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ACTION: Decision and order.

SUMMARY: Notice is given of the

Decision and Order (Case No. F-037)

granting a Waiver to Rheem

Manufacturing Company (Rheem), from

the existing Department of Energy

(DOE) test procedure for furnaces. The

Department is granting Rheem its

Petition for Waiver regarding blower

time delay in calculation of Annual Fuel

Utilization Efficiency (AFUE) for its

GDG and GLG 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

Independence Avenue, SW.,

Washington, DC 20585, (202) 588-9127:

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, Rheem has

been granted a Waiver for its GDG and

GLG series of gas furnaces, permitting

the company to use an alternate test

method in determining AFUE.

Issued in Washington, DC, March 11,1992.

). Michael Davis,

Assistant Secretary, Conservation and

Renewable Energy.

In the matter of: Rheem Manufacturing

Company (Case No. F-037).

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

(Case No. F-0371

Energy Conservation Program for

Consumer Products; Decision and

Order Granting a Waiver From the

Furnace Test Procedure to Rheem

Manufacturing Co.

AGENCY: Office of Conservation and

Renewable Energy, Department of

Energy.

Federal Register / Vol. 57, No. 57 / Tuesday, March 24, 1992 / Notices

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 28, 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,

1988.

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

sooner, and may be extended for an

additional 180 days, if necessary.

Rheem filed a "Petition for Waiver,"

dated August 1, 1991, in accordance with

section 430.27 of 10 CFR part 430. DOE

published in the Federal Register on

December 6,1991, Rheem's petition and

solicited comments, data and

information respecting the petition. 58

FR 63948. Rheem also filed an

"Application for Interim Waiver" under

section 430.27(g) which DOE granted on

November 27, 1991. 58 FR 83948,

December 8,1991.

No comments were received

concerning either the "Petition for

Waiver" or the "Interim Waiver." DOE

consulted with The Federal Trade

Commission (FTC) concerning the

Rheem Petition. The FTC did not have

any objections to the issuance of the

waiver to Rheem.

Assertions and Determinations.

Rheem's Petition seeks a waiver from

CAS-RM-79-104 COMMENT 78
Federal Register / Vol. 57, No. 57 / Tuesday, March 24, 1992 / Notices

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. Rheem

requests the allowance to test using a

30-second blower time delay when

testing its GDG and GLG series of gas

furnaces. Rheem 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 2.0 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. Rheem indicates that it is

unable to take advantage of any of these

exceptions for its GDG and GLG series

of gas furnaces.

Since the blower controls

incorporated on the Rheem 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 Rheem GDG

and GLG series of gas furnaces.

Accordingly, with regard to testing the

CDG and GLG series of gas furnaces.

today's Decision and Order exempts

Rheem 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 Rheem

Manufacturing Company (Case No. F037). 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, Rheem Manufacturing

Company, shall be permitted to test its

CDG and GLG 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 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

employees 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

stopwatch. Record the measured

temperatures. During the heat-up test for

oil-fueled furnaces, maintain the draft in

the flue pipe within -4_0.01 inch of water

column of the manufacturer's

recommended on-period draft.

(iii) With the exception of the

modifications set forth above, Rheem

Manufacturing Company 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 GDG and

GLG series of gas furnaces

manufactured by Rheem Manufacturing

Company.

(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 (Insert Date of Issuance).

this Waiver supersedes the Interim

Waiver granted Rheem Manufacturing

Company on November 27. FR

63946. December 6. 1991 (Case No. F037).

Issued in Washington. DC. March 11. 1992.

I. Michael Davis.

Assistant Secretory. Conservation and

Renewable Energy.

[FR Doc. 92-8706 Filed 3-23-92,. 8.45 am)

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CAS-RM-79-104 COMMENT 78