IEC 60730-2-9:2015

Overview

IEC 60730-2-9:2015 (consolidated with Amendments 2018 & 2020) is the International Electrotechnical Commission’s particular requirements for automatic electrical temperature sensing controls. It supplements IEC 60730-1 and applies to controls used in or with equipment for heating, air‑conditioning and similar applications that may use electricity, gas, oil, solid fuel, solar thermal energy or combinations thereof. The standard covers inherent safety, operating values, times and sequences related to safety, testing, and the functional safety of low‑complexity safety‑related temperature sensing controls. It is intended for devices used in buildings and public environments (shops, offices, hospitals, farms, commercial and industrial settings) and aligns with building automation within the scope of ISO 16484.

Key topics and technical requirements

• Scope & applicability: Controls for building automation, public-use equipment; excludes exclusive industrial process controls unless specified.
• Safety & functional requirements: Inherent safety, operating values, operating times and sequences that affect equipment safety; provisions for low‑complexity safety functions.
• Testing & performance: Endurance, heating-freezing tests (modified in this edition), moisture/dust resistance, electric strength, insulation resistance, drift and manufacturing deviation, mechanical strength and threaded connections.
• Electronic controls & EMC: Annex H provides requirements for electronic controls; EMC requirements (H.26) aligned with other Part 2 standards and new H.27 requirements cover Class B and C control functions of temperature sensing controls.
• Sensor-specific guidance: Annex J addresses thermistor elements and thermistor-based controls.
• Application guidance & annexes: Informative annex EE gives practical guidance on applying temperature sensing controls; other annexes cover agricultural confinement buildings (DD), time factor, cycle counts and heat/fire resistance.

Practical applications

IEC 60730-2-9 is used to design, test and certify temperature sensing controls in:

• HVAC and building automation systems
• Room thermostats, temperature limiters and thermal cut‑outs
• Controls for boilers, heat pumps, fan coils and heat exchangers
• Equipment deployed in public or commercial environments (offices, hospitals, shops)
• Agricultural confinement building controls (see Annex DD)

Who should use this standard

• Manufacturers of thermostats, temperature limiters, thermistor-based controls and electronic temperature controllers
• Product safety and compliance engineers and test laboratories performing IEC 60730 testing and certification
• Building automation and HVAC system integrators and designers ensuring component compliance
• Certification bodies and regulatory authorities assessing conformity

Related standards

• IEC 60730-1 (General requirements for automatic electrical controls) - to be read in conjunction with Part 2-9
• ISO 16484 (Building automation) - for controls within building automation scope

Keywords: IEC 60730-2-9, temperature sensing controls, automatic electrical controls, building automation, thermistor, EMC, functional safety, heating-freezing tests.