10160 Federal Register / Vol. 57, No. 57 / Tuesday, March 24, 1992 / Notices

Office of Conservation and

Renewable Energy

[Case No. F-0281

Energy Conservation Program for

Consumer Products; Decision and

Order Granting a Waiver From the

Furnace Test Procedure to Armstrong

Air Conditioning, Inc.

AGENCY: Office of Conservation and

Renewable Energy, Department of

Energy.

ACTION: Decision and order.

SUMMARY: Notice is given of the

Decision and Order (Case No. F-028)

granting a Waiver to Armstrong Air

Conditioning, Inc. (Armstrong), from the

existing Department of Energy (DOE)

test procedure for furnaces. The

Department is granting Armstrong its

Petition for Waiver regarding blower

time delay in calculation of Annual Fuel

Utilization Efficiency (AFUE) for its

GRTC series of rooftop 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. Armstrong has

been granted a Waiver for its GRTC

series of rooftop furnaces, permitting the

company to use an alternate test method

in determining AFUE.

Issued in Washington, DC, March 11. 1992.

1. Michael Davis,

Assistant Secretary. Conservation and

Renewable Energy.

Decision and Order

In the matter of. Armstrong Air

Conditioning, Inc. (Case No. F-028).

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 95-819, 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 consumers

in making purchasing decisions. These

test procedures appear at 10 CFR part

430, subpart B.

DOE amended the presscribed test

procedures by adding 10 CFR 430.27 to

create a waiver process. 45 FR 64108,

September 26,1980. 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 25,

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

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

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

Waiver when it is determined that the

applicant will experience economic

hardship if the Applicant 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.

Armstrong filed a "Petition for

Waiver, " dated December 14, 1990, in

accordance with § 430.27 of 10 CFR 430.

DOE published in the Federal Register

on March 13,1991 , Armstrong's petition

and solicited comments, data and

information respecting the petition. 56

FR 10553. Armstrong also filed an

"Application for Interim Waiver" under

§ 430.27(g) which DOE granted on

March 4, 1991. 56 FR 10553, March 13,

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

Armstrong Petition. The FTC did not

have any objections to the issuance of

the waiver to Armstrong.

Assertions and Determinations

Armstrong's Petition seeks a waiver

from 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.

Armstrong requests the allowance to

test using a 20-second blower time delay

when testing its GRTC series of rooftop

furnaces. Armstrong states that since

the 20-second delay is indicative of how

these models actually operate and since

such a delay results in an improvement

in efficiency of approximately 0.6

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. Armstrong indicates that

it is unable to take advantage of any of

these exceptions for its GRTC series of

rooftop furnaces.

Since the blower controls

incorporated on the Armstrong furnaces

are designed to impose a 20-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 20-

second blower time delay when testing

the Armstrong GRTC series of rooftop

furnaces. Accordingly, with regard to

testing the GRTC series of rooftop

furnaces, today's Decision and Order

exempts Armstrong from the existing

provisions regarding blower controls

and allows testing with the 20-second

delay.

It is, therefore, ordered that:

(1) The "Petition for Waiver" filed by

Armstrong Air Conditioning , Inc. (Case

No. F-028), 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, supbart B, Armstrong Air

Conditioning, Inc.. shall be permitted to

test its GRTC series of rooftop 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

employs 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 later

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 ±0.01 inch of water column

10161

of the manufacturer's recommended onperiod draft.

(iii) With the exception of the

modifications set forth above,

Armstrong Air Conditioning. Inc. 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 GRTC

series of rooftop furnace manufactured

by Armstrong Air Conditioning. Inc.

(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 Armstrong Air

Conditioning, Inc. on March 4,1991 56

FR 10553, March 13, 1991 (Case No. F028).

issued in Washington. DC, march 11. 1992.

J. Michael Davis,

Assistant Secretary Conservation and

Renewable Energy.

[FR Doc. 92-8782 Filed 3-23-92; 8:45 am)

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