### Federal Register

46 

### Vol. 48, No. 121 Wednesday

, June 22, 1983 ( Notices

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Office of Conservation and Ren ewable . Energy [Case No. F-006] 

### Energy Conservation Program for Consumer Products; Decision and Order Granting Waiver From Furnace Test Procedures to Amana -Refrigeration, Inc.

AGENCY : Office of Conservation and Renewable Energy, DOE.

ACTION : Decision and order.

SUMMARY : Notice is given of the Decision and Order [Case No. F-006] granting Amana Refrigeration, Inc. a waiver for its EGHW series of condensing furnaces from the existing DOE furnace test procedures.
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: In accordance with 10 CFR 430.27(g), notice is hereby given of the issuance of the Decision and Order set out below. In the Decision and Order, Amana 

### Refrigeration, Inc. has been granted a waiver for its EGHW series condensing warm air furnaces, permitting the company to use an alternate test method.
Issued in Washington, D.C., June 8, 1983.
Howard S

. Coleman, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Conservation and Renewable Energy.

Decision and Order of the Department of Energy, Assistant Secretary for Conservation and Renewable Energy In the matter of Amana Refrigeration, 

### Inc.; Case No. F-006. 28531

Background
The Energy Conservation Program for Consumer Products was established pursuant to the Energy Policy and Conservation Act, Pub. L. 94-163, 89 Stat, 917, as amended by the National Energy Conservation Policy Act, Pub. L. 95-619, 92 Stat. 3266, which requires the Department of Energy (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 purchase decisions. These test procedures appear at 10 CFR Part 430, Subpart B. The Department of Energy amended the prescribed test procedure regulations, by adding § 430.27, to allow the Assistant Secretary for Conservation and Renewable Energy 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 of the basic model 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 characteristics as to provide materially inaccurate comparative data. 45 FR 84108 ( Sept. 26 ,1980). Pursuant to § 430.27(g), the Assistant Secretary shall publish in the Federal Register notice of each waiver granted, and any limiting conditions of each 

### waiver. Amana Refrigeration, Inc. (Amana), filed a "Petition for Waiver" in accordance with § 430.27 of 10 CFR Part 430. DOE published in the Federal Register the Amana petition and solicited comments, data, and information respecting the petition. 47 FR 54529 (December 3, 1982). Comments were received from Lennox Industries, a manufacturer of condensing furnaces. The comments were sent to the petitioner on February 4, 1983, and rebuttal comments were submitted by Amana on February 14,1983. DOE consulted with the Federal Trade Commission on March 9, 1983, concerning the Amana petition.

Assertions and Determinations
The Amana petition contends that even though the DOE test procedures for furnaces were amended to allow testing of condensing furnaces, 45 FR 53714 (Aug. 12,1980), the.company's EGHW series condensing furnace lines, when tested according to those procedures,

### 28532 Federal Register

will yield materially inaccurate comparative data. The Amana petition seeks a waiver from the present DOE test method which bases condensation calculations on the average flue gas temperature. Amana contends that its EGHW series furnace lines condenses more of the water vapor than is calculated by the DOE test method. In lieu of the current test method, Amana requests the use of the condensate measuring test method as set forth in Appendix C of the National Bureau of Standards (N133) Interagency Feport 80-2110, "Recommended Testing and Calculation Procedures for Estimating the Seasonal Performance of Residential Condensing Furnaces and Boilers" (hereafter referred to as the alternate test method), dated April 1981, to determine the Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency (AFUE) of its EGHW series furnace lines. Amana further contends that for the purpose of consistency the alternate method should be allowed not only for determining the AFUE but also for determiing the steady

- state efficiency of its condensing furnace

. Steady state efficiency is used to determine a furnace's heating capacity. The product of the steady

- state efficiency and the measured energy input (Btu/hr.) is the heating capacity of the furnace. Amapa further seeks permission to conduct testing using the alternate test method at its in-house test facility. Such allowance for in-house testing was rejected initially in the Hydrotherm Decision and Order

. 46 FR 34621 (July 2, 1981 ). Since that time

, however, the allowance to use the alternate test method at in-house test facilities has been granted to two manufacturers, Lennox and Arkla. 47 FR 32471 (July 27, 1982) and 47 FR 57987 (December 29. 1982), respectively. Comments from Lennox support Amana's assertion that. the existing condensing furnace test procedures will result in lower than actual AFUE ratings of a condensing furnace. NBS has found through testing

, experience that the existing flue loss testing procedure does, in fact

, underestimate the amount of water vapor condensed during normal operations. Therefore, DOE has determined that Amapa should be granted a waiver to use the alternate test method when testing its EGHW series-condensing furnace to determine AFUE. Regarding the allowance to use the alternate test method for determining steady-state efficiency, Lennox felt this additional request would give an inequitable advantage to Amana in that they would be allowed an increased steady-state efficiency of 1 to 3 

### Vol. 48, No. 121 / Wednesday, June 22, 1983 / Notices

percentage points with respective increases in heating capacity and AFUE. Amana correctly rebutted this statement by pointing out that the use of the alternate method for determining steady-state efficiency will not result in an increase in reported AFUEs. This is true because steady-state efficiency is not used in determining the AFUE value. The only possible increase is with regard to the heating capacity. DOE believes the possible advantage in higher capacity values is minimal. Also, just as with AFUE determinations, DOE has found that steady-state efficiency determination could be underestimated by the existing flue loss test procedures. Therefore, DOE is today granting Amana's request to use the alternate test method for determining steady-state efficiency. Accordingly, today's waiver includes additional instructions and calculations which will allow for the direct condensate measurement method to be used to determine steady-state efficiency. Finally

, in consideration of the evidence presented in previous waivers which stated that the alternate test method is of sufficient reliability to permit " in-house " testing and in order to save the manufacturer time and money, DOE has determined to grant Amana's request for in-house testing. However, to further assure reliability
, today ' s grant includes provisions which require a 6 cycle test rather than the 3 cycle test outlined in the NBSIR 80-2110. This change has been recommended by the National Bureau of Standards as a result of its recent testing experience regarding condensing furnaces

. This testing experience indicated that for some models of condensing furnaces the variability of the amount of condensate collected during each cycle warrants - more test cycles. 

### It is therefore ordered that (1) The "Petition for Waiver",filed by Amana Refrigeration

, Ind, is hereby granted as set forth in paragraph (2) below
, subject to the provisions of paragraphs (3) and (4). (2) Notwithstanding any contrary provisions of Appendix N of 10 CFR Part 430, Subpart B, Amana Refrigeration, Inc. shall be permitted to use in-house test facilities to test its EGHW series condensing warm air furnace on the basis of the test procedures specified in 10 CFR

, Part 430

, with the modifications set forth b elow: 

### (i) Test Conditions. (A:) The test unit shall be installed according to the requirements given in section 2 of Appendix N. JB) Control devices

. shall be installed to allow cyclical operation of the unit and return water as described in § 3.3 of Appendix N. (C) The test unit shall be leveled prior
to test. (D) Operation times and the beginning and end of condensate collection shall be determined by a clock or timer with a minimum resolution to one second. 

### (E) Control of on or off operation actions shall be within ± 6 seconds of the scheduled time. (F) Condensate drain lines shall be attached ;o the unit as specified in the manufacturer's installation instructions. (C) The flue pipe installation must now allow condensate formed in the flue pipe to flow back into the unit. An initial downward slope from the unit's exit, an offset with a drip leg, annular collection rings, or drain holes must be included in the flue pipe installation without disturbing normal flue gas flow (as given in section 2.2 of Appendix N), and temperature measurement instrumentation (as given in section 2.6 of Appendix N). Flue gases shall not flow out of the drain with the condensate. 

### (H) Collection-containers must be glass or polished stainless steel, so removal of interior deposits can be easily made. ' (I) The collection

- container shall have a vent opening to the atmosphere. (J) The scale for measuring the containers and condensate sample mass shall be calibrated with an error no larger than t 0.5 percent over the range of interest. 

### (ii) Test Method. (A) The condensing furnace is to have steady

- state
, cool-down
, and heat-up tests conducted in accordance with the procedures for noncondensing units given in section 3 of Appendix N, using the flue gas

, air or water flow, and room ambient conditions given in section 2 of the condensing furnace test procedure of Appendix N. In addition, a steady-state and a cyclic condensate collection procedure shall be conducted. 

### (B) the condensate collection containers shall be dried prior to a sample collection.(C) Tare weight of the collectioncontainer must be measured and recorded prior to each sample collection. 

### (D) Return air temperature for cyclic and steady

- state tests shall be equal to those required for steady

- state test periods, and shall remain within the limits given in the existing test procedure. (E) Operating times for on and off periods in the cyclic condensate collection procedure shall be 3 minutes 52 seconds on and 13 minutes 20 seconds off for warm air furnaces.

### Federal Register / Vol. 48, .No. 121 / Wednesday, June 22 , 1983 / Notices 20533

(F) The unit should be operated in a cyclical manner until flue gastemperatures at the end of each onperiod are within 5°F (2.8°C) of each other for two consecutive cycles. (G) Begin the cyclic condensate collection at one minute before start up of the first test on-period. (H) Six cycles later, the container shall be removed at the end of the cool down cycle one minute prior to the beginning of what would be the seventh cycle period. (I) Begin the steady-state condensate collection after steady-state conditions have been achieved as specified insection 3 of Appendix N. The steadystate condensate collection period shall be one (1) hour. (J) Condensate mass shalt be measured immediately at the end of the collection period to prevent evaporation loss from the sample. (K) Fuel input shall be recorded during the entire cycle test period starting at the beginning of the on-time of the first cycle to the beginning of the on-time of the second cycle, etc., for each of the sixtest cycles, and for the one hour steadystate test period. Fuel Higher Heating Value (HHV), temperature and pressures necessary for determining fuel energy inputs, Q and Q. will be observed and recorded. The fuel quantity and HHV shall be measured with errors no greater than +r1 jrep^evT. (iii) Calculating the condensing Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency (AFUE). (A) Determine the mass of condensate for the cyclic test, Inc, by subtracting the tare container weight from the total container and condensate weight measured at end of the six cycles of operations. Determine the mass of condensate for the steady-state test, m.„ by subtracting the tare container weight from the total container and condensate weight measured at the end of the one hour test period. (B) Calculate the fuel energy input during the cyclic and steady-state condensate collection tests, Q, and Q.(C) Calculate the cyclic and steadystate heat gain due to condensation, LG and LG.ss, in percent by the following equations:

Lc (me) (1053.3) (100)

Q.

(mu) (1053.3) (100) (D) Calculate the cyclic and steadystate loss, Lc and L,.bs, due to hot condensate going down the drain, correcting for the fact that this condensate did not go up the flue as heated vapor, in percent by the following equations:

L< _ LG 11.0 (T,.,.-90) -

,45(T,..-42)jl

1053.3

LG.ss [1.0(Tr.N-70) - .45(Tr. N-42)l

1053.3

(E) Calculate the condensing AFUE by adding the percent heat gain due to condensing, LG, to the previously calculated noncondensing AFUE and by subtracting

AFUE° = AFUENC + Lc-L<


### (F) Calculate the condensing steadystate.efficiency, N,,,,, by adding the percent heat gain due to condensing, LG..., to the previously calculated noncondensing steady-state efficiency N.,,,,,, and by subtracting I.C,,,.

Nwc = N.

, .C + La

. N - LC. 1 (iv) with the exception of the modifications set forth in subparagraphs (i), (ii), and (iii) above, Amana Refrigeration, Inc. 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 the Department of Energy 

### -prescribes. final test procedures appropriate to the type of condensing warm air furnace manufactured by Amana Refrigeration, Inc. (4) This waiver is based upon the presumed validity of statements, allegations , and documentary materials submitted by the applicant and commenters. This waiver may be revoked or modified at any time upon a determination that the factual basis underlying the application is incorrect. Issued in Washington, D.C. June 8,1983.

Howard S

. Coleman, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Conservation andlienewableEnergy.

(FR Doc. 83-18846 Filed 0-21-83; 8:45 am)

BILLING CODE 6450-01-M 

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Q.