55FR51487

Federal Register / Vol. 55, No. 241 / Friday, December 14, 1990 / Notices

Office of Conservation and

Renewable Energy

[Case No. F-023)

Energy Conservation Program for

Consumer Products; Decision and

Order Granting; Waiver from Furnace

Test Procedures to Inter-City Products

Corporation

AGENCY: Office of Conservation and

Renewable Energy, Department of

Energy.

ACTION: Decision and order.

SUMMARY: Notice is given of the

Decision and Order (Case No. F-023)

granting Inter-City Products Corporation

(Inter-CitX) a waiver for its model

NUGV(-) condensing gas furnaces-from

existing Department of Energy (DOE)

test procedures regarding blower time

delay for determining the model's

energy efficiency.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Cyrus H. Nasseri, U.S. Department of

Energy, Office of Conservation and

Renewable Energy, Mail Station CE43, Forrestal Building, 1000

Independence Avenue, SW.,

Washington, DC 20585, (202) 586-9127

Eugene Margolis, Esq., U.S. Department

of Energy, Office of General Counsel,

Mail Station GC-12, Forrestal

Building, 1000 Independence AvenueSW., Washington, DC 20585, (202)

586-9507

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In

accordance with 10 CFR 430.27(g), notice

is hereby given of the issuance of the

Decision and Order as set out below. In

the Decision and Order Inter-City has

been granted a waiver for its model

NUGV(-) condensing gas furnaces,

permitting the company to use an

alternate test method in determining the

Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency

(AFUE).

Issued in Washington, DC, December 10,

1990.

1. Michael Davis,

Assistant Secretary; Conservation and

Renewable Energy.

Decision and Order

In the matter of. Inter-City Products

Corporation (Case No. F-023).

The Energy Conservation program for

Consumer Products (other than

automobiles) established pursuant to the

Energy Policy and Conservation Act

(EPCA), Public Law 94-163, 89 Stat. 917,

as amended by the National Energy

Conservation Policy Act (NECPA),

Public Law 95-619, 92 Stat. 3266, the

National Appliance Energy

Conservation Act of 1987 (NAECA),

Public Law 100-12, and the National

Appliance Energy Conservation

Amendments of 1988 (NAECA 1988),

Public Law 100-357, 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 amended the prescribed test

procedures by adding 10 CFR 430.27 to

create a waiver process. 45 FR 64108,

September 26,1980. Thereafter DOE

further amended its appliance test

procedure waiver process to allow the

Assistant Secretary for Conservation

and Renewable Energy (Assistant

Secretary) to grant an interim waiver

from test procedure requirements to

manufacturers that have petitioned DOE

for a waiver of such prescribed test

procedures. 51 FR 42823, November 26,

1986.

The waiver process allows the

Assistant Secretary to waive

temporarily test procedures for a

particular basic model when a petitioner

shows that the basic model contains one

or more design characteristics which

prevent testing according to the

prescribed test procedures or when the

prescribed test procedures may evaluate

the basic model in a manner so

unrepresentative of its 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.

Inter-City filed a "Petition for Waiver"

dated May 1, 1990, in accordance with

§ 430.27 of 10 CFR part 430. DOE

published in the Federal Register on July

31, 1990, Inter-City's petition and

solicited comments, data and

information respecting the petition. 55

FR 31099. Inter-City also filed an

"Application for Interim Waiver" under

§ 430.27(g) which DOE granted on July

23, 1990. 55 FR 31099, July 31, 1990.

No comments were received

concerning either the "Petition for

Waiver" or the "Interim Waiver." DOE

consulted with Federal Trade

Commission (FTC) concerning the InterCity petition. The FTC did not have any

objections to the issuance of a waiver to

Inter-City.

Assertions and Determinations

Inter-City's petition seeks a waiver

from the DOE test provisions that

51487

require a 1.5-minute time delay between

the ignition of the burner and the

starting of the circulating air blower.

Inter-City requests the allowance to test

using a 30-second blower time delay

when testing its NUGV(-) series

condensing gas furnaces. Inter-City

states that since the 30-second delay is

indicative of how this model actually

operates and since such a delay results

in an improvement in efficiency of

approximately 1.0 percent, the waiver

should be granted.

Under specific circumstances, the

DOE test procedures contain exceptions

which allow testing with blower delay

times of less than the prescribed 1.5-

minute delay. Inter-City indicates that it

is unable to take advantage of any of

these exceptions for the NUGY(-) series.

Since the blower controls

incorporated on the Inter-City furnace

are designated to imposes a 30-second

blower delay in every instance of startup, and since the current provisions do

not specifically address this type of

control, DOE agrees that a waiver

should be granted to allow the 30-

second blower time delay when testing

the inter-City NUGV(-) series furnace.

Accordingly, with regard to testing the

NUGV(-) series furnace only, today's

Decision and Order exempts Inter-City

from the existing provisions regarding

blower controls and allows testing with

the 30-second delay.

It is therefore, ordered.- that-

(1) The "Petition for Waiver" filed by

the Inter-City Products Corporation

(Case No. F-023) is hereby granted set

forth in paragraph (2) below, subject to

the provisions of paragraphs (3), (4) and

(5).

(2) Not withstanding any contrary

provisions of appendix N of 10 CFR part

430, subpart B, the Inter-City Products

Corporation shall be permitted to test its

NUGV(-) series condsening gas furnace

on the basis of the test procedure

specified in 10 CFR part 430, with

modifications set forth below:

(i) Section 3.0 in appendix N is deleted

and replaced with the following

paragraph:

3.0 Test Procedure. Testing and

measurements shall be a specified in

section 9 in ANSI/ASHRAE 103-82 with

the exception of sections 9.2.2, 9.3.1, and

9.3.2, and the inclusion of the following

additional procedures:

(ii) Add a new paragraph 3.10 in

appendix N as follows:

3.10 Gas- and Oil-Fueled Central

Furnaces. The following paragraph is in

lieu of the requirement specified in

section 9.3.1 in ANSI/ASHRAE 103-82.

After equilibrium conditions are

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55FR51487

51488 Federal Register / Vol. 55, No. 241 / Friday, December 14, 1990 / Notices

achieved following the cool-down test

and the required measurements

performed, turn on the furnace and

measure the flue gas temperature, using

the thermocouple grid described above,

at 0.5 and 2.5 minutes after the main

burner(s) come on. After the burner

start-up, delay the blower start-up by 1.5

minutes (t-), unless: (1) The furnace

employs a single motor to drive the

power burner and the indoor air

circulating blower, in which case the

burner and, blower shall be started

together; or (2) the furnace is designed to

operate using an unvarying delay time

that is other than 1.5 minutes, in which

case the fan control shall be permitted

to start the blower, or (3) the delay time

results in the activation of a temperature

safety device which shuts off the burner,

in which case the fan control shall be

adjustable, set it to start the blower at

the highest temperature. If the fan

control is permitted to start the blower,

measure time delay, (t-), using a stop

watch. Record the measured

temperatures. During the heat-up test for

oil-fueled furnaces, maintain the draft in

the flue pipe within ±0.01 in. of water

gauge of the manufacturer's

recommended on-period draft.

(iii) With the exception of the

modification set forth in subparagraph

(ii) above, Inter-City Products

Corporation shall comply in all respects

with the test procedures specified in

appendix N of 10 CFR part 430 subpart

B.

(3) The waiver shall remain in effect

from the date of issuance of this Order

until DOE prescribes final test

procedures appropriate to the NUGV(-)

series condensing gas furnace

manufactured by Inter-City Products

Corporation.

(4) This waiver is based upon the

presumed validity of statements,

allegations, and documentary materials

submitted by the petitioner. This waiver

may be revoked or modified at any time

upon a determination that the factual

basis underlying the petition is

incorrect.

(5) Effective (Insert Date of Issuance).

this Waiver supersedes the Interim

Waiver Granted Inter-City Products on

July 23, 1990. 55 FR 31099, July 31, 1990.

(Case No. F-023).

Issued In Washington. DC. December 10.

1990.

1. Michael Davis,

Assistant Secretory, Conservation and

RenewableEnergy.

MFR Doc. 90-29302 Filed 12-13-90; B:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6450-07-M

CAS-RM-79-104 COMMENT 43