54FR19226

1922) Federal Register / Vol. 54, No. 85 / Thursday, May 4, 1989 / Notices

Office of Conservation and

Renewable Energy

Energy Conservation Program for

Consumer Products, Petition for

Waiver of Furnace Test Procedures

From Trane Co. (F-017)

The Department of Energy published a

document in the Federal Register at 54

FR 15986, Apr. 20,1989, concerning the

above referenced "Petition for Waiver."

The "Petition for Waiver" and the letter

granting the "Application, for Interim

Waiver" issued to the Trane Co. were

inadvertently omitted. This document

corrects the error and sets forth the full

text of the two letters.

Issued in Washington, DC, on April 27,

1989.

John R. Berg,

Assistant Secretary, Conservation and

Renewable Energy.

April 12. 1989.

Mr. L.E. Chaump,

t ice President Engineering, The Trane

Company, Troup Highway, Tyler, Texas

75711.

Dear Mr. Chaump: This is in response to

your February 27,1989, Application for

Interim Waiver, from the Department of

Energy (DOE) test procedures for furnaces

when testing Trane's gas-fueled forced-air

condensing furnace identified as TUC(-) and

TDC(-) series.

Pursuant to the Energy Policy and

Conservation Act, as amended. the

Department has prescribed test procedures to

measure the energy consumption of certain

major household appliances, including

furnaces. The intent of the test procedures is

to provide a comparable measure of energy

consumption that will assist consumers in

making purchase decisions. These test

procedures appear in the Code of Federal

Regulations at 10 CFR Part 430, Subpart B.

DOE amended the test procedure

regulations on September 26, 1980 [45 FR

64108] and November 26,1986 [51 FR 42823j.

These provisions allow the Assistant

Secretary for Conservation and Renewable

Energy 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 of the basic model 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 characteristics

as to provide materially inadequate

comparative data. The 1986 amendments

provide that an interim waiver from test

procedures requirements will be granted by

the Assistant Secretary for Conservation and

Renewable Energy if 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 for Conservation and Renewable

Energy determines that it would be desirable

for public policy reasons to grant immediate

relief pending a determination on the petition

for waiver. § 430.27.

The Department finds that it would be

desirable for public policy reasons to grant

Trane's Application for Interim Waiver.

Specifically, in those instances where DOE

has granted a waiver for a similar product

design, it is in the public's interest to have

similar products tested and rated for energy

consumption on a comparable basis.

Previous waivers for this type of timed

blower delay control have been granted to

the Coleman Company, Magic Chef

Company, and Rheem Manufacturing

Company. 50 FR 2710, January 18, 1985, 50 FR

41553, October 11, 1985, and 53 FR 48574,

December 1, 1988, respectively.

Therefore, Trane's Application for an

Interim Waiver requesting relief from the

DOE test procedures for its TUC(-) series

and TDC(-) series of condensing furnaces is

granted.

Trane shall be permitted to test its TUC(-)

series and TDC(-) series of condensing

furnaces on the basis of the test procedures

specified in 10 CFR Part 430, with the

modification set forth below.

(i) Section 9.3.1 of ANSI/ASHR.AE

Standard 103-1982 is deleted and replaced

with the following paragraph:

Gas- and Oil-Fueled Central Furnaces.

After equilibrium conditions are achieved

following the cool-down test and the required

measurements performed, turn on the furnace

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

circulation blower, in which case the burner

and blower shall be started together, (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 heat-up test for oilfueled furnaces, maintain the draft in the flue

pipe with ±0.01 inch of water gauge of the

manufacturer's recommended on-period

draft.

This interim waiver shall remain in effect

for 180 days from the date of issuance or until

the Department of Energy issues a

determination on Trade's Petition for Waiver,

whichever occurs first.

This interim waiver is based upon the

prescribed validity of statements and

allegations submitted by the applicant. This

interim waiver may be revoked or modified

at any time upon a determination that the

factual basis underlying the application is

incorrect.

Sincerely,

Dr. John R. Berg,

Assistant Secretary, Conservation and

Renewable Energy.

February 27, 1989.

Assistant Secretary, Conservation and

Renewable Energy,

United States Department of Energy, 1000

Independence Avenue SW., Washington.

DC 20585

Gentlemen: This petition for waiver and

interim waiver is submitted pursuant to Title

10 CFR 430.27. Waiver is requested from the

condensing furnace test procedure found at

Appendix N to Subpart B of Part 430. The

Heat-Up Test procedure requires a 1.5 minute

time delay between burner and blowerstartup. Significant energy is lost during the

delay period. Starting in April 1989, Trane

will manufacture condensing furnaces having

fixed timing controls which will activate the

blower 0.5 minutes after burner start-up.

These furnaces will include the TUC(-)

upflow and TDC(-) downflow model

families. These controls reduce losses by 1.6%

to 2.0%, or approximately 2017. of the total

energy losses. The current procedures do not

recognize such controls causing energy losses

to be overstated. The petition requests that

the true delay be used for more accurate

representation of efficiency. Confidential

supporting test data is available upon

request.

An interim waiver is requested because it

seems likely that our waiver will be granted.

Similar waivers have been granted to

Coleman, Magic Chef, and Rheem. All central

furnace manufacturers known to Trane have

been notified by letter of our application. A

copy of the letter and a list of the

manufacturers is attached.

Sincerely,

L.E. Chaump,

Vice President Engineering.

[FR Doc. 89-10681 Filed 5-3-89: 8:45 am]

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