Federal Register

Issued In Washington, DC, November 27,

1991.

J. Michael Davis,

Assistant Secretary, Conservation and

Renewable Energy.

[FR Doc. 91-29287 Filed 12-5-91: 8:45 am]

BIWNG CODE 6450-01-U

56FR63945

Vol. 56, No. 235 / Friday, December 6, 1991 / Notices

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),

[Case No. F-0311

Energy Conservation Program for

Consumer Products; Decision and

Order Granting a Waiver From the

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-031)

granting a Waiver to Inter-City Products

Corporation (Inter-City) from the

existing Department of Energy (DOE)

test procedures for furnaces. The

Department is granting Inter-City its

Petition for Waiver regarding blower

time delay in calculation of Annual Fuel

Utilization Efficiency (AFUE) for its

PGAA series of gas furnaces.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Cyrus H. Nasseri, U.S. Department of

Energy, Office of Conservation and

Renewable Energy, Mail Station CE43, Forrestal Building, 1000

IndependenceAvenue SW.,

Washington, DC 20585, (202) 586-9127.

Eugene Margolis, Esq., U.S. Department

of Energy, Office of General Counsel,

Mail Station GC-41, 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, Inter-City has

been granted a Waiver for its PGAA

series of gas furnaces, permitting the

company to use an alternate test method

in determining the Annual Fuel

Utilization Efficiency (AFUE).

Issued in Washington, DC, November 27,

1991.

J. Michael Davis,

Assistant Secretary, Conservation and

Renewable Energy.

Decision and Order

In the matter of: Inter-City Products

Corporation (Case No. F-.O31).

Background

The Energy Conservation Program for

Consumer Products (other than

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 comparable data. Waivers

generally remain in effect until final test

procedure amendments became

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 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 Waiver. An Interim Waiver

remains in effect for a period of 180 days

or until DOE issues its determination on

the Petition for Waiver, whichever is

63945

sooner, and may be extended for an

additional 180 days, if necessary.

Inter-City filed a "Petition for Waiver"

dated February 18, 1991, in accordance

with section 430.27 of 10 CFR Part 430.

DOE published in the Federal Register

on June 18, 1991, Inter-City's petition and

solicited comments, data and

information respecting the petition. 56

FR 27959. Inter-City also filed an

"Application for Interim Waiver" under

section 430.27(g) which DOE granted on

May 29, 1991. 56 FR 27959, June 18, 1991.

No comments were received

concerning either the "Petition for

Waiver" or the "Interim Waiver." DOE

consulted with the Federal Trade

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

objections to the issuance of the waiver

to Inter-City.

Assertions and Determinations

Inter-City's Petition seeks a waiver

from the DOE test provisions that

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 PGAA series of gas

furnaces. Inter-City states that since the

30-second delay is indicative of how

these models actually operate and since

such a delay results in an improvement

in efficiency of approximately 1.7

percent, the Petition 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 its PGAA series of

gas furnaces.

Since the blower controls

incorporated on the Inter-City furnaces

are designed to impose a 30-second

blower delay in every instance of start

up, 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 PGAA series of gas

furnaces. Accordingly, with regard to

testing the PGAA series of gas furnaces,

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-031) is hereby granted as

set forth in paragraph (2) below, subject

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

and (5).

CAS-RM-79-104 COMMENT 68
63946

56FR63945

Federal Register / Vol. 56, No. 235 / Friday, December 6, 1991 / .Notices

(2) Notwithstanding any contrary

provisions of appendix N of 10 CFR part

430, subpart B, the Inter-City Products

Corporation shall be permitted to test its

PGAA series of 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 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 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 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 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 inch of water

column of the manufacturer's

recommended on-period draft.

(iii) With the exception of the

modification set forth 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 PGAA

series of gas furnaces 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 November 27, 1991, this

Waiver supersedes the Interim Waiver

Granted Inter-City Products Corporation

on May 29, 1991. 56 FR 27959, June 18,

1991, (Case No. F-031).

Issued in Washington. DC, November 27,

1991.

J. Michael Davis,

Assistant Secretary, Conservation and

Renewable Energy.

[FR Doc. 91-29288 Filed 12-5-91; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6450-01-ti

Case No. F-037

Energy Conservation Program for

Consumer Products; Application for

Interim Waiver and Petition for Waiver

of Furnace Test Procedures From

Rheem Manufacturing Co.

AGENCY: Office of Conservation-and

Renewable Energy, Department of

Energy.

SUMMARY: Today's notice publishes a

letter granting an Interim Waiver to

Rheem Manufacturing Company

(Rheem) from the existing Department of

Energy (DOE) test procedures for

furnaces regarding blower time delay for

the company's GDG and GLG series of

gas furnaces.

Today's notice also publishes a

"Petition for Waiver" from Rheem.

Rheem's Petition for Waiver requests

DOE to grant relief from the DOE test

procedures relating to the blower time

delay specification. Rheem seeks to test

using a blower delay time of 30 seconds

for its GDG and GLG series of gas

furnaces instead of the specified 1.5-

minute delay between burner on-time

and blower on-time. DOE is soliciting

comments, data, and information

respecting the Petition for Waiver.

DATE: DOE will accept comments, data,

and information not later than January

6, 1992.

ADDRESS: Written comments and

statements shall be sent to: Department

of Energy, Office of Conservation and

Renewable Energy, Case No. F-037, Mail

Stop CE-90, Room 6B-025, Forrestal

Building, 1000 Independence Avenue

SW., Washington, DC 20585, (202) 586-

3012.

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 CE-41, Forrestal Building,

1000 Independence Avenue, SW.,

Washington, DC 20585, (202) 586-9507.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

Energy Conservation Program for

Consumer Products (other than

automobiles) was established pursuant

-to the Energy Policy and Conservation

Act (EPCA), Public Law 94-183, 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, which 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 on

September 28, 1980, creating the waiver

process. 45 CFR 64108. Thereafter DOE

further amended the 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.

The interim waiver provisions, added

by the 1986 amendment, allow the

Assistant Secretary to grant an Interim

CAS-RM-79-104 COMMENT 68