### Federal Register / Vol. 48, No. 111 Wednesday, June 8

, 1983 / ` Notices 26527

Office of Conservation and Renewable Energy

[Case No. F-009]


### Energy Conservation Program for Consumer Products; Petition for Waiver of Furnace Test Procedures From Hydrotherm, Inc.

AGENCY : Department of Energy.

SUMMARY : Today's notice publishes a "Petition for Waiver" from Hydrotherm, Inc. (Hydrotherm), requesting a waiver from the existing Department of Energy (DOE) test procedures for furnaces. The petition requests DOE to grant relief from the furnace test procedure requirements relating to determination of annual fuel utilization efficiency (AFUE). Specifically, the petitioner requests the use of an alternate test proedeure developed by the National
Bureau of Standards in lieu of DOE's currently prescribed procedures. DOE is soliciting comments, date, and information respecting the petition.

DATE DOE will accept comments, data, and information not later than July 8,
1983. ADDRESSES : Written comments and statements shall be sent to: Department of Energy, Office of Conservation and Renewable Energy, Case No. F-009, Mail Stop CE-113.1, Forrestal Building, 1000 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20585.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael J. McCabe, U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Conservation andRenewable Energy Mail Station CE113.1, Forrestal Building, 1000 Independence Avenue SW., Washington, D.C. 20585, (202) 252-
9127. 

### Eugene Margolis, Esq., U.S. Department of Energy, Office of General Counsel, Mail Station GC-33, Forrestal Building, 1000 Independence Avenue SW., Washington, D.C. 20585, (202)
252-9513.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

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 Stat. 917, as amended by the National Energy Conservation Policy Act (NECPA), Pub. L. 95-619, 92 Stat. 3266, which requires DOE to prescribed 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 prescribed test procedures by adding 10 CFR 1 430.27, 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 unrepresentative of the model's true energy consumption as to provide materially inaccurate comparative data. Hydrotherm submitted a petition which contends that when the existing DOE test procedures are applied to its boiler with stepmodulating (variable firing rate) controls the result is 

### materially inaccurate comparative da The Hydortherm petitions waiver from DOE test method baing efficiency determinations on a single firing rate. Additionally, Hydrotherm requests the

### 26520 Federal Register / Vol. 48, No. 111 / Wednesday , June 8, 1983 / Notices

use of test method prepared by the National Bureau of Standards (NBS) in lieu of the existing DOE test procedures, specifically the test method outlined in NBSIR-82-2497 entitled A Test Method and Calculation Procedure for Determining Annual Efficiency for
Vented Household Heaters and Furnace Equipped with Modulating-Type Controls, dated May 1982. This report is available through the National Technical Information Service, Springfield, VA 22161. 

### Briefly, the NBS method requires that, efficiency tests be conducted at reduced and maximum firing rates. The results of these tests along with typical derived values from a bin analysis of weather data allow for the determination of the hours of operation in each mode and consequently a weighted annual efficiency is obtained. TJ ese test methods and calculation procedures are based on and are an extension to the current DOE test procedures for the simple-stage type of thermostat control of central furnaces. 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. June 1, 19113. Howard S. Coleman,
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Conservation andRenewoble Energy.
March 8,1983. Joseph J. Tribble, Assistant Secretary, Conservation and Renewable Energy, Department of Energy. Forrestal Building, 1000 Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC
Re: Petition for Waiver Dear Sir: This is a petition by Hydrotherm, Inc. for waiver from the test procedure specified in Appendix N to Subpart B contained in 10 CFR Part 43. for determining the relative energy efficiency of furnaces. Petitioner is a manufacturer of hydronic heating equipment

, and is preparing to
introduce a cast iron boiler product with step modulating controls which will operate at dual firing rates

. However, as presently
formulated

, the test procedure specified in Appendix N contemplates the use of only a single firing rate in the test calculations. Applying this test to Petitioner's prototype boiler gives results which differ by as much as two or three percentage points depending on which firing rate is used in the -
calculations

. In either case

, the results are unrepresentative of the true energy consumption characteristics of Petitioner's boiler and, therefore, provide materially inaccurate comparative data. Faced with this dilemma, Petitioner requests that, until such
time as a test procedure appropriate to furnaces which operate at multiple firing rates is issued by the Department of Energy, it be permitted to use as an alternate test procedure the test procedure prepared for the Department of Energy by the National Bureau of Standards entitled, "A Test Method and Calculation Procedure for Determining Annual Efficiency for Vented Household Heaters and Furnaces Equipped with Modulating-Type Controls", a copy of which is attached hereto as Exhibit A.' To Petitioner's knowledge, there are no other manufacturers of a boiler incorporating a similar design. Sincerely, Hydrotherm, Inc. John J. Cleary, Asst. Secretary and Corporate Counsel.

(FR Doc. 83-15283 Filed a-7-83; &.45 am]

BiwNG CODE 8156-01.11