### 242811 Federal Register / Vol. 50, No. 111 / Monday, June 10, 1985 / Notices

Energy Conservation Program for
Consumer Products; Petition for
Waiver of Furnace Test Procedures From the Magic Chef Company, Inc. (F-014)

AGENCY: Conservation and Renewable Energy Office, Energy.

SUMMARY: Today's notice publishes a "Petition for Waiver" from The Magic Chef Air Conditioning Company, Inc. (Magic Chef) of Columbus, Ohio, requesting a waiver from the existing Department of Energy (DOE) test procedures for furnaces. Magic Chef manufactures residential and commercial heating appliances. The petition requests DOE to grant relief from the test procedure relating to the blower time delay specification for Magic Chefs Ultra series gas furnaces. Magic Chef seeks to test using a blower delay time of 20 seconds instead of the specified 1.5 minutes. DOE is soliciting comments, data. and information respecting the petition.
DATa: DOE will accept comments, data and information not later than July 10,

1955.

ADDRESSES : Written comments and statements shall be sent to: Department of Energy, Office of Conservation and Renewable Energy, Case No. F-014., Mail Stop CE-112, Forrestal Building. 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC. 20585.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Michael J. McCabe, U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Conservation andRenewable Energy, Mail Station, CE112, Forrestal Building, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC. 20585, (202) 252-9127 Eugene Margolis, Esq., U.S. Department of Energy, Office of General Counsel, Mail Station, GC-12, Forrestal Building, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC. 20585, (202)
252-9513
Background
The Energy Conservation Program for Consumer Products (other than automobiles) was established pursuant to the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA). Pub. L. 94-163,89 StaL 917, as amended by the National Energy Conservation Policy Act (NECPA), Pub. L. 95-619, 92 Stat. 3266, which requires DOE to prescribe standardized test procedures to measure the energy consumption of certain consumer products, including furnaces. The intent of the test procedures is to provide a comparable measure of energy consumption that will assist consumers in making purchasing decisions. These test procedures appear at 10 CFR Part 430, Subpart B. DOE has amended the prescribe test procedures by adding 10 CFR 430.27, Petitions for Waiver, to allow the Assistant Secretary for Conservation and Renewable Energy temporarily to waive test procedures for a particular basic model. 45 FR 64108 (September 26, 1980). Waivers may be granted when one or more design characteristics of a basic model either prevent testing of the basic model according to the prescribed test procedures or lead to results so unpresentative of the model's true energy consumption as to provide materially inaccurate comparative data. Waivers generally remain in effect until final test procedure amendments become effective, resolving the problem that is the subject of the waiver. Magic Chefs petition seeks a waiver from the DOE test provisions that require a 1.5 minute time delay between the ignition of the burner and the starting of the circulating air blower. Instead, Magic Chef requests the. allowance to test using a 20 second blower time delay when testing its Ultra series gas furnaces. Magic Chef states that since the 20 second delay is indicative of how the Ultra series gas furnaces actually operate and since such a delay results in an improvement in efficiency of approximately 0.5%, the waiver should be granted. Pursuant to paragraph (b) of 10 CFR 430.27, DOE is hereby publishing the "Petition for Waiver" in its entirety. The petition contains no confidential information. DOE solicits comments, data, and information respecting the petition.

Issued in Washington, D.C., May 23, 1985.

Donna R. Fitzpatrick, Acting Assistant Secretary, Conservation and Renewable Energy.
March 14, 1085. Assistant Secretary for Conservation & Solar Energy, United States Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Ave. SW, Washington,
D.C.

Re: Petition for Waiver

Gentlemen: This is a petition for waiver which is being submitted pursuant to Title 10 CFR 430.27. Waiver is requested from the condensing furnace test procedure found at Appendix N to Subpart B of Part 430 which requires a 1.5 minute time delay between burner on and circulating air blower on. This is a request for authorization to use a delay of 20 seconds instead of 1.5 minutes. M<:gic Chef Air Conditioning manufactures several lines of condensing furnaces comprising the Ultra Series. In order to achieve maximum energy efficiency from these units. the circulating air blower is
activated 20 seconds after burner on. This change of state occurs approximately when the stack temperature reaches thermal equilibrium and saves a substantial amount of heat energy. Under the Appendix N procedures, stack temperature in the Ultra
Series models is allowed to overshoot thermal equilibrium and a substantial amount of heat energy escapes out the vent. This energy waste would never occur in an actual installation. If this petition is granted, the true blower on delay time (t-) would be used in
the calculations. The standard test procedures do not give Magic Chef credit for this energy savings which averages approximately 0.5%. A 0.5% improvement is a reduction of 5% of the energy loss and we are of the opinion that this 5% savings is significant and that the prescribed test procedures, by prohibiting Magic Chef Air Conditioning from taking credit for the saved energy, distort the facts so as to provide materially inaccurate comparative data.
Confidential test data is available which confirms the 5% waste energy savings
claimed above. That data can be made available to you so long as it is protected by the Department of Energy from disclosure to
othere.
Please contact me for additional
information. Very truly yours, Magic Chef Air Conditioning.
Charles G. Santangelo,
Vice President of Engineering.

[FR Doc. 85-13848 Filed 6-7-85; 8:45 am]

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