What Is GB 16410? China’s Gas Cooker Standard Explained for Exporters

Status and Scope

• Current edition: GB 16410-2020, published December 2020 and in force from 1 January 2022; it is a mandatory (not recommended) national standard.
• Applies to: household gas cookers using town gas, and household gas-electric dual-fuel cookers using both town gas and electricity.
• New in 2020: integrated cookers and household outdoor gas ovens were brought into scope, and measurement of CO concentration in dry flue gas was added.

The Key Requirements and Limits

The efficiency figures are the most frequently quoted pass/fail values, and they differ by appliance form — a table-top cooker must meet a higher minimum than a built-in one, while an integrated cooker is tested both with and without its exhaust fan running.

Energy Efficiency: The GB 30720 Companion

Safety and construction sit in GB 16410; the energy-efficiency grade is defined separately. The household gas cooker efficiency grade uses three levels, with grade 1 the highest, and the test conditions and methods follow GB 16410. The current efficiency document covers household gas cookers and integrated cookers up to a rated heat load of 5.23 kW, and it also addresses commercial gas cookers under separate limits. Confirm the edition in force (the efficiency document has been updated) before labelling a product for the Chinese market, because the grade label and the minimum allowable efficiency are checked together.

Gas Categories and Pressures in China

Chinese town gases are classified by the national gas-classification standard, with common supply pressures expressed in pascals — for example natural gas around 2000 Pa (20 mbar) and LPG around 2800 Pa (28 mbar), always according to the gas category. These reference gases and pressures are what a GB test bench uses; they differ from the gas-category matrix of EN 437 and from the inches-water-column convention of North America, so burner orifices and test limits must be set for the market actually served.

GB 16410 vs EN 30 vs ANSI Z21.1

What This Means for an Exporter

1. For the domestic China market, build and label to GB 16410 and the efficiency standard, and keep the mandatory FFD and efficiency evidence on file.
2. For export, do not assume GB compliance equals CE or a North American listing — re-verify against EN 30 or ANSI Z21.1 with the correct gas categories and pressures.
3. Use one bench with market profiles so the same multi-station-qc-upgrade-integrated-stove-plant/" title="Production Line">production line can produce evidence for GB, EN and ANSI without maintaining separate equipment.
4. Segregate orifice/regulator settings and rating plates so units cannot be shipped with the wrong market configuration.

Whether any specific Chinese market-access certification (separate from the mandatory GB standard) applies to your exact product should be checked against the current catalogues of the State Administration for Market Regulation; build your compliance around GB 16410 and confirm any additional requirements rather than assuming them.

One Bench, GB/EN/ANSI Profiles

Wanhe gas cooker test benches store separate limit, gas and pressure profiles. In the GB profile they measure gas tightness, heat input, thermal efficiency (with the appropriate test conditions for built-in, table-top and integrated cookers), dry-flue-gas CO and FFD opening/closing time, using 0.5-class instruments for LPG and natural gas. Selecting the EN or ANSI profile switches the limits and report format, so the station prints a market-specific, serial-numbered report for the China file, the CE technical file or the North American listing.

How a GB Thermal-Efficiency Test Is Run

The efficiency value is not a burner label figure; it is measured under defined conditions, which is why the bench, not a hand calculation, determines the result. In outline the procedure follows the standard’s test method: the cooker is installed with the specified test pots, the ambient air movement is controlled (and, for an integrated cooker, the exhaust fan is set to the required condition), the gas supply is metered at the reference pressure, and a defined quantity of water is heated while gas consumption and the absorbed heat are recorded. Thermal efficiency is the ratio of heat absorbed by the water to heat supplied by the gas, expressed as a percentage. Because draughts, pot size, water mass and fan state all change the result, tests that ignore these conditions overstate efficiency and fail in a re-test. The bench logs each input, computes the efficiency automatically against the correct built-in, table-top or integrated limit, and stores the calculation with the serial number so the figure can be reproduced.

Common Mistakes

• Treating GB 16410 compliance as equivalent to CE or a US listing;
• Applying one efficiency minimum to every cooker form instead of the built-in/table-top/integrated values;
• Testing an integrated cooker only with the fan running (both conditions are required);
• Forgetting the separate efficiency-grade document and label;
• Using mbar/Pa GB settings for an inches-w.c. North American configuration.