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

addressed.

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.

Guidance Type: Test Procedures

Category: Commercial and Industrial Equipment

Product: Automatic Commercial Ice Makers

Guidance Version: DRAFT

Issued: January 28, 2013

Comment Period Closes: February 28, 2013

DRAFT Guidance Document for Testing Automatic Commercial Ice Makers

The following is a draft U.S. Department of Energy (DOE or the Department) guidance document 

regarding the test procedure for automatic commercial ice makers (ACIM). This draft guidance 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). 

Therefore, the Department is accepting comments and suggestions from the public until February 28, 

2013. Comments and suggestions should be provided in WordPerfect, Microsoft Word, PDF, or text file 

format by sending an email to ACIMGuidance-2012-0044@ee.doe.gov. Please also include the docket 

number EERE-2012-BT-STD-0044. At the end of the comment period, this draft guidance document may 

be adopted, revised, or withdrawn.

Q: May an automatic purge water control (which adjusts the purge water quantity based on the 

supply water’s hardness) be used during testing of an automatic commercial ice maker (ice maker)?

A: Automatic purge water control automatically adjusts the amount of purge water used to flush 

dissolved solids out of the automatic commercial ice maker based on measurements indicating the need 

for purging, which depends on the quantity of dissolved solids in the supply water (usually referred to as

the supply water’s “hardness”). 

The DOE test procedure for automatic commercial ice makers is found in the Code of Federal 

Regulations at 10 CFR 431.134, Subpart H, and incorporates by reference AHRI Standard 810–2007 with 

Addendum 1, (AHRI 810), Performance Rating of Automatic Commercial Ice-Makers, March 2011 and 

ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 29–2009, (ANSI/ASHRAE 29), Method of Testing Automatic Ice Makers (including 

Errata Sheets issued April 8, 2010 and April 21, 2010). The DOE test procedure has no discussion of the 

use of automatic purge water controls and does not provide any specific requirements for the hardness 

of the supply water used during testing. 

Models tested using the automatic purge setting could have varying test results depending on the 

supply water’s hardness that is available or used at the test location. Testing such equipment in the 

automatic purge setting could therefore result in inconsistent test results depending on the relative 
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hardness of the water used in testing. To ensure consistent test results, automatic commercial ice 

makers with automatic purge water control should be tested using a fixed purge water setting as 

described in the automatic commercial ice maker’s written instructions shipped with the unit as being 

appropriate for water of normal, typical, or average hardness in accordance with section 4.1.4 of AHRI 

810’s requirement that the “test unit shall be set up for testing per the manufacturer's written 

instructions provided with the unit.” The automatic purge setting should not be used for testing. 

Further, purge water settings described in the instructions as suitable for use only with water that has 

higher or lower than normal hardness (such as distilled water or reverse osmosis water) should not be 

used for testing.

If the model has no option for fixed purge water control or if there are no fixed purge water settings 

described in the written instructions as suitable for water of normal, typical or average water hardness, 

the manufacturer of the ice maker should petition DOE for a test procedure waiver. DOE’s regulations 

allow manufacturers to apply for a waiver when a manufacturer determines that a given basic model 

contains one or more design features that would cause the prescribed test procedures to evaluate the 

basic model in a manner so unrepresentative of its true energy consumption characteristics as to 

provide materially inaccurate comparative data (See 10 C.F.R. § 431.401).