of part 430 of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

(14) Illuminated exit sign means an internally-illuminated sign that is designed to be permanently fixed in place to identify a building exit and consists of an electrically powered integral light source that illuminates the legend EXIT and any directional indicators and provides contrast between the legend, any directional indicators and the background.

(15) Large packaged air-conditioning equipment means electronically-operated, air-cooled air-conditioning and air-conditioning heat pump equipment having cooling capacity greater than, or equal to, two hundred forty thousand (240,000) Btu/hour but less than seven hundred sixty thousand (760,000) Btu/hour that is built as a package and shipped as a whole to end-user sites.

(16) Low-voltage dry-type distribution transformer means a transformer that:

(i) Has an input voltage of six hundred volts (600 V) or less;

(ii) Is air-cooled;

(iii) Does not use oil as a coolant; and

(iv) Is rated for operation at a frequency of sixty hertz (60 Hz).

(17) Mercury-vapor lamp means a high-intensity discharge lamp in which the major portion of the light is produced by radiation from mercury operating at a partial pressure in excess of one hundred thousand (100,000) PA (approximately 1 atm). This includes clear, phosphor-coated, and self-ballasted lamps.

(18) Metal-halide lamp means a high-intensity discharge lamp in which the major portion of the light is produced by radiation of metal halides and their products of dissociation, possibly in combination with metallic vapors.

(19) Metal-halide lamp fixture means a lamp fixture designed to be operated with a metal-halide lamp and a ballast for a metal-halide lamp.

(20) Probe-start metal-halide ballast means a ballast used to operate metal-halide lamps that does not contain an igniter and instead starts lamps by using a third starting electrode probe in the arc tube.

(21) Pulldown refrigerator means a commercial refrigerator with doors that, when fully loaded with twelve-ounce (12) canned beverages at ninety (90) degrees F, can cool these beverages to an average stable temperature of thirty-eight (38) degrees F in twelve (12) hours or less.

(22) Residential boiler means a self-contained appliance for supplying steam or hot water, that uses natural gas, propane, or home heating oil and has a heat input rate of less than three hundred thousand (300,000) Btu per hour.

(23) Residential furnace means a self-contained space heater designed to supply heated air through ducts of more than ten inches (10") length and utilizes only single-phase electric current, or single-phase electric current or DC current in conjunction with natural gas, propane, or home-heating oil, and that:

(i) Is designed to be the principal heating source for the living space of one or more residences;

(ii) Is not contained within the same cabinet with a central air conditioner whose rated cooling capacity is above sixty-five thousand (65,000) Btu per hour; and

(iii) Has a heat input rate of less than two hundred twenty-five thousand (225,000) Btu per hour.

(24) Single-voltage external AC to DC power supply means a device that:

(i) Is designed to convert line-voltage AC input into lower-voltage DC output;

(ii) Is able to convert to one DC output voltage at a time;

(iii) Is sold with, or intended to be used with, a separate end-use product that constitutes the primary power load;

(iv) Is contained within a separate physical enclosure from the end-use product;

ltage external AC to DC power supply means a device that:

(i) Is designed to convert line-voltage AC input into lower-voltage DC output;

(ii) Is able to convert to one DC output voltage at a time;

(iii) Is sold with, or intended to be used with, a separate end-use product that constitutes the primary power load;

(iv) Is contained within a separate physical enclosure from the end-use product;

(v) Is connected to the end-use product via a removable or hard-wired male/female electrical connection, cable, cord, or other wiring;

(vi) Does not have batteries or battery packs, including those that are removable, that physically attach directly to the power supply unit;

(vii) Does not have a battery chemistry or type selector switch and indicator light; or

(viii) Has a nameplate output power less than or equal to two hundred fifty watts (250 W).

(25) State-regulated incandescent reflector lamp means a lamp, not colored or designed for rough or vibration service applications, with an inner reflective coating on the outer bulb to direct the light, an E26 medium screw base, a rated voltage or voltage range that lies at least partially within one hundred fifteen to one hundred thirty volts (115 V to 130 V), and that falls into either of the following categories: a blown PAR (BPAR), bulged reflector (BR), or elliptical reflector (ER) bulb shape or similar bulb shape with a diameter equal to or greater than two and one-quarter inches (2.25"); or a reflector (R), parabolic aluminized reflector (PARA) bulged reflector (BR) or similar bulb shape with a diameter of two and one-quarter inches to two and three-quarter inches (2.25 to 2.75"), inclusive.

(26) Torchiere means a portable electric lighting fixture with a reflective bowl that directs light upward onto a ceiling so as to produce indirect illumination on the surfaces below. A torchiere may include downward-directed lamps in addition to the upward, indirect illumination.

(27) Traffic signal module means a standard eight-inch (8) (two hundred millimeter (200 mm)) or twelve-inch (12) (three hundred millimeter (300 mm)) traffic signal indication, consisting of a light source, a lens, and all other parts necessary for operation.

(28) Transformer means a device consisting of two (2) or more coils of insulated wire and that is designed to transfer alternating current by electromagnetic induction from one coil to another to change the original voltage or current value. The term transformer does not include:

(i) Transformers with multiple voltage taps, with the highest voltage tap equaling at least twenty percent (20%) more than the lowest voltage tap; or

(ii) Transformers, such as those commonly known as drive transformers, rectifier transformers, auto-transformers, uninterruptible power system transformers, impedance transformers, regulating transformers, sealed and nonventilating transformers, machine tool transformers, welding transformers, grounding transformers, or testing transformers, that are designed to be used in a special purpose application and are unlikely to be used in general purpose applications.

(29) Unit heater means a self-contained, vented, fan-type commercial space heater that uses natural gas or propane, and that is designed to be installed without ducts within a heated space, except that such term does not include any products covered by federal standards established pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 6291 and subsequent sections or any product that is a direct vent, forced flue heater with a sealed combustion burner.

(30) Walk-in refrigerator and walk-in freezer mean a space, designed for the purpose of storing and/or merchandising food, beverages, and/or ice, that is refrigerated to temperatures, respectively, at or above and below thirty-two (32) degrees F that can be walked into.

§ 6291 and subsequent sections or any product that is a direct vent, forced flue heater with a sealed combustion burner.

(31) Water dispenser means a factory-made assembly that mechanically cools and heats potable water and that dispenses the cooled or heated water by integral or remote means.

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.