Federal Register / Vol. 59, No: ' 113' / Tuesday, June 14, 1994 / Notices

[Case No., F-0711 . Conservation Act of 1987 (NAECA),

Public Law 100-12, the National

Energy Conservation Program for • Appliance Energy Conservation

Consumer Products: Decision and Amendments of 1988 (NAECA 1988),

Order Granting a Waiver From the Public Law 100-357, and the Energy

Furnace Test Procedure 'to Rheem Policy Act of 1992 (EPAct), Public Law

Manufacturing Company 102-486, 106 Stat. 2776, which requires

AGENCY: Office of Energy Efficiency and DOE to prescribe standardized test

Renewable Energy, Department of procedures to measure the energy

consumption of certain consumer

Energy.. products, including furnaces. The intent

ACTION: Decision and order. of the test procedures is to provide a

SUMMARY: Notice is given of the

Decision and Order (Case No. F-071)

granting a Waiver to Rheem

Manufacturing Company (Rheem) from

the existing Department of Energy (DOE)

test procedure for furnaces. The

Department is granting Rheem Petition

for Waiver regarding blower time delay

in calculation of Annual Fuel .

Utilization Efficiency (AFUE) for itsGDG upflow, GLH downflow, GVH

horizontal, and GPH upflow/horizontal

gas furnaces.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Cyrus H. Nasseri, U.S. Department of

Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency

and Renewable Energy, Mail Station

EE-431, Forrestal Building; 1000

Independence Avenue, SW., .

Washington, DC 20585, (202) 586-

9138

Eugene Margolis, Esq.., U.S. Department

of Energy, Office of General Counsel,

Mail Station GC-72, Forrestal

Building, 1000 Independence Avenue,

SW., 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, Rheem has

been granted a Waiver for its GDG

upflow, GLH downflow, GVH

horizontal, and GPH upflow/horizontal

gas furnaces, permitting the company to

use an alternate test method in

determining AFUE.

Issued in Washington, DC, on June 6,1994.

Christine A. Ervin,

Assistant Secretary, Energy Efficiency and

RenewableEnergy.

In the Matter of Rheem Manufacturing'

Company. (Case No. F-071)

Background

The Energy Conservation Program for

comparable measure of energy

consumption that will assist consumers

in making purchasing decisions. These

test procedures appear at 10 CFR part

430, subpart B.

. The Department 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

Energy Efficiency 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.

The Interim Waiver provisions added

by the 1986 amendment allow the

Assistant Secretary to grant an Interim

Waiver when it is determined that the

applicant will experience economic

hardship if the Application for Interim

Waiver is denied, if it appears likely

that the Petition for Waiver will be

granted, and/or the Assistant Secretary

determines that it would be desirable for

public policy reasons to grant

immediate relief pending.a

determination on the Petition for

Consumer Products (other than Waiver. An Interim. Waiver remains in

automobiles) was established pursuant effect for a period of 180 days or until

;o the Energy Policy and Conservation DOE issues its determination on the

Act (EPCA), Public Law 94 -163,89 Stat. Petition for Waiver, whichever is

317, as amended by the National Energy soonerand may be extended for an

;onservation Policy Act (NECPA), . additional 180 days; if necessary.

?ublic Law 95-619, 92 Stat, 3266, the . Rheem filed a "Petition for Waiver,

.lational Appliance Energy. , dated March 23, 1994, in.accordance

30577

with section 430.27 of 10 CFR part 430.'

The Department published in the

Federal Register on May 3, 1994,

Rheem's petition and solicited .

comments, data and information

respecting the petition. 59 FR 22846.

Rheem also filed an "Application for

Interim Waiver" under section 430.27(g)

which DOE granted on April 19,1994.

59 FR 22846, May 3, 1994.

No comments were received

concerning either the "Petition for

Waiver" or the "Interim Waiver." The

Department consulted with The Federal

Trade Commission (FTC) concerning the

Rheem Petition. The FTC did not have

any objections to the issuance of the

waiver to Rheem.

Assertions and Determinations

Rheem's Petition seeks a waiver from

the DOE test provisions that require a

1.5-minute time delayabetween the

ignition of the burner and the starting of

the circulating air blower. Rheern

requests the allowance to test using a

20-second blower time delay when

testing its GOG upflow, GLH downflow,

GVH horizontal, and GPH upflow/

horizontal gas furnaces. Rheem states

that since the 20-second delay is '

indicative of how these models actually

operate and since such a delay results

in an average increase in AFUE of 2.0

percentage points, the petition should

be granted.

Under specific circumstances, the

DOE test procedure contains exceptions

which allow testing with blower delay

times of less than the prescribed 1.5-

minute delay. Rheem indicates that it is

unable to take advantage of any of these

exceptions for its GDG upflow, GLH

downflow; GVH horizontal, and CPU

upflow/horizontal gas furnaces.

Since-the blower controls

incorporated on the Rheem furnaces are

designed to impose a '20-second blower

delay in every instance of start up, and

since the current provisions do not

specifically address this type of cont: ol.

DOE agrees that a waiver should be

granted to allow the 20-second blower

time delay when testing the Rheem GDG

upflow; GLH downflow, GVH

horizontal, and GPH upflow/horizontal

gas furnaces. Accordingly, with regard

to testing the GDG upflow, GLH

downflow, GVH horizontal, and GPH

upflow/horizontal- gas furnaces, today's

Decision and Order exempts Rheem

from the existing provisions regarding

blower controls and allows testing with

the 20-second delay.

It is, therefore, Ordered that:

(1) The."Petition for Waiver" filed by

Rheem Manufacturing Company (Case

NO.-F-071) is hereby granted as set forth

CAS-RM-79-104 COMMENT 113
30578 Federal Register / Vol. 59, No. 113 / Tuesday, June 14, 1994'/ Notices

in paragraph (2) below, subject to the

provisions of paragraphs (3), (4), and (5).

(2) Notwithstanding any contrary

provisions of Appendix N of 10 CFR

Part 430, Subpart B, Rheem

Manufacturing Company, shall be

permitted to test its GDG upflow, GLH

downflow, GVH horizontal, and GPH

upflow/horizontal gas furnaces on the

basis of the test procedure specified in

10 CFR Part 430, with modifications set

forth below:

(i) Section 3.0 of Appendix N is

deleted and replaced with the following

paragraph:

3.0 Test Procedure. Testing and

measurements shall be as specified in

section 9 in ANSIIASHRAE Standard

103-52 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 to'

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 of ANSI/ASHRAE

Standard 103-82. After equilibrium

conditions are 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) comes

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 permitted

to start the blower. In the latter case, if

the fan control is 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 stopwatch.

Record the measured temperatures.

During the heat-up test for oil-fueled

furnaces, maintain the draft in the flue

pipe within ±0.01 inch of water'column

of the manufacturer's recommended onperiod draft,

(iii) With the exception of the

modifications set forth above, Rheem

Manufacturing Company shall comply

in all respects with the test procedures

specified in Appendix N of 10 CFR part

430, subpartB.

(3) The Waiver shall remain in effect

from the date of issuance of this Order

until DOE prescribes final test

procedures appropriate to the GDG

upflow. GLH downflow, GVH

horizontal, and GPH upflow/horizontal

gas furnaces manufactured by Rheem

Manufacturing Comppany.

(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 June 6,1994, this Waiver

supersedes the Interim Waiver granted

the Rheem Manufacturing Company on

April 19. 1994. 59 FR 22846. May 3,

1994 (Case No. F-{171),

Issued. In Washington, DC, on June 6, 1994.

Christine A. Ervin,

Assistant Secretary. Energy Efficiency and

Renewable Energy.

(FR Doc. 94-14434 Filed 6-13-94; 8:45 amt

BIWNG CODE 645O-01-P

CAS-RM-79-104 COMMENT 113