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CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1.1 PURPOSE OF THE DOCUMENT ................................................................................. 1-1

1.2 OVERVIEW OF STANDARDS FOR FURNACE FANS ............................................. 1-1

1.3 PROCESS FOR SETTING ENERGY CONSERVATION STANDARDS ................... 1-2

1.4 STRUCTURE OF THE DOCUMENT............................................................................ 1-5

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1.3.1 Analyses Under the Process Rule ........................................................................ 1-4
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CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 PURPOSE OF THE DOCUMENT

This preliminary technical support document (preliminary TSD) is a stand-alone report 

that provides the technical analyses and results supporting the information presented in the 

preliminary notice of public meeting (NOPM) and executive summary for residential furnace 

fans. This preliminary TSD reports on the preliminary activities and analyses conducted in the 

period preceding the notice of proposed rulemaking (NOPR) of this rulemaking.

1.2 OVERVIEW OF STANDARDS FOR FURNACE FANS

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is initiating its first rulemaking to consider new

energy conservation standards for furnace fans, as required under the Energy Policy and 

Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 6295(f)(4)(D), EPCA) which provides as follows:

Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, if the requirements of subsection (o) of this 

section are met, not later than December 31, 2013, the Secretary shall consider and prescribe 

energy conservation standards or energy use standards for electricity used for purposes of 

circulating air through duct work.

DOE interprets this Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) language to allow DOE to 

cover the electricity used by any electrically powered device used in a residential central heating, 

ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system for the purpose of circulating air through 

ductwork. Consequently, DOE defines a residential furnace fan as any electrically powered 

device used in a residential central HVAC system for the purpose of circulating air through 

ductwork. DOE considers a typical furnace fan as consisting of a fan motor and its controls, an 

impeller, and a housing, all of which are components of an HVAC product that includes 

additional components, such as the cabinet. The following list describes DOE’s provisional 

decision regarding the scope of coverage of this rulemaking.

• Included products: the furnace fans used in weatherized and non-weatherized gas

furnaces, oil furnaces, electric furnaces, modular blowers, and hydronic air 

handlers. 

• Excluded products: other products that incorporate furnace fans, such as central 

air conditioner (CAC) blower-coil units, through-the-wall air handlers, small duct 

high-velocity (SDHV) air handlers, energy recovery ventilators (ERVs), heat 

recovery ventilators (HRVs), draft inducer fans, and exhaust fans. 

Products excluded from this rulemaking will be considered in a future, separate coverage 

determination rulemaking.
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There are no current DOE standards for residential furnace fans. In June 2010, DOE 

initiated this rulemaking by publishing a notice of public meeting and availability of the 

framework document. 75 FR 31323 (June 3, 2010) The framework document, Rulemaking 

Framework Document for Residential Furnace Fans, describes the procedural and analytical 

approaches DOE anticipated using to evaluate the establishment of new energy conservation 

standards for these products. The framework document is available at: 

http://www1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/appliance_standards/residential/furnace_fans_framework

.html. Subsequently, DOE held a public meeting on June 18, 2010 (“June 2010 public meeting”) 

to discuss procedural and analytical approaches to the rulemaking. EPCA directs DOE to 

establish test procedures in conjunction with new or amended energy conservation standards, 

including furnace fans. (42 U.S.C. 6295(r)) To fulfill this requirement, DOE is simultaneously 

conducting a test procedure rulemaking for furnace fans.

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1.3 PROCESS FOR SETTING ENERGY CONSERVATION STANDARDS

Under EPCA, when DOE is studying new or amended standards, it must consider, to the 

greatest extent practicable, the following seven factors (42 U.S.C. 6295 (o)(2)(B)(i)):

1) the economic impact of the standard on the manufacturers and consumers of the affected 

products; 

2) the savings in operating costs throughout the estimated average life of the product 

compared to any increases in the initial cost or maintenance expense; 

3) the total projected amount of energy savings likely to result directly from the imposition 

of the standard; 

4) any lessening of the utility or the performance of the products likely to result from the 

imposition of the standard; 

5) the impact of any lessening of competition, as determined in writing by the Attorney 

General, that is likely to result from the imposition of the standard; 

6) the need for national energy conservation; and 

7) other factors the Secretary considers relevant.

 

a U.S. Department of Energy-Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Energy Conservation Program 

for Consumer Products: Test Procedures for Furnace Fans, Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, May 17, 2012. 

Washington, DC. Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 94.
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Other statutory requirements are set forth in 42 U.S.C. 6295 (o)(1)–(2)(A), (2)(B)(ii)–

(iii), and (3)–(4) and 42 U.S.C. 6316(e).

DOE considers interested party participation to be a very important part of the process for 

setting energy conservation standards. Through formal public notifications (i.e., Federal Register

notices), DOE actively encourages the participation and interaction of all interested parties 

during the comment period in each stage of the rulemaking. Beginning with the framework 

document and during subsequent comment periods, interactions among interested parties provide 

a balanced discussion of the information that is required for the standards rulemaking.

Before DOE determines whether or not to adopt a proposed energy conservation 

standard, it must first solicit comments on the proposed standard. (42 U.S.C. 6313(a)(6)(B)(i))

Any new or amended standard must be designed to achieve significant additional conservation of 

energy and be technologically feasible and economically justified. (42 U.S.C. 6313(a)(6)(A)) To

determine whether economic justification exists, DOE must review comments on the proposal 

and determine that the benefits of the proposed standard exceed its burdens to the greatest extent 

practicable, weighing the seven factors listed above. (42 U.S.C. 6295 (o)(2)(B)(i))

After the publication of the framework document, the energy conservation standards 

rulemaking process involves three additional, formal public notices, which DOE publishes in the 

Federal Register. The first of the rulemaking notices is a NOPM, which is designed to publicly 

vet the models and tools used in the preliminary rulemaking and to facilitate public participation 

before the NOPR stage. The second notice is the NOPR, which presents a discussion of

comments received in response to the NOPM and the preliminary analyses and analytical tools; 

analyses of the impacts of potential amended energy conservation standards on consumers, 

manufacturers, and the Nation; DOE’s weighting of these impacts of amended energy 

conservation standards; and the proposed energy conservation standards for each product. The 

third notice is the final rule, which presents a discussion of the comments received in response to 

the NOPR; the revised analyses; DOE’s weighting of these impacts; the amended energy 

conservation standards DOE is adopting for each product; and the effective dates of the amended 

energy conservation standards.

In June 2010, DOE published a notice of public meeting and availability of the 

framework document. 75 FR 31323 (June 3, 2010) The framework document, Rulemaking 

Framework Document for Residential Furnace Fans, describes the procedural and analytical 

approaches DOE anticipated using to evaluate the establishment of new energy conservation 

standards for these products. This document is available at: 

http://www1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/appliance_standards/residential/furnace_fans_framework

.html.

Subsequently, DOE held a public meeting on June 18, 2010 (“June 2010 public 

meeting”) to discuss procedural and analytical approaches to the rulemaking. In addition, DOE 

used the public meeting to inform and facilitate involvement of interested parties in the 

rulemaking process. The analytical framework presented at the public meeting described the 

different analyses, such as the engineering analysis and the consumer economic analyses (i.e., 
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the life-cycle cost (LCC) and payback period (PBB) analyses), the methods proposed for 

conducting them, and the relationships among the various analyses.

Table 1.3.1 Analyses Under the Process Rule

Preliminary Analyses NOPR Final Rule

Market and technology assessment Revised preliminary analyses Revised NOPR analyses

Screening analysis Life-cycle cost sub-group 

analysis

Engineering analysis Manufacturer impact analysis

Energy use determination Utility impact analysis

Markups for equipment price 

determination

Emissions analysis

Life-cycle cost and payback period 

analysis

Employment impact analysis

Shipments analysis Regulatory impact analysis

National impact analysis

Preliminary manufacturer impact analysis

During the June 2010 public meeting, interested parties commented about numerous 

issues relating to each one of the analyses listed in Table 1.3.1. Comments from interested parties 

submitted during the framework document comment period elaborated on the issues raised 

during the public meeting. DOE attempted to address these issues during its preliminary analyses 

and summarized the comments and DOE’s responses in chapter 2 of the preliminary TSD.

As part of the information gathering and sharing process, DOE organized and held 

interviews with manufacturers of the residential furnace fans considered in this rulemaking as 

part of the engineering analysis. DOE selected companies that represented production of all types 

of products, ranging from small to large manufacturers, and included the Air-Conditioning, 

Heating and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) member companies. DOE had four objectives for 

these interviews: (1) solicit manufacturer feedback on the draft inputs to the engineering 

analysis; (2) solicit feedback on topics related to the preliminary manufacturer impact analysis; 

(3) provide an opportunity, early in the rulemaking process, to express manufacturers’ concerns 

to DOE; and (4) foster cooperation between manufacturers and DOE.

DOE incorporated the information gathered during the engineering interviews with 

manufacturers into its engineering analysis (chapter 5) and the preliminary manufacturer impact 

analysis (chapter 12). Following the publication of the preliminary analyses and the NOPM 

public meeting, DOE intends to hold additional meetings with manufacturers as part of the 

consultative process for the manufacturer impact analysis conducted during the NOPR phase of 

the rulemaking.
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DOE developed an LCC spreadsheet that calculates the LCC and PBP at various energy 

efficiency levels. DOE also developed a national impact analysis spreadsheet that calculates the 

national energy savings (NES) and national net present values (NPVs) at various energy 

efficiency levels. This spreadsheet includes a model that forecasts the impacts of amended 

energy conservation standards at various levels on product shipments. All of these spreadsheets 

are available on the DOE website for furnace fans: (

http://www1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/appliance_standards/residential/furnace_fans.htmll).

1.4 STRUCTURE OF THE DOCUMENT

This preliminary TSD outlines the analytical approaches used in this rulemaking. The

TSD consists of fourteen chapters, an environmental assessment, a regulatory impact analysis, 

and appendices.

Chapter 1 Introduction: provides an overview of the appliance standards program 

and how it applies to this rulemaking and outlines the structure of the 

document.

Chapter 2 Analytical Framework: describes the rulemaking process and addresses 

comments from interested parties on the issues raised during the public 

meeting.

Chapter 3 Market and Technology Assessment: characterizes the market for the 

considered products and the technologies available for increasing 

product efficiency.

Chapter 4 Screening Analysis: identifies all the design options that improve 

efficiency of the considered products and determines which technology 

options are viable for consideration in the engineering analysis.

Chapter 5 Engineering Analysis: discusses the methods used for developing the 

relationship between increased manufacturer price and increased 

efficiency.

Chapter 6 Markups Analysis: discusses the methods used for establishing markups 

for converting manufacturer prices to customer product costs.

Chapter 7 Energy Use Analysis: discusses the process used for generating energyuse estimates for the considered products as a function of standard 

levels.
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Chapter 8 Life-Cycle Cost and Payback Period Analysis: discusses the methods 

used to analyze effects of standards on individual customers and users of 

the products and compares the LCC and PBP of products with and 

without higher efficiency standards.

Chapter 9 Shipments Analysis: estimates shipments of the products over the 30-

year analysis period that is used in performing the national impact 

analysis (NIA), including how shipments may vary under alternative 

standard levels.

Chapter 10 National Impact Analysis: assesses the national energy savings, and the 

national net present value of total consumer costs and savings, expected 

to result from specific, potential energy conservation standards.

Chapter 11 Consumer Subgroup Analysis: discusses the effects of standards on 

different subgroups of consumers and compares the LCC and PBP of 

products with and without higher efficiency standards for these 

subgroups.

Chapter 12 Manufacturer Impact Analysis: discusses the effects of standards on the 

finances and profitability of product manufacturers.

Chapter 13 Employment Impact Analysis: discusses the effects of standards on 

national employment.

Chapter 14 Utility Impact Analysis: discusses the effects of standards on electric 

and gas utilities.

Chapter 15 Emissions Analysis: discusses the effects of standards on three 

pollutants—sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), and mercury—

as well as CO2 emissions.

Chapter 16 Monetization of Emission Reductions Benefits: discusses the effects of 

standards on the monetary benefits likely to result from the reduced 

emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOX).

Chapter 17 Regulatory Impact Analysis: discusses the impact of non-regulatory 

alternatives to efficiency standards.

Appendix 6A Detailed Data for Equipment Price Markups

Appendix 7A RECS 2005 Variables and Values
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Appendix 7B System Curve Derivation for Furnace Fans

Appendix 7C Calculation of Furnace Blower Fan Energy Consumption

Appendix 7D Derivation of House Heating Load for Furnace Fans

Appendix 7E Determination of Furnace Energy Use in the LCC Analysis

Appendix 7F Determination of Central Air Conditioner Energy Use in the LCC 

Analysis

Appendix 7G Reduced Set of Furnace Fan Models and Characteristics

Appendix 8A User Instructions for LCC and PBP Spreadsheets

Appendix 8B Monthly Energy Price Factor Calculations for Furnace Fans

Appendix 8C Marginal Energy Price Factor Calculations for Furnace Fans

Appendix 8D Installation, Maintenance, Repair Cost Determination for Furnace Fans

Appendix 8E Furnace Fan Lifetime Determination

Appendix 8F Distributions Used for Discount Rates

Appendix 10A User Instructions for Shipments and National Energy Savings 

Spreadsheet Model

Appendix 10B Full Fuel Cycle Multipliers

Appendix 10C National Net Present Value of Consumer Benefits Using Alternative 

Product Price Forecast