55FR31099

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

Basin's jurisdictional customers and

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

and 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 actionto be

taken, but will not serve to make

protestants parties to the proceeding.

Any person wishing to become a party

must file a r^otion to intervene. Copies

of this filing are on file with the

Commission and are available for public

inspection in the public-reference room.

Lois II Cashell,

Secretary.

(FR Doc. 90-17715 Filed 7-3u-90; 8:45 aml

BiLUNG CODE 6717-Oi44

Office of Conservation and

Renewable Energy

Energy Conservation Program for

Consumer Products; Application for

interim Waiver and Petition for Waiver

of Furnace Test Procedures From

Inter-City Products Corporatian (F023.)

AGENCY:' Conservation and Renewable

Energy Office, Department of Energy.

SUMMARY: Today's notice publishes a

letter granting an Interim Waiver to

Inter-City Products Corporation (Inter

City Products) from the existing.

Department of Energy (DOE) test

procedures for furnaces regarding,

blower time delay for its NUGV(-) line

of condensing gas furnaces.

Today's notice-, also publishes a

"Petition for Waiver" from Inter-City

• Products. Inter-City Product's-Petition

for Waiver requests. DOE to grant relief

from the DOE. test procedures. relating to

the blower. time delay specification:

Inter-City Products seeks, to test using a

blower delay time of 30 seconds for

NUGV(-) condensing gas furnaces

instead of the specified 1.5 minute delay

between burner on-time and blower onthne..DOE is soliciting comments, data,

and, information respecting, the Petition

for aiver.

DATES: DOE will accept comments,, data,:

and information not later than August

30,.199G

ADDRESSES: Written comments and

statements.shall be sent to, Department

of Energy, Office of Conservation and, ..

Renewable Energy, Case No. F-023, Mail

Stop CE-43, Forrestal Building, 1000

Independence Avenue, 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 Independence Avenue,

SW., Washington, DC 20535, (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 94-1163, 89 Stat.

917, as amended by the National Energy

Conservation Policy Act (N'ECPA),

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 consumer

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 further

amended the Departments' appliance

test procedure waiver process to allow

the Assistant Secretary for Conservation

and Rene-weable 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

51693

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 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 the 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 ti.-re

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 furnaces.

Inter-City Products states that the 30

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 31,199G, the Trane company, 54

FR 19226, May 4, 1989, DMO Industries:

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

9, 1990, and Carrier Corporation, 55 FR

13182, April 9, 1990. Thus, it appears

likely that the Petition for Waiver will

be granted for blower time delay.

The Department finds that it would be

desirable 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 product's interest to

have the similar products tested and

rated for energy consumption on a

comparable basis.

CAS-RM-79-104 COMMENT 39
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55FR31099

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

Ptrsuant to paragraph (b) of 10 CFR

430.27, DOE is hereby publishing the

"Petition 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.

Department of Energy

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

furnaces regarding blower time delay.

Pursuant to the Energy Policy and

Conservation Act, as amended, DOE 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 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 28, 1988, [51 FR 428231

by adding paragraph 430.27. These provisions

allow the Assistant 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

contains 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 amendments 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 desirable 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(-) 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 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 heal-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.

May 1, 1990.

Assistant Secretary, Conservation and

Renewable Energy,

United States Department of Energy, 1000

Independence Avenue SW., Washington,

DC 20585.

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 out 1h tl

vent system and can improve energy savingsapproximately 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 President Engineering.

May 1, 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,

Ohio 44811

Bard Manufacturing Company, Mr. Richard

0. Bard, P.O. Box 607, Bryan, Ohio 43506

CAS-RM-79-104 COMMENT 39