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This is a draft document and does not represent a definitive view of the agency on the questions 

addressed.

This and other guidance documents are accessible on the U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Efficiency 

& Renewable Energy web site at: http://www1.eere.energy.gov/guidance/default.aspx?pid=2&spid=1.

Guidance Type: Test Procedures

Category: Commercial and Industrial Equipment

Product: Automatic Commercial Ice Makers

Guidance Version: DRAFT

Issued: January 28, 2013

Comment Period Closes: February 28, 2013

DRAFT Guidance Document for Testing Automatic Commercial Ice Makers

The following is a draft U.S. Department of Energy (DOE or the Department) guidance document

regarding the test procedure for automatic commercial ice makers (ACIM). This draft guidance 

document represents the Department’s interpretation of its existing regulations and is exempt from the 

notice and comment requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act. See 5 U.S.C. § 553(b)(A). 

Nevertheless, the Department is accepting comments and suggestions from the public until February 28, 

2013. Comments and suggestions should be provided in WordPerfect, Microsoft Word, PDF, or text file 

format by sending an email to ACIMGuidance-2012-0044@ee.doe.gov. Please also include the docket 

number EERE-2012-BT-STD-044. At the end of the comment period, this draft guidance document may

be adopted, revised, or withdrawn.

Q: Does the DOE test procedure for automatic commercial ice makers allow use of temporary baffles

to reduce or prevent recirculation of air between the ice maker’s air outlet and inlet during testing?

A: The DOE test procedure for automatic commercial ice makers is found in the Code of Federal

Regulations at 10 CFR 431.134, Subpart H, and incorporates by reference AHRI Standard 810–2007 with 

Addendum 1, (AHRI 810), Performance Rating of Automatic Commercial Ice-Makers, March 2011 and 

ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 29–2009, (ANSI/ASHRAE 29), Method of Testing Automatic Ice Makers (including 

Errata Sheets issued April 8, 2010 and April 21, 2010). The DOE test procedure requires that the 

ambient air temperature be maintained at 90°F ± 1°F; there is also an exception for batch equipment 

during the first five minutes of each freeze cycle, during which the ambient air temperature must be 

maintained at 90°F ± 2°F. The test procedure specifies that this ambient air temperature shall be 

measured with two temperature measuring devices centered 1 foot from the air inlet or inlets.

For the purposes of this guidance discussion, a baffle is a partition (usually made of flat material like 

cardboard, plastic, or sheet metal) that reduces or prevents recirculation of warm air from an ice 

maker’s air outlet to its air inlet—or, for remote condensers, from the condenser’s air outlet to its inlet. 

This discussion specifically addresses baffles that are temporarily mounted externally to the ice maker 

during testing. DOE has developed this guidance because the DOE test procedure does not explicitly 

indicate whether such temporary baffles may be used during testing of automatic commercial ice 

makers. Because the baffle may reduce the average temperature of the air entering the inlet, use of 
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such temporary baffles during testing could result in a lower measured energy use that is not 

representative of the energy use of the unit as operated by the end user. 

Section 4.1.4 of AHRI 810-2007 states that the unit will be “set up for testing per the manufacturer’s 

written instructions provided with the unit” and “no adjustments of any kind shall be made to the test 

unit prior to or during the test that would affect the ice capacity, energy usage, or water usage of the 

test sample”. The test procedure therefore does not allow the use of temporary baffles for testing that 

are not either (a) part of the ice maker or (b) shipped with the ice maker to be installed according to 

manufacturers’ installation instructions. The use of temporary baffles is not consistent with the 

requirements of the DOE test procedure for automatic commercial ice makers and the use of such 

temporary baffles for the purpose of testing would be considered a failure to test the automatic 

commercial ice maker in conformance with the applicable test requirements, a prohibited act under 10 

CFR 429.102(a)(2).

DOE is aware that warm air discharged from the ice maker can affect the ambient air temperature 

measurement such that it fluctuates outside the maximum allowed ± 1  ̊F or ± 2  ̊F range and that baffles 

can prevent such fluctuation. However, baffles may not be installed temporarily for testing to mitigate 

this issue. If the fluctuations cannot be maintained within the required tolerances, temperature 

measuring devices may be shielded so that the indicated temperature will not be affected by the 

intermittent passing of warm discharge air at the measurement location. However, the shields must not 

block recirculation of this air into the condenser or ice maker inlet.