Federal Register / Vol. 57, No. 151 / Wednesday, August 5, 1992 / Notices

Act (EPCA), Public Law 94-183, 89 Stat.

917, as amended by the National Energy

Conservation Policy Act (NECPA),

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

Office of Conservation and products, including furnaces. The intent

Renewable Energy of the test procedures Is to provide a

[Case No

. F-0491 comparable measure of energy

consumption that will assist consumers

Energy Conservation Program for in making purchasing decisions. These

Consumer Products; Decision and test procedures appear at 10 CFR part

Order Granting a Waiver From the 430, subpart B.

Furnace Test Procedure to Rheem DOE amended the prescribed test

Manufacturing Co. procedures by adding 10 CFR 430.27 to

create a waiver process. 45 FR 64108,

AGENCY: Office of Conservation and September 26, 1980. Thereafter. DOE

Renewable Energy, Department of further amended its appliance test

Energy. procedure waiver process to allow the

ACTION: Decision and Order. Assistant Secretary for Conservation

SUMMARY

. Notice is given of the and Renewable Energy (Assistant

g Secretary) to grant an Interim Waiver

Decision and Order (Case No. F--049) from test procedure requirements to

granting a Waiver to Rheem manufacturers that have petitioned DOE

Manufacturing Company (Rheem) from for a waiver of such prescribed test

the existing Department of Energy procedures. 51 FR 42823, November 28,

(DOE) test procedure for furnaces, The 1986.

Department is granting Rheem its The waiver process allows the

Petition for Waiver regarding blower Assistant Secretary to waive

time delay in calculation of Annual Fuel temporarily test procedures for a

Utilization Efficiency (AFUE) for its particular basic model when a petitioner

GVG series of gas furnaces. shows that the basic model contains one

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: or more design characteristics which

Cyrus H. Nasseri, U.S. Department of Energy. prevent testing according to the

Office of Conservation and Renewable prescribed test procedures or when the

Energy, Mail Station CE-431, Forrestal prescribed test procedures may evaluate

Building, 1000 Independence Avenue SW., the basic model in a manner so

Washington, DC 20585, (202) 580-9127. unrepresentative of its true energy

Eugene Margolis, Esq., U.S. Department of consumption as to provide materially

Energy, Office of General Counsel. Mail inaccurate comparative data. Waivers

Station GC-41, Forrestal Building 1000 generally remain in effect until final test

Independence Avenue SW., Washington, procedure amendments become DC 20585, (202) 588-9507. effective, resolving the problem that is

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION In the subject of the waiver.

accordance with 10 CFR 430.27(g), notice The Interim Waiver provisions added

is hereby given of the issuance of the by the 1986 amendment allow the

Decision and Order as set out below. In Assistant Secretary to grant an Interim

the Decision and Order, Rheem has Waiver when it is determined that the

been granted a Waiver for its GVG applicant will experience economic

series of gas furnaces, permitting the hardship if the Application for Interim

company to use an alternate test method Waiver is denied, if it appears likely

in determining AFUE, that the Petition for Waiver will be

Issued in Washington, DC, July 30,1992. granted, and/or the Assistant Secretary

1. Michael Davis, determines that it would be desirable for

Assistant Secretary, Conservation and public policy reasons to grant immediate

Renewable Energy. relief pending a determination on the

Background

Petition for Waiver. An Interim Waiver

remains in effect for a period of 180 days

The Energy Conservation Program for or until DOE issues its determination on

Consumer Products (other than the Petition for Waiver, whichever is

automobiles) was established pursuant sooner, and may be extended for an

to the Energy Policy and Conservation additional 180 days, if necessary.

CAS-RM-79-104 COMMENT 86
Federal Register / Vol. 57, No. 151 / Wednesday, August 5, 1992 / Notices 34561

Rheem filed a "Petition for Waiver,"

dated February 12, 1992, in accordance

with § 430.27 of 10 CFR part 430. DOE

published in the Federal Register on

April 28, 1992, Rheem's petition and

solicited comments, data and

information respecting the petition. 57

FR 17903. Rheem also filed an

"Application for Interim Waiver" under

§ 430.27(g) which DOE granted on April

17, 1992. 57 FR 17903, April 28, 1992.

No comments were received

concerning either the "Petition for

Waiver" or the "Interim Waiver." DOE

consulted with The Federal Trade

Commission (FTC) concerning the

Rheem Petition. The FTC did not have

any objections to the issuance of the

waiver to Rheem.

Assertions and Determinations

Rheem'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. Rheem

requests the allowance to test using a

30-second blower time delay when

testing its GVG series of gas furnaces.

Rheem states that since the 30-second

delay is indicative of how those models

actually operate and since such a delay

results in an improvement in efficiency

of approximately 2.0 percent, the

petition should be granted.

Under specific circumstances, the

DOE test procedure contains exceptions

which allow testing with blower delay

times or less than the prescribed 1.5-

minute delay. Rheem indicates that it is

unable to take advantage of any of these

exceptions for its GVG series of gas

furnaces.

Since the blower controls

incorporated on the Rheem furnaces are

designed to impose a 30-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 30-second blower

time delay when testing the Rheem GVG

series of gas furnaces. Accordingly, with

regard to testing the GVG series of gas

furnaces, today's Decision and Order

exempts Rheem from the existing

provisions regarding blower controls

and allows testing with the 30-second

delay.

It is, therefore, ordered that:

(1) The "Petition for Waiver" filed by

Rheem Manufacturing Company (Case

No. F-049) 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, Subpart B, Rheem Manufacturing

Company shall be permitted to test its

GVG series of gas 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

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

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 of the manufacturer's

recommended on-period draft.

(iii) With the exception of the

modifications set forth above, Rheem

Manufacturing Company 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 GVG

series of gas furnaces manufactured by

Rheem Manufacturing Company.

(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 July 30, 1992, this Waiver

supersedes the Interim Waiver granted

The Rheem Manufacturing Company on

April 17, 1992.57 FR 17903, April 28,1992

(Case No. F-049).

Issued in Washington, DC, July 30,1992.

J. Michael Davis,

Assistant Secretary, Conservation and

Renewable Energy.

[FR Doc. 92-18585 Filed 8-04-•92; 8:45 am)

BILUNO CODE 6450.01-M

CAS-RM-79-104 COMMENT 86