56FR4622

4622 Federal Register / Vol. 56, No. 24 / Tuesday, February 5, 1991 / Notices

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 GC-41, Forrestal

Building, 1000 Independence Avenue,

SW., Washington, DC 20585, (2021

586-9507.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In

accordance with 10 CFR 430.2 '(g), notice

is hereby given of the issuance of the

Decision and Order as set out below. In

the Decision and Order, DMO has been

granted a waiver for its model WCS (-)

condensing gas furnaces, permitting the

company to use an alternate test method

in determining the Annual Fuel

Utilization Efficiency (AFUE).

Issued in Washington. DC. January 31,

1991.

1. Michael Davis, P.E.,

Assistant Secretary. Conservation and

Renewable Energy.

Decision and Order, Department of Energy.

Office of Conservation and Renewable

Energy

In the matter of DMO Industries (Case No.

F-020)

Background

The Energy Conservation Program for

Consumer Products (other than

automobiles) 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),

Office of Conservation and

Renewable Energy

[Case No. F-0201

Energy Conservation Program for

Consumer Products; Decision and

Order Granting Waiver From Furnace

Test Procedures to DMO Industries

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-020)

granting DMO Industries (DMO) a

waiver for its model WSC(-) condensing

gas furnaces from existing Department

of Energy (DOE) test procedures

regarding blower time delay for

determining the model's energy

efficiency.

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, 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 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 describe 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

sooner, and may be extended for an

additional 180 days, if necessary.

DMO filed a "Petition for Waiver"

dated September 27, 1989, in accordance

with § 430.27 of 10 CFR part 430. DOE

published in the Federal Register on

February 8,1990, DMO's petition and

solicited comments, data and

information respecting the petition. 55

FR 4004. DMO also filed an "Application

for Interim Waiver" under section

430.27(g) which DOE granted on January

31,1990. 55 FR 4004, February 6,1990.

No comments were received

concerning either the "Petition for

Waiver" or the "Interim Waiver." DOE

consulted with the Federal Trade

Commission (FTC) concerning the DMO

petition. The FTC did not have any

objections to the issuance of a waiver to

DMO.

Assertions and Determinations

DMO's Petition seeks a waiver from

the DOE test provisions that require a

1.5-minutes time delay between the

ignition of the burner and the starting of

the circulating air blower. DMO requests

the allowance to test using a 30-seconds

blower time delay when testing its

WCS(-) series condensing gas furnaces.

DMO states that since the 30-seconds

CAS-RM-79-104 COMMENT 46
56FR4622

Federal Register / Vol. 56, No. 24 / Tuesday, February 5, 1991 / Notices

delay Is indicative of how this model

actually operates and since such a delay

results in an improvement in efficiency

of approximately 2.0 percent, the waiver

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-

minutes delay. DMO indicates that it is

unable to take advantage of any of these

exceptions for the WCS(-) series

condensing gas furnaces.

Since the blower controls

incorporated on the DMO furnace are

designed to impose a 30-seconds 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-seconds blower

time delay when testing the DMO

WCS(-) series furnace . Accordingly,

with regard to testing the WCS(-) series

furnace, today's Decision and Order

exempts DMO from the existing

provisions regarding blower controls

and allows testing with the 30-seconds

delay.

It is therefore, ordered that:

(1) The "Petition for Waiver" filed by

the DMO Industries (Case No. F-020) is

hereby granted as set forth 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, the DMO Industries shall

be permitted to test its WCS(-) series

condensing gas furnace on the basis of

the test procedure specified in 10 CFR

part 430. with modifications set forth

below: -

(I) Section 3A in 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/ASIIRAE 103-82 with

the exception of sections 9.2.2, 9.3.1,

9.3.2, and the inclusion of the following

additional procedures:

(ii) Add a new paragraph 3.10 in

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 in ANSI/ASHRAE 103-82.

After equilibrium conditions are

achieved following the cool-down test

and the required measurements

performed, turn on the furnaces 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 ft-), 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 heatup test for

oil-fueled furnaces, maintain the draft in

the flue pipe within ±0.01 in. of water

gauge of the manufacturer's

recommended on-period draft.

(iii) With the exception of the

modifications set forth above, DMO

Industries 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 WCS(-)

series condensing gas furnace

manufactured by DMO Industries.

(4)jThis 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 January 31, 1991 this

Waiver supersedes the Interim Waiver

granted DMO Industries on January 31,

1990. 55 FR 4004, February 6, 1990, (Case

No. F-020).

Issued in Washington, DC, January 31,

1991.

J. Michael Davis, P.E.,

Assistant Secretary, Conservation and

Renewable Energy.

(FR Doc. 91-2681 Filed-1-31-91; 8:45 am]

9IWNG COOS $450-Cl-a

CAS-RM-79-104 COMMENT 46