U.S. Deportment of Energy 

Application for Interim Waiver and Petition for Waiver, 10CFR430, Subpart B, Appendix A1-

Uniform Test Method for Measuring the Energy Consumption of Refrigerator-freezers 

Submitted by: 

Earl F. Jones 

Senior Counsel 

GE Appliances 

Appliance Park 2-225 

Louisville, KY 40225 

earLiones@ge.com 

502-452-3164 (voice) 

502-452-0395 (fox) 

Case No. 

Non-Confidential Version 

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U.S. Department of Energy Application for Interim Waiver and Petition for Waiver, 

10CFR430, Subpart B, Appendix A--Uniform Test Method 

for Measuring Refrigerator-Freezers 

I. Introduction 

GE Appliances, an operating division of General Electric Co., ("GE") is a leading 

manufacturer and marketer of household appliances, including, as relevant to this 

proceeding, refrigerator-freezers ("refrigerators"), files this Petition for Waiver and 

Application for Interim Waiver (collectively, "Petition"). On May 2, 2013, the Assistant 

Secretary granted an interim waiver1 and on June 27 the final waive~ pursuant to GE's 

February 28 petition advising the Department that the energy consumption of GE's new 

dual compressor refrigerator could not be accurately measured using the test procedure 

set forth in 430 Subpart B. Appendix A 1. GE continued to test the product under the 

waiver-approved test procedure. In issuing the new refrigerator test procedure on April 

21, 2014,3 the Assistant Secretary nullified all Appendix A 1 waivers, including the one 

granted to GE. The Department's decision was explained as follows: 

After DOE grants a waiver. the agency must, pursuant to its waiver provisions, 

initiate a rulemaking to amend its regulations to eliminate the continued need for 

the waiver. 10 CFR 430.27 (m). This final rule addresses this requirement for the 

Sub-Zero waiver by amending Appendix A to include a test procedure for 

multiple-compressor products that is based on the Sub-Zero waiver procedure. 

The Sub-Zero, Sam sung, LG, and GE waivers for multiple-compressor products 

will terminate on September 15, 2014, the same date that manufacturers must 

use the test procedures in Appendix A for testing.4 

The conclusion that GE can use the Appendix A test procedure to accurately measure 

energy consumption of the new 2014 models of the product that was previously covered 

by waiver is, unfortunately, erroneous. GE has made this point to DOE consistently and 

on multiple occasions: First, in the 2013 waiver petition, next, at the NOPR stakeholders 

meeting held on July 25,2013,5 and, finally, in its NOPR comments.6 

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78 FR 25724 et seq. 

78 FR 38699 et seq. 

79 FR 22320 et seq. 

79 FR at 22323 

EERE-2012-BT-TP-0016-0023. p. 85-88. 

79 FR at 22328 and 22329. 

2 
GE's representative at the stakeholders meeting most clearly described the operation of 

GE's refrigerator: 

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MR. BROWN: Bill with GE Appliances. 

Again, I would reiterate that stability for multiple compressor products is not the 

same as stability for a single compressor product. If you did achieve .042 

degrees per hour, it may be more due to luck than actually the product [being] 

what you'd consider to be stable. Again, with both compressors operating on their 

own schedule, with their own controls, you may see that the fresh food 

[temperature] is stable and the freezer's not. Then you'd keep going further and 

the freezer is stable and the fresh food is not. So that's again why we chose just 

to use a longer period of time instead of trying to invoke this .042 degrees per 

hour. 

******* •••••• ** •• 

So again, I would reiterate for multiple compressor products, that ... looking at 

stability with a strict .042 degrees per hour like you would on a single compressor 

product is ... just not applicable to the multiple compressor product. 

MR. BROOKMAN: Okay, thank you. Lucas. 

MR. ADIN: Lucas Adin, DOE. 

Just a quick follow-up question for clarification. So it sounds like, based on your 

comment Bill, that a single stability criteria for multiple compressor products may 

not be appropriate because of how they operate. It's different from single 

compressor products. 

But is it reasonable to say that multiple compressor products do get to some form 

of stability that is, you know, unique to perhaps each individual product, but at 

least it's something that you know will repeat consistently over time, or is it 

something that you can actually identify? 

MR. BROWN: Yes. This is Bill with GE again. 

You may see a repeating operation in the freezer, and you may see it in the fresh 

food. But you'd see it on different time frames. So where a freezer temperature 

may be high, the fresh food may be low, and you know, if you just picture a sine 

curve, these are sine curves that are out of phase with one another. 

So you would never get to a point, or you may never get a point where you've got 

both of these meeting this type of stability criteria at the same time. So instead of 

trying to search through the data, to find if there just happens to be [a] place 

where this occurs, we just chose in our waiver to ... use a long period of time7 

(emphasis supplied). 

EERE-2012-BT-TP-0016-0023, at p. 88. 

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One reason GE's product does not achieve stability as described in Appendix A is that it 

has two compartments-one for fresh food and one for frozen foods-but unlike what 

we understand to be the Sub-Zero design, the GE compressors are not designed to 

synchronize such that both compartments achieve temperature stability at the same 

time. Stated another way, it is not designed such that ... "the compartment 

temperature averages for the first and last complete compressor cycles [of each 

compressor system can] lie completely within the second part of the test [and] within 0.5 

OF (0.3 0c) of the average compartment temperature measured for the first part of the 

test." Appendix A, 4.2.3.4.2, paraphrased. (See below for full sectionl 

While the Appendix A test procedure does adopt the definition of steady state condition 

that was first approved in the Sub-Zero waiver and subsequently GE's waiver, it 

imposes an unachievable goal for GE by requiring that a 0.5 OF (0.3 0c) steady state 

condition be achieved by comparing the compartment temperatures during a single 

freezer compressor cycle to the average compartment temperatures achieved during 24 

hours of fresh food and freezer compressor cycles. This can only be done if the cycles 

repeat uniformly. As described above and illustrated below, this does not occur with the 

GE dual compressor refrigerator. 

The non-synchronous nature of the compressors' operation is depicted in the following 

plot of Watts and compartment temperatures versus time. 

B For each compressor system, the compartment temperature averages for the first and last 

complete compressor cycles that lie completely within the second part of the test must be within 0.5 OF 

(0.3 °el of the average compartment temperature measured for the first part of the test. 

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Figure 1 

Watts 

- W«ts - fFAVG - FZAVG 

250 .,------- -----------,- 50.00 

200 

150 +---------

o .I----~ . 

3850 3950 

. -~--~ --~ -r 

4050 4150 

Minutes 

4150 4350 

4(1.00 

3000 

20_00 T~mp~rature ,OF) 

-1000 

As is apparent from the above, at no time during the freezer compressor cycles before 

the defrost (at appx. 4270 mins.) are the fresh food and freezer temperatures in phase: 

While the fresh food temperature cycles repeat with each fresh food compressor cycle, 

the freezer temperature cycles repeat with every two freezer compressor cycles. Thus, 

the Appendix A assumption that the cycles are uniform and in phase does not hold for 

these GE models. The only relevant impact of this non-uniformity is the confounding 

effect on making the required calculation. The product provides improved consumer 

utility because it provides for better temperature and humidity control.9 

II. GE's Proposed Waiver 

Based on the above GE requests that the Assistant Secretary grant it a waiver from the 

Appendix A test procedure and allow GE to test its refrigerator-freezer model pursuant 

to the modified procedure previously approved in 78 FR 38699, case No. RF-029, and 

submitted herewith as Attachment 1. This request is filed pursuant to 10 C.F.R. 

9 GE's new models provide the additional environmental benefit of not using HFC refrigerants: 

Instead the two compressors use isobutane, which has a GWP of two orders of magnitude less than 

HFC-134a. 

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§430.2710 as the test procedure does not allow the energy used by GE's new 2014 

model. The waiver should continue in effect until DOE amends the test procedure to 

accommodate such products. GE also requests that the Department grant an interim 

waiver to test and rate the models listed on Attachment 2. 

We would be pleased to discuss this request with DOE and provide further information 

as needed. 

GE requests expedited treatment of the Petition and Application. It is critical that the 

Waiver request be acted on, and hopefully granted, in July 2014 in order to provide 

sufficient time for final design and testing by the September 15, 2014 effective date of 

the energy efficiency standard. 

I hereby certify that all manufacturers of domestically marketed units of the same 

product type have been notified of this Petition and Application, list of which is found in 

Attachment 3, hereto. 

EarIF.Jones, unseland 

Authorized Representative of GE Appliances 

10 The Department's regulations provide that the Assistant Secretary will grant a Petition upon 

"determin[ation] that the basic model for which the waiver was requested contains a design characteristic 

which either prevents testing of the basic model according to the prescribed test procedures, or the 

prescribed test procedures may evaluate the basic model in a manner so unrepresentative of its true 

energy consumption characteristics as to provide materially inaccurate comparative data." 10 C.F.R. 

§430.27(1). GE requests that the Assistant Secretary grant this Petition on both grounds. 

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ATTACHMENT 1 

1440xEP1 0 T2. 12 

ET=( T1 )+ I {[EP2;-(EP1 x T1')] x (CT)} 

i=1 

Where: 

- ET is the test cycle energy (kWh/day); 

- 1440 = number of minutes in a day 

- EP1 is the dual compressor energy expended during the first part of the test (If at least 

one compressor cycles, the test period for the first part of the test shall include a whole 

number of complete primary compressor cycles comprising at least 24 hours of stable 

operation, unless a defrost occurs prior to completion of 24 hours of stable operation, in 

which case the first part of the test shall include a whole number of complete primary 

compressor cycles comprising at least 18 hours of stable operation); 

- T1 is the length of time for EP1 (minutes); 

- D is the total number of compartments with distinct defrost systems; 

- i is the variable that can equal to 1,2 or more that identifies the compartment with 

distinct defrost system; 

- EP2; is the total energy consumed during the second (defrost) part of the test being 

conducted for compartment i. (kWh); 

- T2, is the length of time (minutes) for the second (defrost) part of the test being 

conducted for compartment i. 

- 12 = conversion factor to adjust for a 50% run-time of the compressor in hours/day 

- CT; is the compressor-on time between defrosts for only compartment i. CT, for 

compartment i with long time automatic defrost system is calculated as per 10 CFR Part 

430, Subpart B, Appendix A clause 5.2.1.2. CTi for compartment i with variable defrost 

system is calculated as per 10 CFR part 430 subpart B, Appendix A clause 5.2.1.3. 

(hours rounded to the nearest tenth of an hour). 

Stabilization: 

The test shall start after a minimum 24 hours stabilization run for each temperature 

control setting. 

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Test Period for EP2;, T2;: 

EP2; includes precool, defrost, and recovery time for compartment i, as well as sufficient 

dual compressor cycles to allow T2; to be at least 24 hours, unless a defrost occurs prior 

to completion of 24 hours, in which case the second part of the test shall include a 

whole number of complete primary compressor cycles comprising at least 18 hours. The 

test period shall start at the end of a regular freezer compressor on-cycle after the 

previous defrost occurrence (refrigerator or freezer). The test period also includes the 

target defrost and following freezer compressor cycles, ending at the end of a freezer 

compressor on-cycle before the next defrost occurrence (refrigerator or freezer). 

Test Measurement Frequency 

Measurements shall be taken at regular intervals not exceeding 1 minute . 

••• 

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ATTACHMENT 2 

ZIC30····· 

ZIK30····· 

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Attachment 3 

CERTIFICATION 

I hereby certify that GE has notified all refrigerator manufacturers listed below 

known to GE to sell products in the United States and forwarded them a copy of 

this waiver: 

AGA Marvel 

Arcelik A.S. 

BSH Home Appliances Corporation 

Danby Products, Ltd. 

Electrolux Home Products NA 

Fagor America, Inc. 

Fisher & Paykel Appliances 

Haier America 

LG Electronics USA 

Liebherr-Canada Ltd. 

MC COMMERCIAL INC. (Mabe Canada) 

Miele, Inc. 

Panasonic Consumer Electronics Co. 

Scotsman Ice Systems 

Sub-Zero, Inc. 

U-Line Corporation 

Viking Range Corporation 

Whirlpool Corporation 

In addition, GE has provided courtesy copies to: The Association of Home 

Appliance Manufacturers (AHAMI. which generally is interested in DOE 

proceedings affecting the industry. ACEEE, NRDC and Alliance to Save Energy 

are not manufacturers but have an interest in energy efficiency 

requirements for appliances.