Federal Register / Vol. 57, No. 188 / Friday, August 28, 1992 / Notices 39193

Office of Conservation and

Renewable Energy

(Case No. F-0511

Energy.

ACTION: Decision and order.

Energy Conservation Program for

Consumer Products: Decision and

Order Granting a Waiver From the

Furnace Test Procedure to Armstrong

Air Conditioning, Inc.

AGENCY: Office of Conservation and

Renewable Energy, Department of

SUMMARY: Notice is given of the

Decision and Order (Case No. F-051)

granting a Waiver to Armstrong Air

Conditioning, Inc. (Armstrong) from the

existing Department of Energy (DOE)

test procedure for furnaces. The

Department is granting Armstrong its

Petition for Waiver regarding blower

time delay in calculation of Annual Fuel

Utilization Efficiency (AFUE) for its

GHC series of gas furnaces.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:.

Cyrus H. Nasseri, U.S. Department of

Energy, Office of Conservation and

Renewable Energy, Mail Station CE431, 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,

Forrestral 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, Armstrong has

been granted a Waiver for its GHC

series of gas furnace, permitting the

company to use an alternative test

method in determining AFUE.

Issued in Washington. DC, August 21.1992.

1. Michael Davis,

Assistant Secretary Conservation and

Renewable Energy.

Background

The Energy Conservation Program for

Consumer Products (other than

automobiles) was 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),

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 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 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

CAS-RM-79-104 COMMENT 89
39194 Federal Register / Vol. 57, No. 168 / Friday, August 28, 1992 / Notices

sooner, and may be extended for an

additional 180 days, if necessary.

Armstrong filed a "Petition for

Waiver," dated March 20,1992. In

accordance with 1430.27 of 10 CFR part

430. DOE published in the Federal

Register on June 2Z 1992, Armstrong's

petition and solicited comments, data

and information respecting the petition.

57 FR 27765. Armstrong also filed an

"Application for Interim Waiver" under

§ 430.27(g) which DOE granted on June

16,1992.57 FR 27765, June 22,1992.

No comments were received

concerning either the "Petition for

Waiver" or the "Interim Waiver." Doe

consulted with The Federal Trade

Commission (FTC) concerning the

Armstrong Petition. The FTC did not

have any objections to the issuance of

the waiver to Armstrong.

Assertions and Determinations

Armstrong'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.

Armstrong requests the allowance to

test using a 30-second blower time delay

when testing its GHC series of gas

furnaces. Armstrong 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 0.6

percent, the petition should be granted.

Under specific circumstances, the

DOE test procedure contain exceptions

which allow testing with blower delay

times of less than the prescribed 1.5-

minute delay. Armstrong indicates that

it is unable to take advantage of any of

these exceptions for its GHC series of

gas furnaces.

Since the blower controls

incorporated on the Armstrong 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 Armstrong GHC series of gas

furnaces. Accordingly, with regard to

testing the GHC series of gas furnaces,

today's Decision and Order exempts

Armstrong 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

Armstrong Air Conditioning. Inc. (Case

No. F-051) 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. Armstrong Air

Conditioning, Inc. shall be permitted to

test its GHC series of gas furnaces on

the basis of the test procedure specified

in 10 CFR part 430, with modifications

set forth below:

(i) Section 3A 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 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 (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 abuts 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

stopwatch. 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

modifications set forth above,

Armstrong Air Conditioning, 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 DOE prescribes final test

procedures appropriate to the GHC

series of gas furnaces manufactured by

Armstrong Air Conditioning, Inc.

(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 August 21,1992, this

Waiver supersedes the Interim Waiver

granted Armstrong Air Conditioning.

Inc. on June 16,1992.57 FR 27765, June

22, 1992 (Case No. F-051).

Issued In Washington, DC, August 21, 1982.

j. Michael Davis,

Assistant Secretary, Conservation and

Renewable Energy.

(FR Doc. 92-20625 Filed 8-27-82: &45 amj

CAS-RM-79-104 COMMENT 89