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This is a draft document and does not represent a definitive view of the agency on the questions addressed

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This and other guidance documents are accessible on the U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy web site at: http://www1.eere.energy.gov/guidance/default.aspx?pid=2&spid=1

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Guidance Type: Certification and CCMS, Test Procedures, Conservation Standards, Enforcement Category: Residential Products Product: Refrigerators , refrigerator

- freezers, and f reezers Guidance Version: DRAFT Issued: November 13, 3013

The following is a draft U.S. Department of Energy (DOE or the Department) guidance document regarding the test procedure for refrigerators, refrigerator

- freezers, and freezers (refrigeration products). This draft guidance document represents the Department’s interpretation of its existing regulations and is exempt from the notice and comment requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act. See 5 U.S.C. § 553(b)(A). Nonetheless , the Department is accepting comments and suggestions from the public until December 13, 2013 . Comments and suggestions should be provided in WordPerfect, Microsoft Word, PDF, or text file format by sendin g an email to KitableResRefrigFreezer2013GUID0046@ee.doe.gov

. Please also include the docket number EERE

- 2013

- BT

- GUID

- 0046 . At the end of the comment period, this draft guidance document may be adopted, revised, or withdrawn.

Q: Some refrigerator and freezer models leave the manufacturer’s warehouse without an icemaker, but are designed such that an icemaker could be installed at a later point in the distribution chain or by the
user. H ow should these models, which are commonly referred to as “kitable” or “icemaker ready” models, be tested and certified to DOE , and how should model numbers be assigned to them ?

A: Based on descriptions provided to the Department by manufacturers and the industry trade association, DOE understands that these refrigerator or freezer models are currently marketed in three possible ways: 1) without an automatic icemak er ; 2) with an auto matic icemaker; or 3) without an
automatic icemaker but as a product that is capable of having an icemaker installed after it leaves the factory (e.g., “icemaker ready”). DOE is clarifying that each configuration that a manufacturer offers for
sale (e.g., by advertising the refrigerator

- freezer on its website) must be tested and subsequently
certified in accordance with DOE’s regulations

. Consequently:

I f the manufacturer elects to offer for sale a configuration that does not have icemaking capability

, it must be tested and certified as a non

- icemaker model (e.g., product class 3, 5,

or 7)

. If the manufacturer elects to offer for sale a configuration that includes an icemaker , it must be
tested and certified as an icemaker model (e.g., product class 3I, 5I, or 7I).
If the manufacturer elects to offer for sale a model for use in two configurations (e.g., by advertising it as a product that does not have an icemaker, but is capable of having an icemaker2

installed as an optional feature (i.e., icemaker rea dy) )

, that model must be addressed and treated as two separate basic models (e.g., product classes 3 and 3I)

. In such a case, the manufacturer may assign the same individual model number for both configurations, but must

use separate and distinguishable basic model numbers in its DOE certification for the non

icemaker and icemaker versions

. In this situation, a manufacturer need not conduct the laboratory portion of the required DOE test procedure twice (for each tested unit ) before certifying compliance for e ach of the two basic models. (For example, a manufacturer could conduct the laboratory portion of the required test procedure on the minimum two

- unit sample required under 10 CFR Part 429 in the non

- icemaker configurati on and then complete the calculations portion of the test procedure for both the non

- icemaker and the icemaker basic models based on those laboratory results.)

Th is clarification applies to products tested using both Appendix A and Appendix B, which will b ecome mandatory starting on September 15, 2014.