CAS-RM-79-104 COMMENT 39

55FR31099 

Federal Register / Vol. 55, No. 147 / Tuesday, July 31, 1990 / Notices 31099 

Basin's- jurisdictional customers amf 

interested state regulatory agencies. 

Any person desiring to be heard or to 

protest said filing should file a motion.to 

intervene or protest with the Federal 

Energy Regulatory Commission. 825 

North Capitol Street NE.. Washington, 

DC 20426. in accordance with § § 385.214 

and 385.211 of the Commission's Rules 

an<J. Regulations; All such motions- or 

protests should be filed on or before 

August 1, 1990. Protests will be 

considered by the Commission in 

determining the. appropriate action ia be 

taken, but will not serve. to make 

protestants parties to the proce.eding. 

Any person wishing to become a party 

must fiie a rt.ofion to intervene. Copies 

of this filing are on file ·with the 

Commission and are available for public 

inspection in the public.reference room. 

Lois I}. Cashell, -

Secretary. 

[PR Doc. 91l-17715 rued 7-3U-90; 8:45 amJ 

EllLUNG C<ODE 67l7-0t-r.t 

Office of Conservation and 

Renewable Energy 

Energy Conservation Program for 

Consumer i)roducts; Application for 

Interim Waiver and Petition for WaiverFrom 

AGENCY:· Conservation and.Renewable 

Energy Office, Department of Energy. 

swn~v:, Today's notice publishes a 

leUer granting an Interim Waiver to · 

Inter-City Products Corporation (lnterCity Products) from the existing 

Department of Energy (DOE) test 

procedures for furnaces regarding. 

blower time delay for its NUGV( - l line · 

of condensing gas furnaces. 

Today's notic!l .. also publishes a "Petition for Waiver" from Inter-City 

Products. biter-City Product's.Petition 

for Waiver req\iestsDOE to grant relief 

from the DOE. tes.t procedures. relating to 

the blower .. time delay specj.fk:ation. 

Inter-City Products seeks tQ test using a 

blower delay time of 30 sei::onds for 

NUGV(-l condensing gas furnaces 

instead of the specified 1.5 minute delay 

between burner on-time and blower ontime .. DOE is soliciting eomments, data, 

and· infor.mation respecting. the Petition 

forWaiver. · · . . 

DATES: DOE ~ill a~~ept comnients., data, 

and information not later than A~gust 

30,.1990. 

ADDRESSES: Written comments and 

statements shall be· sent to: Department 

of Eriergy, Office of Conservation and 

R1mewable Energy, Case No. F--023, Mail 

Stop CE-43, Forrestal Building, 1000 

Independence Aven1.1e, SW .. 

Washington, DC. 20585. 

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., (202} 586-

9127. . 

Eugene Margolis, Esq., U.S. Department 

of Energy, Office of General Counsel, 

Mail Station GC-12, Forrestal 

Building, 1000 Inde.pendence Avenue, 

SW., Washington, DG 20585, (202} 

586-9507. 

Background 

The Energy Conservation Program for 

Consumer Products (other than 

automobiles) was esablished pursuant 

to the Energy Policy and Conservation 

Act (EPCA), Public Law 94-1153, 8!fStat 

917, as amended by the National Energy 

Conservation Policy Act (l\TECPA}. 

Public Law 95-619,. 92 Stat. 3.266, 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 Llie test procedures is to provide a 

comparable. measure of energy 

consumption that will assist consmner 

in making purchasing decisions. These 

test procedures appear at 10 CFR part 

430, subpart B. 

DOE has amended the prescribed test 

procedures by adding 10 CFR 430.27 on 

September 28, 1980. creating the waiver 

process.-45 FR 64108. DOE fort.her 

amended the Departments' appliance 

test procedure waiver process to allow 

the Assistant Secretary for Conservation 

and Reneweable 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 proc.ess a:Ilows 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 characteristi~ which 

prevent testing at:cording to the 

prescribed test procedures or when the 

prescribed test procedures may evaluate 

the basic model in a manner so 

unrepresentative of its true ensrgy 

consun1ption 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 a 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 

determined that it would be desirable 

for public policy reasons to grant 

immediate relief pending a determination on Llie petition for waiver. 

On May 1, 1990, Inter-City Products 

filed an Application for an Interim 

Waiver regarding blower time delay. 

Inter-City Products application seeks an 

interim waiver from the DOE test 

provisions that require a 1.5 minute time 

delay between the ignition of the burner 

and starting of the circulating air 

blower. Instead, Inter-City Products 

requests the allowance to test using a 30 

second blower time delay when testing 

its NUGV( - ) condensing gas furances. 

Inter-City Products states that the 3Ct 

second delay is indicative of how these 

furnaces actually operate. Such a delay 

results in an energy savings of 

approximately 1.0 percent. Since current 

DOE test procedures do not address this 

variable blower time delay, Inter-City 

Products ask that the interim waiver be 

granted. 

Previous waivers for this type of 

timed blower delay control have been 

granted by the Department to the 

Coleman Company, 50 FR .2710, January 

18, 1985, the Magic Chef Company, 50 FR 

41553, October 11, 1985. the Rheem 

Manufacturing Company, 53 FR 48574, 

December 1, 1988, and 55 FR 3253. 

January 31, 1990, the Trane company, 54 

FR 19226, May 4, 1989, OMO Industries., 

55 FR 4004, February 6, 1990, HeilQuaker Corporation, 55FR 13184, April 

9, 1990, and Carrier Corporation, 55 FR 

13182, April 9, 1990. Thus, it appears 

likely that lhe Petition for Waiver will 

be granted for blower time delay. 

The Department finds that it would be 

deswable for public policy reasons to 

grant Inter-City Products Application for 

Interim Waiver. Specifically, in those 

instances where the likely success of the 

petition for waiver has been 

demonstrated based upon DOE having 

•granted a waiver for a similar prod11ct 

design, it is fu the product's interest to 

havethe similar products tested and 

rated for energy consumptio:n on a 

comparable basis. 
CAS-RM-79-104 COMMENT 39

55FR31099 

31100 Federal Register / Vol. 55, No. 147 / Tuesday, July 31, 1990 / Notices 

Plirsuant to paragraph (b) oflo CFR 

430.27, DOE is hereby publishing the 

"Petititm'for Waiver" in its entirety. The 

petition contains no confidential 

information. DOE solicits comments, 

data, and information respecting the 

petition. 

In addition, pursuant to paragraph (e) 

of § 430.27 of the Code of Federal 

Regulations, the following letter granting 

the Application for Interim Waiver was 

issued to'Inter-City Products 

Corporation. 

Issued in Washington, DC, July 23; 1990. 

J. Michael Davis, 

Assistant Secretary Conservation and 

Renewable Energy. 

Deparbnent of Eriergy 

Washington, DC 20585 

July 23, 1990. 

Mr. W.E. Dalton, 

Vice President Engineering, Inter-City 

Products Corporation, 1136 Heil-Quaker 

Boulevard P.O. Box 3005, Lavergne, TN 

37086-1985. 

Dear Mr. Dalton: This is in response to 

your May 1, 1990, Application for Interim 

Waiver and Petition for Waiver from the 

Department of Energy (DOE) test procedures 

for furnaces when testing Inter-City Products 

Corporation NUGV(-) condensing gas 

fumaqes regarding blower time delay. 

Pursuant to the Energy Policy and 

Conservation Act, as amended, DOE has 

prescribed test procedure's 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 

constimption that will assist consumers in 

making purchase decisions. These test 

procedures appear in 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, [51FR42823] 

by adding paragraph 430.27. These provisions 

allow the }\.ssistant Secretary for 

Conservation and Renewable Energy 

(Assistant Secretary} to waive temporarily 

test procedures for a particular basic model 

when a petitioner shows that the basic model 

cqntains one or more design characteristic 

which prevent testing of the basic model 

according to the prescribed test procedures or. 

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 amen"dments added provisions allowing 

the Assistant Secretary to grant an interim 

waiver for a particular basic model when a 

petitioner demonstrates the likely success of 

the petition for waiver, it is determined that 

the applicant will experience economic 

hardship if the Application for Interim 

Waiver is denied 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. 

Previous waivers· for timed blower delay 

control have been granted to the Coleman . 

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

Chef Company, 50 FR 41553, October 11. 1985, 

Rheem Manufacturing Company, 53 FR 48574, 

December 1, 1988, and 55 FR 3253, January 31, 

1990, the Trane Company, 54 FR 19226, May 

4, 1989, DMO Industries, 55 FR 4004, February 

6, 1990, Heil-Quaker Corporation, 55 FR 

13184, April 9, 1990, the Carrier Corporation, 

55 FR 13182, April 9, 1990. 

Inter-City Products Application for Interim 

Waiver does not provide sufficient 

information to evaluate what, if any, 

economic impact or competitive disadvantage 

Inter-City Products will likely experience 

absent a favorable determination on the 

application for interim waiver. Inter-City 

Products feels that its competitive position in 

the marketplace would be compromised if 

this Application for Interim Waiver is not 

granted. However, the Department finds that 

it would be des!rable for public policy 

reasons to grant Inter-City Products 

Application for Interim Waiver. Specifically, 

in those instances where the likely success of 

the petition for waiver has been 

demonstrated based upon DOE having 

granted a waiver for a similar product design, 

it is in the public's interest to have the similar 

products tested and rated for energy 

consumption on a comparable basis. 

Therefore, Inter-City Products Application 

for an Interim Waiver requesting a change 

from the DOE test procedures for its 

NUGV( - ) condensing gas furnaces regarding 

blower time delay is granted. 

Inter-City Products shall be permitted to 

test its line of NUGV(-J condensing gas 

furnaces on the basis of the test procedures 

specified in 10 CFR part 430, with the 

modifications set forth below. 

(i) Section 9.3.1 of ANSI/ ASHRAE 

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 friat 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 is based upon the 

presumed validity of statements and all 

allegations submitted by the company. This 

interim waiver may be revoked or modified 

at any time upon a determination that the 

factual basis underlying the application is 

incorrect. 

The interim waiver shall remain in effect 

for a period of 180 days or until DOE acts on 

the Petition for Waiver, whichever is sooner. 

If DOE has not acted by the expiration of that 

period, it will exercise its statutory authority 

to extend the interim waiver for an additional 

180-day period. 

Sincerely, 

J. Michael Davis, P.E. 

Assisiant Secretary, Conservation and 

Renewable Energy. 

Mayl, 1990. 

Assistant Secretary, Conservation and 

Renewable Energy, · 

United States Department o.f Energy, 1000 

·Independence Avenue SW, Washington, 

DC20585. 

Gentleman: Please consider this Petition for 

Waiver and Application for Interim Waiver 

pursuant to Title 10 CFR 430.27. 

Waiver is requested from the test 

procedures covering gas furnaces found at 

appendix N to subpart B of 10 CFR part 430. 

The current Heat-Up Test procedures 

requires a 1.5 minute time delay between 

burner and blower startup. Inter-City 

Products (formerly Heil-Quaker) is requesting 

to use 30 seconds instead of 1.5 minutes for 

condensing gas furnace model family 

NUGV( - ). These models will employ an 

unvarying electronic timing control which 

will start the blower in approximately 30 

seconds. This will reduce lost energy outih.~! · 

vent system and can improve energy savings-" 

approximately 1 percent. 

An Interim Waiver is requested. Several 

other manufacturers of similar furnaces have 

been granted the waiver to use reduced 

blower start up times. Known manufacturers 

of similar furnaces as shown in Attachment 

A have been sent a copy of our petition. 

Respectfully yours, 

Inter-City Products Corp .. 

W.E. Dalton, 

Vice PresMent Engineering. 

Mayl, 1990. 

Attachment A 

List of known Manufacturers which we 

have sent a copy of our request for Petition 

for Waiver and Interim Waiver to: . 

Amana Refrigeration, Inc.; Mr. Robert 

DeHann, Amana, Iowa 52204 

The Trane Company, Mr. L.E. Chaump, 6200 

Troup Hwy .. Tyler, Texas 75711 

Evcon Industries, Inc., Mr. Bob Hoffman, 

Heating and Air Conditioning Group, 3110 

N. Mead, P.O. Box 19014, Wichita, Kansas 

67204-9014 

DMO Industries, Mr. Peter Janes, 1969 Leslie 

Street, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 

2M3 

Armstrong Air Conditioning, Inc., Mr. Robert 

E. Johnson, 421 Monroe Street, Bellevue, 

Ohio44811 

Bard Manufacturing Company, Mr. Richard 

0. Bard, P.O. Box 607, Bryan, Ohio 4350B 
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