Energy Conservation Program: Energy Conservation Standards for Residential Conventional Cooking Products

Federal RegisterSep 2, 2016

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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

10 CFR Parts 429 and 430

[Docket Number EERE-2014-BT-STD-0005]

RIN 1904-AD15

Energy Conservation Program: Energy Conservation Standards for Residential Conventional Cooking Products

AGENCY:

Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Department of Energy.

ACTION:

Supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking (SNOPR).

SUMMARY:

The Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 (EPCA), as amended, prescribes energy conservation standards for various consumer products and certain commercial and industrial equipment, including residential conventional cooking products. EPCA also requires the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to determine whether more-stringent, amended standards would be technologically feasible and economically justified, and would save a significant amount of energy. In this SNOPR, DOE proposes new and amended energy conservation standards for residential conventional cooking products, specifically conventional cooking tops and conventional ovens.

DATES:

Comments:

DOE will accept comments, data, and information regarding this supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking (SNOPR) no later than October 3, 2016. See section VII, “Public Participation” for details.

Comments regarding the likely competitive impact of the proposed standard should be sent to the Department of Justice contact listed in the

ADDRESSES

section before October 3, 2016.

ADDRESSES:

Instructions:

Any comments submitted must identify the SNOPR for Energy Conservation Standards for residential conventional cooking products, and provide docket number EERE-2014-BT-STD-0005 and/or regulatory information number (RIN) number 1904-AD15. Comments may be submitted using any of the following methods:

Federal eRulemaking Portal: www.regulations.gov

. Follow the instructions for submitting comments.

Email: ConventionalCookingProducts2014STD0005@ee.doe.gov

. Include the docket number and/or RIN in the subject line of the message.

Mail:

Mr. John Cymbalsky, U.S. Department of Energy, Building Technologies Program, Mailstop EE-5B, 1000 Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20585-0121. If possible, please submit all items on a CD. It is not necessary to include printed copies.

Hand Delivery/Courier:

Mr. John Cymbalsky, U.S. Department of Energy, Building Technologies Program, 950 L'Enfant Plaza SW., Room 6094, Washington, DC 20024. Telephone: (202) 586-6636. If possible, please submit all items on a CD, in which case it is not necessary to include printed copies.

No telefacsimilies (faxes) will be accepted. For detailed instructions on submitting comments and additional information on the rulemaking process, see section VII of this document (“Public Participation”).

Written comments regarding the burden-hour estimates or other aspects of the collection-of-information requirements contained in this proposed rule may be submitted to Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy through the methods listed above and by email to

Chad_S_Whiteman@omb.eop.gov

EPCA requires the Attorney General to provide DOE a written determination of whether the proposed standard is likely to lessen competition. The U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division invites input from market participants and other interested persons with views on the likely competitive impact of the proposed standard. Interested persons may contact the Division at

energy.standards@usdoj.gov

before October 3, 2016. Please indicate in the “Subject” line of your email the title and Docket Number of this SNOPR.

Docket:

The docket, which includes

Federal Register

notices, public meeting attendee lists and transcripts, comments, and other supporting documents/materials, is available for review at

www.regulations.gov

. All documents in the docket are listed in the

www.regulations.gov

index. However, some documents listed in the index may not be publicly available, such as those containing information that is exempt from public disclosure.

A link to the docket Web page can be found at:

http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=EERE-2014-BT-STD-0005

. This Web page will contain a link to the docket for this document on the

www.regulations.gov

site. The

regulations.gov

Web page will contain simple instructions on how to access all documents, including public comments, in the docket. See section VII, “Public Participation,” for further information on how to submit comments through

www.regulations.gov

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Mr. John Cymbalsky, U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Building Technologies Program, EE-2J, 1000 Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20585-0121. Telephone: (202) 287-1692. Email:

kitchen_ranges_and_ovens@ee.doe.gov

Ms. Celia Sher, U.S. Department of Energy, Office of the General Counsel, GC-33, 1000 Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20585-0121. Telephone: (202) 287-6122. Email:

Celia.Sher@hq.doe.gov

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Table of Contents

I. Synopsis of the Proposed Rule

A. Benefits and Costs to Consumers

B. Impact on Manufacturers

C. National Benefits and Costs

D. Conclusion

II. Introduction

A. Authority

B. Background

1. Current Standards

2. History of Standards Rulemaking for Residential Conventional Cooking Products

III. General Discussion

A. Scope of Coverage

B. Prescriptive Standard for Conventional Ovens

C. Test Procedure

D. Technological Feasibility

1. General

2. Maximum Technologically Feasible Levels

E. Energy Savings

1. Determination of Savings

2. Significance of Savings

F. Economic Justification

1. Specific Criteria

2. Rebuttable Presumption

G. Changes to 10 CFR 429.23 Addressing the Certification, Compliance and Enforcement Criteria for Conventional Cooking Products

H. Other Issues

IV. Methodology and Discussion of Comments

A. Market and Technology Assessment

1. General

2. Product Classes

3. Technology Options

B. Screening Analysis

1. Screened-Out Technologies

2. Remaining Technologies

C. Engineering Analysis

1. Methodology

2. Product Testing and Reverse Engineering

3. Efficiency Levels

4. Incremental Manufacturing Production Cost Estimates

5. Consumer Utility

D. Markups Analysis

E. Energy Use Analysis

F. Life-Cycle Cost and Payback Period Analysis

1. Product Costs

2. Installation Costs

3. Unit Energy Consumption

4. Energy Prices

5. Repair and Maintenance Costs

6. Product Lifetime

7. Discount Rates

8. Compliance Date

9. No-New-Standards Case Efficiency Distribution

10. Inputs to Payback Period Analysis

11. Rebuttable-Presumption Payback Period

G. Shipments Analysis

H. National Impact Analysis

1. Efficiency Trends

2. National Energy Savings

3. Net Present Value of Customer Benefit

I. Consumer Subgroup Analysis

J. Manufacturer Impact Analysis

1. Overview

2. GRIM Analysis and Key Inputs

3. Discussion of Comments

4. Manufacturer Interviews

K. Emissions Analysis

L. Monetizing Carbon Dioxide and Other Emissions Impacts

1. Social Cost of Carbon

2. Social Cost of Other Air Pollutants

M. Utility Impact Analysis

N. Employment Impact Analysis

V. Analytical Results

A. Trial Standard Levels

B. Economic Justification and Energy Savings

1. Economic Impacts on Individual Consumers

2. Economic Impacts on Manufacturers

3. National Impact Analysis

4. Impact on Utility or Performance of Products

5. Impact of Any Lessening of Competition

6. Need of the Nation To Conserve Energy

7. Other Factors

8. Summary of National Economic Impacts

C. Conclusion

1. Benefits and Burdens of TSLs Considered for Conventional Cooking Products

2. Summary of Annualized Benefits and Costs of the Proposed Standards

VI. Procedural Issues and Regulatory Review

A. Review Under Executive Orders 12866 and 13563

B. Review Under the Regulatory Flexibility Act

1. Description and Estimated Number of Small Entities Regulated

2. Description and Estimate of Compliance Requirements

3. Duplication, Overlap, and Conflict With Other Rules and Regulations

4. Significant Alternatives to the Rule

C. Review Under the Paperwork Reduction Act

D. Review Under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969

E. Review Under Executive Order 13132

F. Review Under Executive Order 12988

G. Review Under the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995

H. Review Under the Treasury and General Government Appropriations Act, 1999

I. Review Under Executive Order 12630

J. Review Under the Treasury and General Government Appropriations Act, 2001

K. Review Under Executive Order 13211

L. Review Under the Information Quality Bulletin for Peer Review

VII. Public Participation

A. Submission of Comments

B. Issues on Which DOE Seeks Comment

VIII. Approval of the Office of the Secretary

I. Synopsis of the Proposed Rule

Title III, Part B

of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 (EPCA or the Act), Public Law 94-163 (42 U.S.C. 6291-6309, as codified), established the Energy Conservation Program for Consumer Products Other Than Automobiles.

These products include residential conventional cooking products, and specifically conventional cooking tops

and conventional ovens,

the subject of this document.

For editorial reasons, upon codification in the U.S. Code, Part B was redesignated Part A.

All references to EPCA in this document refer to the statute as amended through the Energy Efficiency Improvement Act of 2015, Public Law 114-11 (Apr. 30, 2015).

Conventional cooking top means a class of kitchen ranges and ovens which is a household cooking appliance consisting of a horizontal surface containing one or more surface units which include either a gas flame or electric resistance heating. (10 CFR 430.2) This includes any conventional cooking top component of a combined cooking product.

Conventional oven means a class of kitchen ranges and ovens which is a household cooking appliance consisting of one or more compartments intended for the cooking or heating of food by means of either a gas flame or electric resistance heating. It does not include portable or countertop ovens which use electric resistance heating for the cooking or heating of food and are designed for an electrical supply of approximately 120 volts. (10 CFR 430.2) This includes any conventional oven(s) component of a combined cooking product.

Pursuant to EPCA, any new or amended energy conservation standard must be designed to achieve the maximum improvement in energy efficiency that is technologically feasible and economically justified. (42 U.S.C. 6295(o)(2)(A)) Furthermore, the new or amended standard must result in a significant conservation of energy. (42 U.S.C. 6295(o)(3)(B)) EPCA also provides that not later than 6 years after issuance of any final rule establishing or amending a standard, DOE must publish either a notice of determination that standards for the product do not need to be amended, or a notice of proposed rulemaking including new proposed energy conservation standards. (42 U.S.C. 6295(m)(1))

In accordance with these and other statutory provisions discussed in this document, DOE proposes new and amended energy conservation standards for residential conventional cooking products. Per its authority in 42 U.S.C. 6295(h)(2), DOE proposes to remove the existing prescriptive standard for gas cooking tops prohibiting a constant burning pilot light. Instead, for conventional cooking tops, DOE proposes performance standards only, shown in Table I.1, which are the maximum allowable integrated annual energy consumption (IAEC). The IAEC includes active mode, standby mode, and off mode energy use. These proposed standards for conventional cooking tops, if adopted, would apply to all product classes listed in Table I.1 and manufactured in, or imported into, the United States starting on the date 3 years after the publication of any final rule for this rulemaking. The proposed standards correspond to trial standard level (TSL) 2, which is described in section V.A. DOE notes that constant burning pilot lights, which are currently prohibited under the existing prescriptive standard for gas cooking tops (10 CFR 430.32(j)), consume approximately 2,000 kilo British thermal units (kBtu) per year. While DOE's proposal would remove this prescriptive requirement from its regulations, DOE notes that, based on its review of the existing prescriptive standard prohibiting constant burning pilots for gas cooking tops and the proposed efficiency levels presented in section IV.C.3.b, the proposed performance standards of 924.4 kBtu per year for gas cooking tops would not be achievable by products if they were to incorporate a constant burning pilot.

Table I.1—Proposed Energy Conservation Performance Standards for Conventional Cooking Tops

Product class

Maximum integrated annual

energy consumption (IAEC)

Electric Open (Coil) Element Cooking Tops

113.2

kWh/yr.

Electric Smooth Element Cooking Tops

121.2

kWh/yr.

Gas Cooking Tops

924.4

kBtu/yr.

For conventional ovens, the proposed standard is a prescriptive design requirement for the control system of the oven. Conventional electric ovens shall not be equipped with a control system that uses a linear power supply. Conventional gas ovens shall be equipped with a control system that uses an intermittent/interrupted ignition or intermittent pilot ignition and does not use a linear power supply (See Table I.2). These proposed standards for conventional ovens, if adopted, would apply to all conventional ovens manufactured in, or imported into, the United States starting on the date 3 years after the publication of any final rule for this rulemaking. DOE considered a combination of factors in developing its proposal to prescribe a control system design requirement for conventional ovens, rather than proposing to regulate IAEC with a performance standard. The rationale for this tentative decision is further explained in sections IV.C.5 and V.B.8 of this SNOPR. DOE also notes that the current prescriptive standards for conventional gas ovens prohibiting constant burning pilot lights would continue to be applicable. (10 CFR 430.32(j)). Table I.2 provides a summary of the proposed standards for conventional ovens.

Table I.2—Proposed Prescriptive Energy Conservation Standards for Conventional Ovens

Oven product class

Current standard

Current SNOPR proposed standards

Electric Standard, Freestanding

Electric Standard, Built-In/Slide-In

None

Shall not be equipped with a control system that uses linear power supply.*

Electric Self-Clean, Freestanding.

Electric Self-Clean, Built-In/Slide-In.

Gas Standard, Freestanding

Gas Standard, Built-In/Slide-In

Gas Self-Clean, Freestanding

Gas Self-Clean, Built-In/Slide-In

No constant burning pilot light

The control system for gas ovens shall:

(1) Not be equipped with a constant burning pilot light;

(2) Be equipped with an intermittent/interrupted ignition or intermittent pilot ignition; and

(3) Not be equipped with a linear power supply.

* A linear power supply produces unregulated as well as regulated power. The unregulated portion of a linear power supply typically consists of a transformer that steps alternating current (AC) line voltage down, a voltage rectifier circuit for AC to direct current (DC) conversion, and a capacitor to produce unregulated, direct current output. Linear power supplies are described in section IV.A.3 of this SNOPR.

A. Benefits and Costs to Consumers

Table I.3 presents DOE's evaluation of the economic impacts of the proposed standards on consumers of residential conventional cooking products, as measured by the average life-cycle cost (LCC) savings and the simple payback period (PBP).

The average LCC savings are positive for all product classes, and the PBP is less than the average lifetime of the equipment, which is estimated to be 16 years for electric cooking tops and 13 years for gas cooking products (see section IV.F.6 for additional detail).

The average LCC savings are measured relative to the no-new-standards-case efficiency distribution, which depicts the market in the compliance year (see section IV.F.9 of this notice) and is the savings achieved over the average lifetime of the product. The simple PBP, which is designed to compare specific efficiency levels, is measured relative to the baseline model.

Table I.3—Impacts of Proposed Energy Conservation Standards (TSL2) on Consumers of Residential Conventional Cooking Products

Product class

Average

LCC savings

(2015$)

Simple

payback

period

(years)

Average

lifetime

(years)

Electric Open (Coil) Element Cooking Tops

0.5

Electric Smooth Element Cooking Tops

1.0

Gas Cooking Tops

9.1

Electric Standard Oven, Free-standing

0.9

Electric Standard Oven, Built-in/Slide-in

0.9

Electric Self-Clean Oven, Free-Standing

0.9

Electric Self-Clean Oven, Built-in/Slide-in

0.9

Gas Standard Oven, Free-Standing

1.1

Gas Standard Oven, Built-in/Slide-in

1.1

Gas Self-Clean Oven, Free-Standing

1.1

Gas Self-Clean Oven, Built-In/Slide-in

1.1

DOE's analysis of the impacts of the proposed standards on consumers is described in section IV.F of this SNOPR.

B. Impact on Manufacturers

The industry net present value (INPV) is the sum of the discounted cash flows to the industry from the reference year through the end of the analysis period (2016 to 2048). Using a real discount rate of 9.1 percent, DOE estimates that the INPV for manufacturers of residential conventional cooking products is $1,238.1 million in 2015$. Under the proposed standards, DOE expects that manufacturers may lose up to 7.2 percent of their INPV, which is approximately $89.6 million in 2015$. Additionally, based on DOE's interviews with the manufacturers of residential conventional cooking

products, DOE does not expect any plant closings or significant loss of employment.

Table I.4 and Table I.5 show the financial impacts (represented by changes in INPV) of new and amended energy conservation standards on residential conventional cooking product manufacturers as well as the conversion costs that DOE estimates manufacturers would incur under the preservation of gross margin and preservation of operating profit markup scenarios (described in section IV.J.2). As noted above, the proposed standards correspond to TSL 2.

Table I.4—Manufacturer Impact Analysis for Residential Conventional Cooking Products—Preservation of Gross Margin Markup Scenario

Units

No-new-

standards

case

Trial standard level

INPV

(2015$ millions)

1,238.1

1,200.1

1,156.7

868.0

511.1

Change in INPV

(2015$ millions)

(%)

(38.0)

(3.1)

(81.4)

(6.6)

(370.1)

(29.9)

(727.1)

(58.7)

Product Conversion Costs

(2015$ millions)

19.9

71.3

261.8

525.4

Capital Conversion Costs

(2015$ millions)

29.9

47.9

248.2

580.2

Total Conversion Costs

(2015$ millions)

49.8

119.2

510.0

1,105.7

* Numbers in parentheses indicate negative numbers.

Table I.5—Manufacturer Impact Analysis for Residential Conventional Cooking Products—Preservation of Operating Profit Markup Scenario

Units

No-new-

standards case

Trial standard level

INPV

(2015$ millions)

1,238.1

1,198.3

1,148.5

844.7

314.6

Change in INPV

(2015$ millions)

(%)

(39.8)

(3.2)

(89.6)

(7.2)

(393.5)

(31.8)

(923.6)

(74.6)

Product Conversion Costs

(2015$ millions)

19.9

71.3

261.8

525.4

Capital Conversion Costs

(2015$ millions)

29.9

47.9

248.2

580.2

Total Conversion Costs

(2015$ millions)

49.8

119.2

510.0

1,105.7

DOE's analysis of the impacts of the proposed standards on manufacturers is described in section IV.J of this SNOPR.

C. National Benefits and Costs

All monetary values in this document are expressed in 2015 dollars, and where appropriate, are discounted to 2016 unless explicitly stated otherwise. Energy savings in this section refer to the full-fuel-cycle savings (see section IV.H of this SNOPR for discussion).

DOE's analyses indicate that the proposed standards would save a significant amount of energy. The lifetime energy savings from residential conventional cooking products purchased in the 30-year period that begins in the assumed year of compliance with the proposed standards (2019-2048), relative to the no-new-standards case without the proposed standards, amount to 0.76 quadrillion British thermal units (quads).

This represents a savings of 5.9 percent relative to the energy use of these products in the no-new-standards case.

A quad is equal to 10

British thermal units (Btu). The quantity refers to full-fuel-cycle (FFC) energy savings. FFC energy savings includes the energy consumed in extracting, processing, and transporting primary fuels (

i.e.,

coal, natural gas, petroleum fuels), and thus presents a more complete picture of the impacts of energy efficiency standards. For more information on the FFC metric, see section IV.H.2 of this SNOPR.

The cumulative net present value (NPV) of total consumer costs and savings of the proposed standards for residential conventional cooking products ranges from $2.72 billion (at a 7-percent discount rate) to $6.24 billion (at a 3-percent discount rate). This NPV expresses the estimated present value of future operating-cost savings minus the estimated increased product costs for products purchased in 2019-2048.

In addition, the proposed standards are projected to yield significant environmental benefits. The energy savings described above are estimated to result in cumulative emission reductions of 45.3 million metric tons (Mt)

of carbon dioxide (CO

), 6,369 thousand tons of methane, 23.6 thousand tons of sulfur dioxide (SO

), 88.0 thousand tons of nitrogen oxides (NO

), 0.50 thousand tons of nitrous oxide (N

O), and 0.09 tons of mercury (Hg).

The cumulative reduction in CO

emissions through 2030 amounts to 9.057 Mt, which is equivalent to the emissions resulting from the annual electricity use of 0.826 million homes.

A metric ton is equivalent to 1.1 short tons. Results for emissions other than CO

are presented in short tons.

DOE calculated emissions reductions relative to the no-new-standards case, which reflects key assumptions in the

Annual Energy Outlook 2015

(

AEO 2015

) Reference case.

AEO 2015

generally represents current legislation and environmental regulations for which implementing regulations were available as of October 31, 2014.

The value of the CO

reductions is calculated using a range of values per metric ton of CO

(otherwise known as the “Social Cost of Carbon”, or SCC) developed by a Federal interagency working group.

The derivation of the SCC values is discussed in section IV.L of this SNOPR. Using discount rates appropriate for each set of SCC values (see Table I.7), DOE estimates the present monetary value of the CO

emissions reduction (not including CO

equivalent emissions of other gases with global warming potential) is between $0.3 billion and $4.5 billion, with a value of $1.5 billion using the central SCC case represented by $40.6/t in 2015. DOE also estimates the present monetary value of the NO

emissions reduction to be $0.08 billion at a 7-percent discount rate and $0.19 billion

at 3-percent discount rate.

DOE is investigating appropriate valuation of the reduction in methane and other emissions, and did not include any values in this rulemaking.

Technical Update of the Social Cost of Carbon for Regulatory Impact Analysis Under Executive Order 12866,

Interagency Working Group on Social Cost of Carbon, United States Government (May 2013; revised July 2015) (Available at:

https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/inforeg/scc-tsd-final-july-2015.pdf

DOE estimated the monetized value of NO

emissions reductions associated with electricity savings using benefit per ton estimates from the

Regulatory Impact Analysis for the Clean Power Plan Final Rule,

published in August 2015 by EPA's Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards. (Available at:

http://www.epa.gov/cleanpowerplan/clean-power-plan-final-rule-regulatory-impact-analysis

.) See section IV.L.2 of this SNOPR for further discussion. The U.S. Supreme Court has stayed the rule implementing the Clean Power Plan until the current litigation against it concludes.

Chamber of Commerce, et al.

EPA, et al.,

Order in Pending Case, 577 U.S._(2016). However, the benefit-per-ton estimates established in the Regulatory Impact Analysis for the Clean Power Plan are based on scientific studies that remain valid irrespective of the legal status of the Clean Power Plan. DOE is primarily using a national benefit-per-ton estimate for NO

emitted from the Electricity Generating Unit sector based on an estimate of premature mortality derived from the ACS study (Krewski et al., 2009). If the benefit-per-ton estimates were based on the Six Cities study (Lepuele et al., 2011), the values would be nearly two-and-a-half times larger.

Table I.6 summarizes the national economic costs and benefits expected to result from the proposed standards for residential conventional cooking products.

Table I.6—Summary of National Economic Benefits and Costs of Proposed Energy Conservation Standards (TSL2) for Residential Conventional Cooking Products *

Category

Present value

(billion 2015$)

Discount rate

(%)

Benefits

Consumer Operating Cost Savings

3.2

7.0

Reduction Monetized Value ($12.4/t case) **

0.3

Reduction Monetized Value ($40.6/t case) **

1.5

Reduction Monetized Value ($63.2/t case) **

2.4

2.5

Reduction Monetized Value ($118/t case) **

4.5

Reduction Monetized Value †

0.08

0.19

Total Benefits ††

4.8

8.7

Costs

Consumer Incremental Installed Costs

0.5

0.8

Total Net Benefits

Including CO

and NO

Reduction Monetized Value ††

4.3

7.9

* This table presents the costs and benefits associated with residential conventional cooking products shipped in 2019-2048. These results include impacts to consumers which accrue after 2048 from the products purchased in 2019-2048. The results account for the incremental variable and fixed costs incurred by manufacturers due to any final standard, some of which may be incurred in preparation for the rule.

** The CO

values represent global monetized values of the SCC, in 2015$, in 2015 under several scenarios of the updated SCC values. The first three cases use the averages of SCC distributions calculated using 5%, 3%, and 2.5% discount rates, respectively. The fourth case represents the 95th percentile of the SCC distribution calculated using a 3% discount rate. The SCC time series incorporate an escalation factor.

† DOE estimated the monetized value of NO

emissions reductions associated with electricity savings using benefit per ton estimates from the

Regulatory Impact Analysis for the Clean Power Plan Final Rule,

published in August 2015 by EPA's Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards. (Available at:

http://www.epa.gov/cleanpowerplan/clean-power-plan-final-rule-regulatory-impact-analysis

.) See supra

note 11 and accompanying text.

†† Total Benefits for both the 3% and 7% cases are derived using the series corresponding to average SCC with 3-percent discount rate ($40.6/t case).

The benefits and costs of the proposed standards, for products sold in 2019-2048, can also be expressed in terms of annualized values. The annualized monetary values are the sum of: (1) The national economic value of the benefits in reduced consumer operating costs, minus (2) the increase in product purchase prices and installation costs, plus (3) the value of the benefits of CO

and NO

emission reductions, all annualized.

To convert the time-series of costs and benefits into annualized values, DOE calculated a present value in 2015, the year used for discounting the NPV of total consumer costs and savings. For the benefits, DOE calculated a present value associated with each year's shipments in the year in which the shipments occur (

e.g.,

2020 or 2030), and then discounted the present value from each year to 2015. The calculation uses discount rates of 3 and 7 percent for all costs and benefits except for the value of CO

reductions, for which DOE used case-specific discount rates, as shown in Table I.7. Using the present value, DOE then calculated the fixed annual payment over a 30-year period, starting in the compliance year, that yields the same present value.

Although the values of operating cost savings and CO

emission reductions are both important, two issues are relevant. First, the national operating savings are domestic U.S. consumer monetary savings that occur as a result of market transactions, whereas the value of CO

reductions is based on a global value. Second, the assessments of operating cost savings and CO

savings are performed with different methods that use different time frames for analysis. The national operating cost savings is measured for the lifetime of residential conventional cooking products shipped in 2019-2048. Because CO

emissions have a very long residence time in the atmosphere,

the SCC values in future years reflect future climate-related impacts resulting from the emission of CO

that continue well beyond 2100.

The atmospheric lifetime of CO

is estimated of the order of 30-95 years. Jacobson, MZ (2005). “Correction to “Control of fossil-fuel particulate black carbon and organic matter, possibly the most effective method of slowing global warming.” ”

J. Geophys. Res.

110. pp. D14105.

Estimates of annualized benefits and costs of the proposed standards are

shown in Table I.7. The results under the primary estimate are as follows.

Using a 7-percent discount rate for benefits and costs other than CO

reductions (for which DOE used a 3-percent discount rate along with the average SCC series corresponding to a value of $40.6/ton in 2015 (2015$)), the estimated cost of the proposed standards for cooking products is $42.6 million per year in increased equipment costs, while the benefits are $293 million per year in reduced equipment operating costs, $80.8 million in CO

reductions, and $7.4 million in reduced NO

emissions. In this case, the net benefit amounts to $339 million per year.

Using a 3-percent discount rate for all benefits and costs and the average SCC series corresponding to a value of $40.6/ton in 2015 (2015$), the estimated cost of the proposed standards for cooking products is $42.3 million per year in increased equipment costs, while the benefits are $380 million per year in reduced operating costs, $80.8 million in CO

reductions, and $10.1 million in reduced NO

emissions. In this case, the net benefit amounts to $429 million per year.

Table I.7—Annualized Benefits and Costs of Proposed Amended Standards (TSL 2) for Conventional Cooking Products Sold in 2019-2048

Discount rate

Million 2015$/year

Primary

estimate *

Low net

benefits

estimate *

High net

benefits

estimate *

Benefits

Consumer Operating Cost Savings

293

380

262

336

332.

439.

Reduction Value ($12.4/t case) **

23.8

21.7

26.5.

Reduction Value ($40.6/t case) **

80.8

73.6

90.5.

Reduction Value ($63.2/t case) **

2.5%

118.6

107.9

132.8.

Reduction Value ($118/t case) **

246.3

224.1

275.6.

Reduction Value †

7.4

10.1

6.8

9.2

18.2.

25.6.

Total Benefits ††

7% plus CO

range

325 to 547

290 to 493

377 to 626.

382

342

441.

3% plus CO

range

414 to 637

367 to 569

491 to 740.

471

418

555.

Costs

Consumer Incremental Installed Product Costs

42.6

42.3

41.6

41.3

45.3.

45.2.

Net Benefits

Total ††

7% plus CO

range

282 to 504

249 to 451

332 to 581.

339

301

396.

3% plus CO

range

372 to 594

325 to 528

446 to 695.

429

377

510.

* This table presents the annualized costs and benefits associated with cooking products shipped in 2019-2048. Note that the benefits and costs may not exactly sum to the net benefits due to rounding. These results include benefits to consumers which accrue after 2048 from the products purchased in 2019-2048. The results account for the incremental variable and fixed costs incurred by manufacturers due to the standard, some of which may be incurred in preparation for the rule. The Primary, Low Benefits, and High Benefits Estimates utilize projections of energy prices from the

AEO 2015

Reference case, Low Economic Growth case, and High Economic Growth case, respectively. In addition, incremental product costs reflect a medium decline rate in the Primary Estimate, a low decline rate in the Low Benefits Estimate, and a high decline rate in the High Benefits Estimate. The methods used to derive projected price trends are explained in section IV.F.1 of this SNOPR.

** The CO

† DOE estimated the monetized value of NO

emissions reductions associated with electricity savings using benefit per ton estimates from the

Regulatory Impact Analysis for the Clean Power Plan Final Rule,

published in August 2015 by EPA's Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards. (Available at:

http://www.epa.gov/cleanpowerplan/clean-power-plan-final-rule-regulatory-impact-analysis

.) See section IV.L.2 of this SNOPR for further discussion. For DOE's Primary Estimate and Low Net Benefits Estimate, the agency used a national benefit-per-ton estimate for NO

emitted from the Electric Generating Unit sector based on an estimate of premature mortality derived from the ACS study (Krewski

et al.,

2009). For DOE's High Net Benefits Estimate, the benefit-per-ton estimates were based on the Six Cities study (Lepuele

et al.,

2011), which are nearly two-and-a-half times larger than those from the ACS study.

†† Total Benefits for both the 3% and 7% cases are derived using the series corresponding to the average SCC with a 3-percent discount rate ($40.6/t case). In the rows labeled “7% plus CO

range” and “3% plus CO

range,” the operating cost and NO

benefits are calculated using the labeled discount rate, and those values are added to the full range of CO

values.

DOE's analysis of the national impacts of the proposed standards is described in sections IV.H, IV.K and IV.L of this SNOPR.

D. Conclusion

DOE has tentatively concluded that the proposed standards represent the maximum improvement in energy efficiency that is technologically feasible and economically justified, and would result in the significant conservation of energy. DOE further notes that products achieving these standard levels are already commercially available for at least some,

if not most, product classes covered by this proposal. Based on the analyses described above, DOE has tentatively concluded that the benefits of the proposed standards to the Nation (energy savings, positive NPV of consumer benefits, consumer LCC savings, and emission reductions) would outweigh the burdens (loss of INPV for manufacturers and LCC increases for some consumers).

DOE also considered more-stringent energy efficiency levels as TSLs, and is considering them in this rulemaking. However, DOE has tentatively concluded that the potential burdens of the more-stringent energy efficiency levels would outweigh the projected benefits. Based on consideration of the public comments DOE receives in response to this SNOPR and related information collected and analyzed during the course of this rulemaking effort, DOE may adopt energy efficiency levels presented in this SNOPR that are either higher or lower than the proposed standards, or some combination of level(s) that incorporate the proposed standards in part.

II. Introduction

The following section briefly discusses the statutory authority underlying this proposal, as well as some of the relevant historical background related to the establishment of standards for residential conventional cooking products.

A. Authority

Title III, Part B of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 (EPCA or the Act), Public Law 94-163 (codified as 42 U.S.C. 6291-6309) established the Energy Conservation Program for Consumer Products Other Than Automobiles, a program covering most major household appliances (collectively referred to as “covered products”), which includes residential cooking products,

and specifically residential conventional cooking tops and conventional ovens that are the subject of this rulemaking. (42 U.S.C. 6292(a)(10)) EPCA prescribed energy conservation standards for these products (42 U.S.C. 6295(h)(1)), and directs DOE to conduct rulemakings to determine whether to amend these standards. (42 U.S.C. 6295(h)(2)) Under 42 U.S.C. 6295(m), the agency must periodically review its already established energy conservation standards for a covered product. Under this requirement, the next review that DOE would need to conduct must occur no later than 6 years from the issuance of a final rule establishing or amending a standard for a covered product.

DOE's regulations define kitchen ranges and ovens, or “cooking products”, as consumer products that are used as the major household cooking appliances. They are designed to cook or heat different types of food by one or more of the following sources of heat: Gas, electricity, or microwave energy. Each product may consist of a horizontal cooking top containing one or more surface units and/or one or more heating compartments. Based on this definition, in this SNOPR, DOE interprets kitchen ranges and ovens to refer more generally to all types of cooking products including, for example, microwave ovens.

Pursuant to EPCA, DOE's energy conservation program for covered products consists essentially of four parts: (1) Testing; (2) labeling; (3) the establishment of Federal energy conservation standards; and (4) certification and enforcement procedures. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is primarily responsible for labeling, and DOE implements the remainder of the program. Subject to certain criteria and conditions, DOE is required to develop test procedures to measure the energy efficiency, energy use, or estimated annual operating cost of each covered product. (42 U.S.C. 6293) Manufacturers of covered products must use the prescribed DOE test procedure as the basis for certifying to DOE that their products comply with the applicable energy conservation standards adopted under EPCA and when making representations to the public regarding the energy use or efficiency of those products. (42 U.S.C. 6293(c) and 6295(s)) Similarly, DOE must use these test procedures to determine whether the products comply with standards adopted pursuant to EPCA.

Id.

The DOE test procedures for residential conventional cooking products, including conventional cooking tops and ovens, currently appear at title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) part 430, subpart B, appendix I (Appendix I).

DOE must follow specific statutory criteria for prescribing new or amended standards for covered products. As indicated above, any new or amended standard for a covered product must be designed to achieve the maximum improvement in energy efficiency that is technologically feasible and economically justified. (42 U.S.C. 6295(o)(2)(A)) Furthermore, DOE may not adopt any standard that would not result in the significant conservation of energy. (42 U.S.C. 6295(o)(3)) Moreover, DOE may not prescribe a standard: (1) For certain products, including residential conventional cooking products, if no test procedure has been established for the product, or (2) if DOE determines by rule that the standard is not technologically feasible or economically justified. (42 U.S.C. 6295(o)(3)(A)-(B)) In deciding whether a standard is economically justified, DOE must determine whether the benefits of the standard exceed its burdens. (42 U.S.C. 6295(o)(2)(B)(i)) DOE must make this determination after receiving comments on the proposed standard, and by considering, to the greatest extent practicable, the following seven statutory factors:

1. The economic impact of the standard on manufacturers and consumers of the products subject to the standard;

2. The savings in operating costs throughout the estimated average life of the covered products in the type (or class) compared to any increase in the price, initial charges, or maintenance expenses for the covered products that are likely to result from the imposition of the standard;

3. The total projected amount of energy, or as applicable, water, savings likely to result directly from the imposition of the standard;

4. Any lessening of the utility or the performance of the covered products likely to result from the imposition of the standard;

5. The impact of any lessening of competition, as determined in writing by the Attorney General, that is likely to result from the imposition of the standard;

6. The need for national energy and water conservation; and

7. Other factors the Secretary of Energy (Secretary) considers relevant. (42 U.S.C. 6295(o)(2)(B)(i)(I)-(VII))

EPCA, as codified, also contains what is known as an “anti-backsliding” provision, which prevents the Secretary from prescribing any amended standard that either increases the maximum allowable energy use or decreases the minimum required energy efficiency of a covered product. (42 U.S.C. 6295(o)(1)) Also, the Secretary may not prescribe an amended or new standard if interested persons have established by a preponderance of the evidence that the standard is likely to result in the unavailability in the United States of any covered product type (or class) of performance characteristics (including reliability), features, sizes, capacities, and volumes that are substantially the same as those generally available in the United States. (42 U.S.C. 6295(o)(4))

Further, EPCA, as codified, establishes a rebuttable presumption that a standard is economically justified if the Secretary finds that the additional cost to the consumer of purchasing a product complying with an energy conservation standard level will be less than three times the value of the energy

savings during the first year that the consumer will receive as a result of the standard, as calculated under the applicable test procedure. (42 U.S.C. 6295(o)(2)(B)(iii))

Additionally, EPCA specifies requirements when promulgating a standard for a type or class of covered product that has two or more subcategories. DOE must specify a different standard level than that which applies generally to such type or class of products for any group of covered products that have the same function or intended use if DOE determines that products within such group (A) consume a different kind of energy from that consumed by other covered products within such type (or class); or (B) have a capacity or other performance-related feature which other products within such type (or class) do not have and such feature justifies a higher or lower standard. (42 U.S.C. 6295(q)(1)) In determining whether a performance-related feature justifies a different standard for a group of products, DOE must consider such factors as the utility to the consumer of the feature and other factors DOE deems appropriate.

Id.

Any rule prescribing such a standard must include an explanation of the basis on which such higher or lower level was established. (42 U.S.C. 6295(q)(2))

Federal energy conservation requirements generally supersede State laws or regulations concerning energy conservation testing, labeling, and standards. (42 U.S.C. 6297(a)-(c)) DOE may, however, grant waivers of Federal preemption for particular State laws or regulations, in accordance with the procedures and other provisions set forth under 42 U.S.C. 6297(d)).

Finally, pursuant to the amendments contained in the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA 2007), Public Law 110-140, any final rule for new or amended energy conservation standards promulgated after July 1, 2010, is required to address standby mode and off mode energy use. (42 U.S.C. 6295(gg)(3)) Specifically, when DOE adopts a standard for a covered product after that date, it must, if justified by the criteria for adoption of standards under EPCA (42 U.S.C. 6295(o)), incorporate standby mode and off mode energy use into the standard, or, if that is not feasible, adopt a separate standard for such energy use for that product. (42 U.S.C. 6295(gg)(3)(A)-(B)) DOE's current test procedures for residential conventional cooking tops address standby mode and off mode energy use. In this rulemaking, DOE intends to incorporate such energy use into any new or amended energy conservation standards it adopts in the final rule. As discussed in section III.C, DOE is proposing to repeal the test procedures for conventional ovens. As a result, a performance standard that addresses standby mode and off mode energy use is not feasible for conventional ovens. However, as discussed in section III.B, DOE is proposing in this SNOPR to adopt prescriptive design requirements for the control system of conventional ovens that would address standby mode and off mode energy use.

B. Background

1. Current Standards

In a final rule published on April 8, 2009 (April 2009 Final Rule), DOE prescribed the current energy conservation standards for residential cooking products to prohibit constant burning pilots for all gas cooking products (

i.e.,

gas cooking products both with or without an electrical supply cord) manufactured on or after April 9, 2012. 74 FR 16040, 16041-16044. DOE's regulations, codified at 10 CFR 430.2, define conventional cooking tops and conventional ovens as classes of cooking products. As noted in the April 2009 Final Rule, DOE considered standards for conventional cooking tops and conventional ovens separately, and noted that any cooking top or oven standard would apply to the individual components of a conventional range. 74 FR 16040, 16053.

2. History of Standards Rulemaking for Residential Conventional Cooking Products

The National Appliance Energy Conservation Act of 1987 (NAECA), Public Law 100-12, amended EPCA to establish prescriptive standards for gas cooking products, requiring gas ranges and ovens with an electrical supply cord that are manufactured on or after January 1, 1990, not to be equipped with a constant burning pilot light. NAECA also directed DOE to conduct two cycles of rulemakings to determine if more stringent or additional standards were justified for kitchen ranges and ovens. (42 U.S.C. 6295 (h)(1)-(2))

DOE undertook the first cycle of these rulemakings and published a final rule on September 8, 1998, which found that no standards were justified for conventional electric cooking products at that time. In addition, partially due to the difficulty of conclusively demonstrating that elimination of standing pilots for conventional gas cooking products without an electrical supply cord was economically justified, DOE did not include amended standards for conventional gas cooking products in the final rule. 63 FR 48038. For the second cycle of rulemakings, DOE published the April 2009 Final Rule amending the energy conservation standards for conventional cooking products to prohibit constant burning pilots for all gas cooking products (

i.e.,

gas cooking products both with or without an electrical supply cord) manufactured on or after April 9, 2012. DOE decided to not adopt energy conservation standards pertaining to the cooking efficiency of conventional electric cooking products because it determined that such standards would not be technologically feasible and economically justified at that time. 74 FR 16040, 16041-16044.

As part of the April 2009 Final Rule, DOE decided not to adopt energy conservation standards pertaining to the cooking efficiency of microwave ovens. DOE also published a final rule on June 17, 2013 adopting energy conservation standards for microwave oven standby mode and off mode. 78 FR 36316. DOE is not considering energy conservation standards for microwave ovens as part of this rulemaking.

EPCA also requires that, not later than 6 years after the issuance of a final rule establishing or amending a standard, DOE publish a notice of proposed rulemaking (NOPR) proposing new standards or a notice of determination that the existing standards do not need to be amended. (42 U.S.C. 6295(m)(1)) Based on this provision, DOE was required to publish by March 31, 2015, either a NOPR proposing new standards for conventional electric cooking products and/or amended standards for conventional gas cooking products

or a notice of determination that the existing standards do not need to be amended. Consequently, DOE initiated a rulemaking to determine whether to adopt new or amended standards for conventional cooking products.

As discussed in section III.A of this SNOPR, DOE is also tentatively planning to consider new energy conservation standards for commercial-style gas cooking products with higher burner input rates, for which DOE did not previously consider energy conservation standards.

On February 12, 2014, DOE published a request for information (RFI) notice (the February 2014 RFI) to initiate the mandatory review process imposed by EPCA. As part of the RFI, DOE sought input from the public to assist with its determination on whether new or amended standards pertaining to conventional cooking products are warranted. 79 FR 8337. In making this determination, DOE must evaluate whether new or amended standards would (1) yield a significant savings in energy use and (2) be both technologically feasible and economically justified. (42 U.S.C. 6295(o)(3)(B))

On June 10, 2015, DOE published a NOPR (the June 2015 NOPR) proposing new and amended energy conservation standards for residential conventional ovens. 80 FR 33030. The June 2015 NOPR also announced that a public meeting would be held on July 14, 2015 at DOE headquarters in Washington, DC. At this meeting, DOE presented the methodologies and results of the analyses set forth in the NOPR, and interested parties that participated in the public meeting discussed a variety of topics. DOE received a number of comments from interested parties in response to the June 2015 NOPR. DOE considered these comments, as well as comments from the public meeting, in preparing this SNOPR. The commenters are summarized in Table II.1. Relevant comments, and DOE's responses, are provided in the appropriate sections of this SNOPR.

Table II.1—Interested Parties Providing Comments on the June 2015 NOPR for Conventional Ovens

Name

Acronyms

Commenter type *

Air-conditioning, Heating, & Refrigeration Institute

AHRI

Appliance Standards Awareness Project (ASAP), Alliance to Save Energy (ASE), American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE), Consumer Federation of America (CFA), Consumers Union (CU), National Consumer Law Center (NCLC), Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), and Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (NEEA)

Joint Efficiency Advocates

Arizona Senator

Arizona Congressional Delegation

Arizona Congress Member

Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers

AHAM

BSH Home Appliances

BSH

California Congress Member

Cato Institute Center for the Study of Science

Cato

Edison Electric Institute

EEI

Electrolux North America

Electrolux

Environmental Defense Fund, Institute for Policy Integrity at New York University School of Law, Natural Resources Defense Council, and Union of Concerned Scientists

EDF, IPI, NRDC, UCS

GE Appliances

Haier America

Haier

Miele, Inc

Miele

National Propane Gas Association

NPGA

Pacific Gas and Electric

PG&E

Sub-Zero Group, Inc

Sub-Zero

Tennessee Congress Member

U.S. Chamber of Commerce, American Chemistry Council, American Coke and Coal Chemicals Institute, American Forest & Paper Association, American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers, American Petroleum Institute, Brick Industry Association, Council of Industrial Boiler Owners, National Association of Home Builders, National Association of Manufacturers, National Mining Association, National Oilseed Processors Association, Portland Cement Association

The Associations

Whirlpool Corporation

Whirlpool

Wisconsin Senators

* CM: Congress Member; EA: Efficiency Advocate; GA: Government Agency; IR: Industry Representative; M: Manufacturer; RO: Research Organization; TA: Trade Association; U: Utility.

As part of the June 2015 NOPR, DOE also noted that it was deferring its decision regarding whether to adopt amended energy conservation standards for conventional cooking tops, pending further study. 80 FR 33030, 33038-33040. In both the test procedure NOPR published on January 30, 2013 (78 FR 6232, the January 2013 TP NOPR) and the test procedure SNOPR published on December 3, 2014 (79 FR 71894, the December 2014 TP SNOPR), DOE proposed amendments to the cooking products test procedure in Appendix I that would allow for the testing of active mode energy consumption of induction cooking tops. After reviewing public comments on the December 2014 TP SNOPR, conducting further discussions with manufacturers, and performing additional analyses, DOE decided that further study was required before an updated cooking top test procedure could be established that produces test results which measure energy use during a representative average use cycle for all types of cooking tops, is repeatable and reproducible, and is not unduly burdensome to conduct. 80 FR 37954 (July 2, 2015).

As discussed in section III.C, on August 22, 2016, DOE published in the

Federal Register

a SNOPR proposing amendments to the test procedures for conventional cooking tops and ovens that include, among other things, test methods for induction cooking tops and gas cooking tops with high burner input rates. 81 FR 57374. DOE is publishing this document to propose new and amended energy conservation standards for conventional cooking tops based on the proposed amendments to the test procedure. As discussed in section III.C, DOE also proposed to repeal the test procedure for conventional ovens in the August 2016 TP SNOPR. As a result, DOE has also revised its proposal from the June 2015 NOPR for conventional ovens from a performance-based standard to a prescriptive standard.

III. General Discussion

A. Scope of Coverage

As discussed in section II.A of this SNOPR, 42 U.S.C. 6292(a)(10) of EPCA covers kitchen ranges and ovens, or “cooking products.” DOE's regulations define “cooking products” as consumer products that are used as the major household cooking appliances. They are designed to cook or heat different types of food by one or more of the following

sources of heat: Gas, electricity, or microwave energy. Each product may consist of a horizontal cooking top containing one or more surface units

and/or one or more heating compartments. (10 CFR 430.2) In this SNOPR, DOE is considering energy conservation standards for certain residential conventional cooking products, namely, conventional cooking tops and conventional ovens.

The term surface unit refers to burners for gas cooking tops, electric resistance heating elements for electric cooking tops, and inductive heating elements for induction cooking tops.

DOE proposed in the August 2016 TP SNOPR to define a combined cooking product as a household cooking appliance that combines a conventional cooking top and/or conventional oven with other appliance functionality, which may or may not include another cooking product. 81 FR 57374, 57378. In this rulemaking, DOE is not considering combined cooking products as a distinct product category and is not basing its product classes on that category. Instead, DOE is considering energy conservation standards for conventional cooking tops and conventional ovens separately. Because combined cooking products consist, in part, of a cooking top and/or oven, any potential cooking top or oven standards would apply to the individual components of the combined cooking product.

As part of the 2009 standards rulemaking for conventional cooking products, DOE did not consider energy conservation standards for residential conventional gas cooking products with higher burner input rates, including products marketed as “commercial-style” or “professional-style,” due to a lack of available data for determining efficiency characteristics of those products. DOE considered such products to be gas cooking tops with burner input rates greater than 14,000 British thermal units (Btu)/hour (h) and gas ovens with burner input rates greater than 22,500 Btu/h. 74 FR 16040, 16054 (Apr. 8, 2009); 72 FR 64432, 64444-64445 (Nov. 15, 2007). DOE also stated that the DOE cooking products test procedures at that time may not adequately measure performance of gas cooking tops and ovens with higher burner input rates. 72 FR 64432, 64444-64445 (Nov. 15, 2007).

As part of the February 2014 RFI, DOE stated that it tentatively planned to consider energy conservation standards for all residential conventional cooking products, including commercial-style gas cooking products with higher burner input rates. In addition, DOE stated that it may consider developing test procedures for these products and determine whether separate product classes are warranted. 79 FR 8337, 8340 (Feb. 12, 2014).

As discussed in section III.C of this SNOPR, DOE is proposing to amend the conventional cooking top test procedure in Appendix I to, in part, measure the energy use of commercial-style gas cooking tops with high burner input rates.

See

81 FR 57374, 57385-57386. As discussed in section III.B of this SNOPR, DOE proposed to repeal the conventional oven test procedure in the August 2016 TP SNOPR. Due to the uncertainties in analyzing a performance-based standard using oven testing provisions that DOE is proposing to remove from the test procedure, DOE is proposing to adopt prescriptive design requirements for the control system of conventional ovens, including commercial-style ovens with higher burner input rates.

DOE notes that the current definitions for “conventional cooking top” and “conventional oven” in 10 CFR 430.2 already cover commercial-style gas cooking products with higher burner input rates, as these products are household cooking appliances with surface units or compartments intended for the cooking or heating of food by means of a gas flame. As a result, DOE is proposing energy conservation standards for all residential conventional cooking tops and conventional ovens, including commercial-style products with higher burner input rates. As discussed in section IV.A.2 of this SNOPR, DOE is not proposing to establish a separate product class for gas cooking tops and ovens with higher burner input rates that are marketed as “commercial-style” and, as a result, DOE is not proposing separate definitions for these products.

In response to the June 2015 NOPR, AHAM and GE commented that DOE should revise the definition of conventional ovens to make it clear that the definition encompasses the primary cooking product in a home and does not include ancillary cooking products that do not fit conventional cooking product use patterns (

i.e.,

intermittent use products). Specifically, AHAM and GE stated that the definition should specify that conventional ovens include a thermostat setting that can be set to control the internal temperature of the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit (°F) higher than room ambient air temperature. (AHAM, No. 29 at p. 7;

GE, No. 32 at p. 2)

A notation in the form “AHAM, No. 29 at p. 7” identifies a written comment (1) made by AHAM; (2) recorded in document number 29 that is filed in the docket of this energy conservation standards rulemaking (Docket No. EERE-2014-BT- STD-0005) and maintained in the Resource Room of the Building Technologies Program; and (3) which appears on page 7 of document number 29.

DOE notes that the change to the conventional oven definition proposed by AHAM and GE could result unintentionally in certain products not being covered. DOE currently defines “conventional ovens” in 10 CFR 430.2 as cooking products that are used as the major household cooking appliance and consist of one or more compartments intended for the cooking or heating of food by means of either a gas flame or electric resistance heating. DOE notes that the means of heating and description of the product are clearly specified in the current definition. DOE's definition relates to the functionality of the product, not its intended use, so a conventional oven would be considered a covered product whether it serves a primary or ancillary application. DOE is not proposing to define conventional ovens based on their intended use and a product that meets the existing definition would be considered a covered product. If a manufacturer is unable to test a product in accordance with the provisions in the test procedure (

e.g.,

setting the oven thermostat), a manufacturer may apply for a waiver from the test procedure, in accordance with 10 CFR 430.27, if it is able to provide an explanation for why its product design is unique and would require different considerations for the test conditions. DOE welcomes comments on whether there are products that would meet the definition of a conventional oven, but that could not be tested according to the DOE test procedure.

B. Prescriptive Standard for Conventional Ovens

This SNOPR proposes to adopt a prescriptive design requirement for the control system of conventional ovens. DOE considered a combination of factors in developing its proposal to prescribe a control design requirement for conventional ovens, rather than proposing to regulate IAEC with a performance standard. The rationale for this tentative decision is explained below.

DOE's analysis determined that the baseline efficiency level for conventional ovens corresponds to a linear power supply control design. For conventional gas ovens, DOE's analysis showed that the baseline control design also uses an “intermittent ignition” system with a glo-bar (also referred to as a hot surface) igniter. As discussed in section V.A of this SNOPR, the design

options analyzed to achieve the proposed standard level for conventional ovens involved changing from a control design that uses a linear power supply to one that incorporates a switch-mode power supply (SMPS). In addition, for gas ovens, the proposed standard level corresponds to switching from an intermittent glo-bar ignition system to an “intermittent/interrupted ignition” or “intermittent pilot ignition” (

e.g.,

electronic spark ignition). Descriptions of these design options are discussed further in section IV.A.3.b of this SNOPR. DOE notes that the currently applicable prescriptive standards for gas ovens prohibit constant burning pilot lights, which are a type of continuous ignition system that would be precluded by the proposed standards.

DOE conducted the analysis for conventional ovens for this SNOPR based on the test procedure adopted in the July 2, 2015 final rule (80 FR 37954, hereinafter referred to as the July 2015 TP Final Rule), which was the current test procedure at the time the standards analysis was conducted. After reviewing public comments and considering additional feedback and test data from manufacturers, DOE concluded that commercial-style ovens have inherently lower efficiencies than for residential-style ovens with comparable cavity sizes when measured using the previous version of the test procedure adopted in the July 2015 TP Final Rule, due to the greater thermal mass of the cavity and racks in commercial-style ovens. Due to uncertainty regarding such efficiency measurement, DOE is proposing to repeal the conventional oven test procedure, as described in the August 2016 TP SNOPR, and determined that further investigation would be required to develop test methods that appropriately account for the effects of certain commercial-style oven design features (

e.g.,

heavier-gauge cavity construction, high input rate burners, extension racks,

etc.

). 81 FR 57374, 57378-57379. The uncertainties in analyzing a performance-based standard using oven testing provisions that DOE proposed to remove from the test procedure in the August 2016 TP SNOPR have led DOE to propose prescriptive design requirements for the control system of conventional ovens.

As discussed in section II.B.1 of this SNOPR, manufacturers are not currently required to conduct testing to certify compliance with standards because DOE has promulgated only prescriptive standards for gas cooking products. The prescriptive-based standard for conventional ovens proposed in this SNOPR would continue to minimize burden on manufacturers because it would not require manufacturers to test, rate, and label conventional ovens.

For the reasons cited above, DOE is proposing a prescriptive requirement for conventional ovens that would require conventional electric ovens to not be equipped with a control system that uses a linear power supply. The proposed standards would also require that conventional gas ovens be equipped with a control system that uses intermittent/interrupted ignition or intermittent pilot ignition and does not use a linear power supply.

C. Test Procedure

EPCA sets forth generally applicable criteria and procedures for DOE's adoption and amendment of test procedures. (42 U.S.C. 6293) Manufacturers of covered products must use these test procedures to certify to DOE that their product complies with energy conservation standards and to quantify the efficiency of their product. DOE's test procedures for conventional cooking tops, conventional ovens, and microwave ovens are codified at appendix I to subpart B of Title 10 of the CFR part 430.

DOE established the test procedures in a final rule published in the

Federal Register

on May 10, 1978. 43 FR 20108, 20120-20128. DOE revised its test procedures for cooking products to more accurately measure their efficiency and energy use, and published the revisions as a final rule in 1997. 62 FR 51976 (Oct. 3, 1997). These test procedure amendments included: (1) A reduction in the annual useful cooking energy; (2) a reduction in the number of self-clean oven cycles per year; and (3) incorporation of portions of International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) Standard 705-1988, “Methods for measuring the performance of microwave ovens for household and similar purposes,” and Amendment 2-1993 for the testing of microwave ovens.

Id.

The test procedures for conventional cooking products establish provisions for determining estimated annual operating cost, cooking efficiency (defined as the ratio of cooking energy output to cooking energy input), and energy factor (defined as the ratio of annual useful cooking energy output to total annual energy input). 10 CFR 430.23(i); Appendix I. These provisions for conventional cooking products are not currently used for compliance with any energy conservation standards because the present standards are design requirements; in addition, there is no EnergyGuide

labeling program for cooking products.

For more information on the EnergyGuide labeling program, see:

www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_00/16cfr305_00.html

DOE subsequently conducted a rulemaking to address standby and off mode energy consumption, as well as certain active mode (

i.e.,

fan-only mode) testing provisions, for residential conventional cooking products. DOE published a final rule on October 31, 2012 (77 FR 65942, the October 2012 TP Final Rule), adopting standby and off mode provisions that satisfy the EPCA requirement that DOE include measures of standby mode and off mode power in its test procedures for residential products, if technically feasible. (42 U.S.C. 6295(gg)(2)(A))

On January 30, 2013, DOE published a NOPR (78 FR 6232, the January 2013 TP NOPR) proposing amendments to Appendix I that would allow for testing the active mode energy consumption of induction cooking products;

i.e.,

conventional cooking tops equipped with induction heating technology for one or more surface units on the cooking top. DOE proposed to incorporate induction cooking tops by amending the definition of “conventional cooking top” to include induction heating technology. Furthermore, DOE proposed to require for all cooking tops the use of test equipment compatible with induction technology. Specifically, DOE proposed to replace the solid aluminum test blocks currently specified in the test procedure for cooking tops with hybrid test blocks comprising two separate pieces: An aluminum body and a stainless steel base. 78 FR 6232, 6234 (Jan. 30, 2013).

In response to the February 2014 RFI, AHAM commented that DOE should rely on the finalized version of the test procedure (

i.e.,

the October 2012 TP Final Rule) and not a proposed test procedure when evaluating energy conservation standards, particularly given the significant comments opposing the proposed test procedure (as discussed in AHAM's comments on the January 2013 TP NOPR). Accordingly, AHAM stated that DOE should finalize amendments to the test procedure before conducting any analysis for the standards rulemaking, or else proceed without addressing induction cooking products in this round of standards rulemaking. (AHAM, No. 9 at pp. 3-4, 6, 7)

AHAM and Whirlpool commented that a test procedure should be developed to address commercial-style cooking products if DOE plans to

evaluate them in a standards analysis. (AHAM, No. 9 at p. 2; Whirlpool, No. 13 at p. 1) AHAM also commented that DOE should either proceed without addressing commercial-style products as it did for the April 2009 Final Rule or delay the rulemaking analysis until there is a finalized test procedure that can measure commercial-style products. (AHAM, No. 9 at p. 4, 6, 7) AHAM added that it could not provide data regarding the differences between residential-style and commercial-style gas cooking products without a test procedure to measure higher input rate burners. (AHAM, No. 9 at p. 7) The California IOUs supported amending the test procedure to measure the energy use of residential commercial-style gas cooking products with higher burner input rates. (California IOUs, No. 11 at p. 2)

On December 3, 2014, DOE published an SNOPR (the December 2014 TP SNOPR), in which DOE modified its proposal from the January 2013 TP NOPR to specify different test equipment that would allow for measuring the energy efficiency of induction cooking tops, and would include an additional test block size for electric surface units with large diameters (both induction and electric resistance). 79 FR 71894. In addition, DOE proposed methods to test non-circular electric surface units, electric surface units with flexible concentric cooking zones, and full-surface induction cooking tops.

Id.

In the December 2014 TP SNOPR, DOE also proposed amendments to add a larger test block size to test gas cooking top burners with higher input rates.

Id.

In the December 2014 TP SNOPR, DOE also proposed methods for measuring conventional oven volume, clarification that the existing oven test block must be used to test all ovens regardless of input rate, and a method to measure the energy consumption and efficiency of conventional ovens equipped with an oven separator. 79 FR 71894 (Dec. 3, 2014). DOE published the July 2015 TP Final Rule adopting the test procedure amendments discussed above for conventional ovens only. 80 FR 37954.

AHAM and Electrolux commented that DOE did not provide sufficient time after finalizing the test procedure for conventional ovens for stakeholders to evaluate the proposed conventional oven standards. AHAM and Electrolux stated that manufacturers do not regularly conduct energy tests because there is no current standard for conventional ovens. As a result, they stated that more time was needed for manufacturers to fully understand the impact of the final test procedure and evaluate the proposed standards for conventional ovens. (AHAM, No. 29 at pp. 4-5; Electrolux, No. 27 at pp. 2-3)

AHRI commented that DOE states in its regulations that it will finalize amended test procedures before introducing applicable amended standards.

AHRI noted that for conventional ovens, DOE published a final rule to amend the test procedure more than 3 weeks after the publication of the June 2015 NOPR which introduced amended standards and thus did not comply with the codified procedures noted above. AHRI believes that the comment period did not provide manufacturers with sufficient time to fully evaluate the proposed standards with the amended test procedure. (AHRI, No. 34 at p. 2)

AHRI made this comment in reference to 10 CFR part 430, subpart C, appendix A(7)(c).

Sub-Zero expressed concern that limitations in the test procedures and available data might unfairly impact commercial-style products in a rulemaking establishing energy conservation standards. (Sub-Zero, No. 25 at p. 2)

AHAM submitted an additional comment after the end of the June 2015 NOPR comment period to discuss additional industry product testing. As part of this comment, AHAM reiterated its concern that manufacturers were unable to adequately analyze DOE's proposed rule during the comment period because DOE did not provide sufficient time after finalizing the conventional oven test procedure for stakeholders to evaluate the proposed standards. (AHAM, No. 38 at p. 2)

DOE has considered these comments as part of this rulemaking and notes that this SNOPR provides additional opportunity for interested parties to provide comment based on the proposed cooking product test procedure discussed below. With respect to the process of establishing test procedures and standards for a given product, DOE notes that, while not legally obligated to do so, it generally follows the approach laid out in guidance found in 10 CFR part 430, subpart C, Appendix A (Procedures, Interpretations and Policies for Consideration of New or Revised Energy Conservation Standards for Consumer Products). That guidance provides, among other things, that, when necessary, DOE will issue final, modified test procedures for a given product prior to publication of the NOPR proposing energy conservation standards for that product. While DOE strives to follow the procedural steps outlined in its guidance, there may be circumstances in which it may be necessary or appropriate to deviate from it. In such instances, the guidance indicates that DOE will provide notice and an explanation for the deviation. Accordingly, DOE is providing notice that it continues to develop the final test procedure for conventional cooking products. As discussed below, DOE has carefully considered the significant comments regarding the test procedures for both induction cooking tops and commercial-style cooking products, which led to DOE publishing an additional SNOPR on August 22, 2016. DOE believes proposed amendments in the August 2016 TP SNOPR address the significant concerns regarding the conventional cooking products test procedure and will issue the final test procedure before the standards final rule. Furthermore, as discussed in section IV.C.5 of this SNOPR, DOE is proposing to adopt a prescriptive design requirement for conventional ovens. Because this proposed standard is a design requirement and not a performance standard (

i.e.,

minimum efficiency or maximum energy consumption), manufacturers would not be required to test using the DOE test procedure for conventional ovens to certify products to the proposed standards in this SNOPR.

As discussed in the June 2015 NOPR for conventional ovens, DOE received a significant number of comments regarding the proposed hybrid test block test method for cooking tops in response to the December 2014 TP SNOPR and in separate interviews conducted with conventional cooking product manufacturers in February and March of 2015. AHAM and manufacturers commented that the hybrid test block method, as proposed, presented many issues with the construction and configuration of the test block which had not yet been addressed, and which left the repeatability and reproducibility of the test procedure in question. 80 FR 33030, 33039-33040 (June 10, 2015). A number of manufacturers that produce and sell products in Europe supported the use of a water-heating test method and harmonization with International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) Standard 60350-2 Edition 2, “Household electric appliances—Part 2: Hobs—Method for measuring performance” (IEC Standard 60350-2) for measuring the energy consumption of electric cooking tops. These manufacturers noted the test methods in IEC Standard 60350-2 are compatible with all electric cooking top types, specify additional cookware diameters

to account for the variety of surface unit sizes on the market, and use test loads that represent real-world cooking top loads. Efficiency advocates also recommended that DOE require water-heating test methods to produce a measure of cooking efficiency for conventional cooking tops that is more representative of actual cooking performance than the hybrid test block method. 80 FR 33030, 33039-33040 (June 10, 2015).

For these reasons, DOE decided to defer its decision regarding adoption of energy conservation standards for conventional cooking tops until a representative, repeatable and reproducible test method for cooking tops was finalized. 80 FR 33030, 33040 (June 10, 2015).

AHAM, GE, and Electrolux commented in response to the June 2015 NOPR supporting DOE's decision to not propose standards for cooking tops because there was not yet a representative, repeatable, reproducible test procedure for this product category. (AHAM, No. 29 at p. 2; GE, No. 32 at p. 1; Electrolux, No. 27 at p. 2) AHAM stated that in addition to the time required to identify an appropriate test method for cooking tops, manufacturers will need time to obtain test equipment, verify that the test method is repeatable and reproducible, test their full product lines, and provide data to DOE to form the basis for any energy conservation standards. Therefore, AHAM believed that consideration of energy conservation standards for cooking tops would only be possible and appropriate in the next standards rulemaking cycle for conventional cooking products. (AHAM, No. 29 at p. 3)

AHAM, GE and Electrolux commented that 42 U.S.C. 6295(m)(4)(B), which specifies that a manufacturer shall not be required to apply new standards to a product with respect to which other new standards have been required during the prior 6-year period, prohibits DOE from proceeding with cooking tops on a different schedule than conventional ovens if DOE decides to proceed with standards for conventional ovens. (AHAM, No. 29 at pp. 2,3; GE, No. 32 at p. 2; Electrolux, No. 27 at p. 2) GE added that, regardless of when standards for cooking tops are proposed or finalized, the compliance date must not be until at least 6 years after the compliance date for the proposed standards for conventional ovens. (GE, No. 32 at p. 2)

Whirlpool commented that, although the FTC has not ruled on whether EnergyGuide labels will be justified for conventional ranges, Natural Resources Canada requires a comprehensive label that declares the energy consumption of the combined product. Whirlpool stated that DOE should consider this possibility when evaluating whether to align the compliance dates for conventional cooking tops and ovens. (Whirlpool, No. 33 at p. 4)

EEI commented that if DOE adopts new standards for both conventional cooking tops and ovens, the compliance dates for both products should be as close as possible to be market neutral. (EEI, Public Meeting Transcript, No. 35 at p. 18)

A notation in the form “EEI, Public Meeting Transcript, No. 35 at p. 18” identifies an oral comment that DOE received during the July 14, 2015, residential conventional oven energy conservation standards NOPR public meeting. Oral comments were recorded in the public meeting transcript and are available in the residential conventional cooking products energy conservation standards rulemaking docket (Docket No. EERE-2014-BT-STD-0005). This particular notation refers to a comment: (1) Made by Edison Electric Institute during the public meeting; (2) recorded in document number 35, which is the public meeting transcript that is filed in the docket of this energy conservation standards rulemaking; and (3) which appears on page 18 of document number 35.

DOE published an additional test procedure SNOPR on August 22, 2016 (81 FR 57374) that proposes to amend the test procedures for conventional cooking tops. Given the feedback from interested parties discussed above and based on the additional testing and analysis conducted for the test procedure rulemaking, in the August 2016 TP SNOPR, DOE withdrew its proposal for testing conventional cooking tops with a hybrid test block. Instead, DOE is proposing to amend its test procedure to incorporate by reference the relevant sections of European Standard EN 60350-2:2013 “Household electric cooking appliances Part 2: Hobs—Methods for measuring performance”

22 23

(EN 60350-2:2013), which provide a water-heating test method to measure the energy consumption of electric cooking tops. The test method specifies the quantity of water to be heated in a standardized test vessel whose size is selected based on the diameter of the surface unit under test. The test vessels specified in EN 60350-2:2013 are compatible with all cooking top technologies and surface unit diameters available on the U.S. market. 81 FR 57374, 57381-57384.

Hob is the British English term for cooking top.

On April 25, 2014, IEC made available the draft version of IEC Standard 60350-2 Edition 2.0 Committee Draft (IEC 60350-2 CD). DOE notes that the draft amendment to IEC 60350-2 on which testing for the January 2013 NOPR was based includes the same basic test method as the 2014 IEC 60350-2 CD. DOE also notes that the European standard EN 60350-2:2013 is based on the draft amendment to IEC 60350-2. DOE believes that the IEC procedure, once finalized, will retain the same basic test method as currently contained in EN 60350-2:2013.

DOE is also proposing to extend the test methods provided in EN 60530-2:2013 to gas cooking tops by correlating the burner input rate and test vessel diameters specified in EN 30-2-1:1998 “Domestic cooking appliances burning gas—Part 2-1: Rational use of energy—General” (EN 30-2-1) to the test vessel diameters and water loads already included in EN 60350-2:2013. The range of gas burner input rates covered by EN 30-2-1 includes surface units with burners exceeding 14,000 Btu/h, and thus EN 30-2-1 provides a method to test gas surface units with high input rate burners, which previously had not been addressed in the DOE test procedure or energy conservation standards. 81 FR 57374, 57385-57386.

In the August 2016 TP SNOPR, DOE proposed to amend the conventional cooking top test procedure to specify that the test energy consumptions measured for each surface unit be averaged together and then normalized to a representative load size to determine the total per-cycle energy consumption of the cooking top. The annual active mode energy consumption of the cooking top would be calculated by multiplying the total per-cycle energy consumption of the cooking top by the “adjusted cooking frequency.” 81 FR 57374, 57387-57388. As discussed in the August 2016 TP SNOPR, DOE determined the adjusted cooking frequency by comparing the energy use determined based on cooking frequency data from 2009 DOE Energy Information Administration (EIA)

Residential Energy Consumption Survey

(RECS 2009)

and the water heating test method, to recent field use data for cooking products.

25 26

Based on this review, DOE determined that the estimated annual active mode cooking top energy consumption using the cooking frequency based on RECS 2009 data and the water heating test method did not adequately represent consumer use. As a result, DOE proposed in the August 2016 TP SNOPR

to normalize the cooking frequency to account for differences between the duration of a cooking event represented in the RECS data and the water heating test method. DOE also proposed to calculate the integrated annual energy consumption for the cooking top as the sum of the annual active mode energy consumption and the combined low-power mode energy consumption.

Id.

U.S. Department of Energy: Energy Information Administration,

Residential Energy Consumption Survey: 2009 RECS Survey Data

(2013) (Available at:

http://www.eia.gov/consumption/residential/data/2009/

California Energy Commission. 2009 California Residential Appliance Saturation Study, October 2010. Prepared for the California Energy Commission by KEMA, Inc. Contract No. 200-2010-004. <

http://www.energy.ca.gov/2010publications/CEC-200-2010-004/CEC-200-2010-004-V2.PDF

FSEC 2010. Updated Miscellaneous Electricity Loads and Appliance Energy Usage Profiles for Use in Home Energy Ratings, the Building America Benchmark and Related Calculations. Published as FSEC-CR-1837-10, Florida Solar Energy Center, Cocoa, FL.

Because DOE has proposed test procedures for conventional cooking tops that produce representative, repeatable, reproducible test results, DOE is now combining the rulemaking to consider energy conservation standards for conventional cooking tops and ovens and is correspondingly aligning the compliance dates for both product categories. For this SNOPR, DOE evaluated its proposed energy conservation standards for conventional cooking tops based on the proposed cooking top test procedure discussed above.

As discussed in section III.B, DOE is proposing to repeal the conventional oven test procedure as discussed in the August 2016 TP SNOPR and is proposing to adopt prescriptive design requirements for the control system of conventional ovens. As a result, manufacturers would not need to test, rate, and label conventional ovens to demonstrate compliance with the proposed prescriptive design requirements.

Whirlpool and EEI support the use of an IAEC metric that includes cooking energy, standby energy, and self-clean energy because it allows manufacturers flexibility in incorporating cost-effective design options that improve energy efficiency. Whirlpool also believes it would allow manufacturers to consider tradeoffs between consumer utility and energy efficiency improvements. (Whirlpool, No. 33 at p. 5; EEI, No. 30 at p. 3) EEI added that an integrated metric would facilitate the development of “smart” ovens that are more interactive with energy supply grids to allow consumers to determine the most energy-efficient and cost-effective times to operate them. EEI stated that a smart oven may need to communicate with an energy grid on a continuous basis, but the communication function may require a very small increase in the energy used in the standby mode or off mode. According to EEI, a separate standard for standby mode or off mode could result in appliances that are not able to have the “smart” functionality. (EEI, No. 30 at p. 3)

In this SNOPR, DOE performed its analysis for both ovens and cooking tops using the IAEC metric to account for both active mode and standby mode design options. As described in section V.C.1 of this SNOPR, DOE is proposing a prescriptive standard for conventional ovens and a performance standard using the IAEC metric for conventional cooking tops. For conventional ovens, DOE tentatively determined that a prescriptive requirement would be a more effective means of achieving energy savings for all oven product types (

i.e.,

residential-style and commercial-style ovens) due to uncertainties in the methods used to measure conventional oven IAEC that DOE is proposing to remove from the test procedure in the August 2016 TP SNOPR. DOE also notes that the proposed prescriptive standards for conventional ovens would not preclude the introduction of connected products because the prescriptive design requirements for the control systems does not directly affect the design of the connected feature. Moreover, because DOE is not proposing a separate standby mode and off mode performance standard for conventional cooking tops, connected cooking tops would not be precluded.

In response to the June 2015 NOPR, Whirlpool also questioned the energy use metric for conventional ranges in light of the potentially separate standards schedule for conventional cooking tops and conventional ovens. Whirlpool stated that an integrated metric would allow manufacturers to pursue the most technically-feasible and/or economically-justifiable design options to meet the relevant standard while still achieving the same national energy conservation had they been separate. (Whirlpool, No. 33 at p. 3) Whirlpool noted that since standby power is included in the oven and cooking top test procedures, and that standby power for conventional ranges cannot be separated into oven and cooking top portions of standby energy, it is unclear how manufacturers would test and certify the oven and cooking top portions of conventional ranges separately. (Whirlpool, No. 33 at p. 3)

As discussed above, DOE is now proposing standards for both conventional cooking tops and ovens with the same compliance date. As noted in section III.A of this SNOPR, any potential cooking top or oven standard would apply to the individual components of the combined cooking product. As a result, DOE does not foresee any issues with compliance for combined cooking products, such as conventional ranges, that include both a conventional cooking top and conventional oven. The test procedure amendments proposed in the August 2016 TP SNOPR include provisions for measuring the standby power of combined cooking products and calculating the IAEC for the conventional cooking top component of combined cooking products. In addition, as discussed above, because DOE is proposing prescriptive standards for conventional ovens, manufacturers would not be required to conduct testing according to Appendix I to demonstrate compliance with standards.

D. Technological Feasibility

1. General

In each energy conservation standards rulemaking, DOE conducts a screening analysis based on information gathered on all current technology options and prototype designs that could improve the efficiency of the products or equipment that are the subject of the rulemaking. As the first step in such an analysis, DOE develops a list of technology options for consideration in consultation with manufacturers, design engineers, and other interested parties. DOE then determines which of those means for improving efficiency are technologically feasible. DOE considers technologies incorporated in commercially available products or in working prototypes to be technologically feasible. 10 CFR part 430, subpart C, appendix A, section 4(a)(4)(i).

After DOE has determined that particular technology options are technologically feasible, it further evaluates each technology option in light of the following additional screening criteria: (1) Practicability to manufacture, install, and service; (2) adverse impacts on product utility or availability; and (3) adverse impacts on health or safety. 10 CFR part 430, subpart C, appendix A, section 4(a)(4)(ii)-(iv). Section IV.B of this SNOPR discusses the results of the screening analysis for residential conventional cooking products, particularly the designs DOE considered, those it screened out, and those that are the basis for the TSLs in this rulemaking. For further details on the screening analysis for this rulemaking, see chapter 4 of the SNOPR Technical Support Document (TSD).

2. Maximum Technologically Feasible Levels

When DOE proposes to adopt an amended standard for a type or class of covered product, it must determine the maximum improvement in energy efficiency or maximum reduction in energy use that is technologically feasible for such product. (42 U.S.C. 6295(p)(1)) Accordingly, in the

engineering analysis, DOE determined the maximum technologically feasible (“max-tech”) improvements in energy efficiency for residential conventional cooking tops, using the design parameters for the most efficient products available on the market or in working prototypes, and information from the previous rulemaking. The max-tech levels that DOE determined for this rulemaking are described in section IV.C.3 of this proposed rule and in chapter 5 of the SNOPR TSD.

E. Energy Savings

1. Determination of Savings

For each TSL, DOE projected energy savings from the products that are the subject of this rulemaking purchased in the 30-year period that begins in the year of compliance with new and amended standards (2019 to 2048).

The savings are measured over the entire lifetime of products purchased in the 30-year analysis period. DOE quantified the energy savings attributable to each TSL as the difference in energy consumption between each standards case and the no-new-standards case. The no-new-standards case represents a projection of energy consumption in the absence of new and amended efficiency standards, and it considers market forces and policies that affect demand for more efficient products.

Each TSL is comprised of specific efficiency levels for each product class. The TSLs considered for this SNOPR are described in section V.A of this SNOPR. DOE conducted a sensitivity analysis that considers impacts for products shipped in a 9-year period.

DOE uses its national impact analysis (NIA) spreadsheet models to estimate national energy savings (NES) from potential new and amended standards. The NIA spreadsheet model (described in section IV.H of this SNOPR) calculates energy savings in terms of site energy, which is the energy directly consumed by products at the locations where they are used. Based on the site energy, DOE calculates NES in terms of primary energy savings at the site or at power plants, and also in terms of full-fuel-cycle (FFC) energy savings. The FFC metric includes the energy consumed in extracting, processing, and transporting primary fuels (

i.e.,

coal, natural gas, petroleum fuels), and thus presents a more complete picture of the impacts of energy conservation standards.

DOE's approach is based on the calculation of an FFC multiplier for each of the energy types used by covered products or equipment. For more information on FFC energy savings, see section IV.H.2 of this SNOPR. For natural gas, the primary energy savings are considered to be equal to the site energy savings.

The FFC metric is discussed in DOE's statement of policy and notice of policy amendment. 76 FR 51282 (Aug. 18, 2011), as amended at 77 FR 49701 (Aug. 17, 2012).

2. Significance of Savings

To adopt any new or amended standards for a covered product, DOE must determine that such action would result in “significant” energy savings. (42 U.S.C. 6295(o)(3)(B)) Although the term “significant” is not defined in the Act, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, in

Natural Resources Defense Council

Herrington,

768 F.2d 1355, 1373 (D.C. Cir. 1985), opined that Congress intended “significant” energy savings in the context of EPCA to be savings that were not “genuinely trivial.” The energy savings for the proposed standards (presented in section IV.H.2 of this SNOPR) are nontrivial, and, therefore, DOE considers them “significant” within the meaning of section 325 of EPCA.

F. Economic Justification

1. Specific Criteria

As noted above, EPCA provides seven factors to be evaluated in determining whether a potential energy conservation standard is economically justified. (42 U.S.C. 6295(o)(2)(B)(i)) The following sections discuss how DOE has addressed each of those seven factors in this rulemaking.

a. Economic Impact on Manufacturers and Consumers

In determining the impacts of a potential amended standard on manufacturers, DOE conducts a manufacturer impact analysis (MIA), as discussed in section IV.J of this SNOPR. DOE first uses an annual cash-flow approach to determine the quantitative impacts. This step includes both a short-term assessment—based on the cost and capital requirements during the period between when a regulation is issued and when entities must comply with the regulation—and a long-term assessment over a 30-year period. The industry-wide impacts analyzed include (1) INPV, which values the industry on the basis of expected future cash flows; (2) cash flows by year; (3) changes in revenue and income; and (4) other measures of impact, as appropriate. Second, DOE analyzes and reports the impacts on different types of manufacturers, including impacts on small manufacturers. Third, DOE considers the impact of standards on domestic manufacturer employment and manufacturing capacity, as well as the potential for standards to result in plant closures and loss of capital investment. Finally, DOE takes into account cumulative impacts of various DOE regulations and other regulatory requirements on manufacturers. For individual consumers, measures of economic impact include the changes in LCC and PBP associated with new or amended standards. These measures are discussed further in the following section. For consumers in the aggregate, DOE also calculates the national net present value of the economic impacts applicable to a particular rulemaking. DOE also evaluates the LCC impacts of potential standards on identifiable subgroups of consumers that may be affected disproportionately by a national standard.

b. Savings in Operating Costs Compared to Increase in Price (LCC and PBP)

EPCA requires DOE to consider the savings in operating costs throughout the estimated average life of the covered product in the type (or class) compared to any increase in the price of, or in the initial charges for, or maintenance expenses of, the covered product that are likely to result from a standard. (42 U.S.C. 6295(o)(2)(B)(i)(II)) DOE conducts this comparison in its LCC and PBP analysis.

The LCC is the sum of the purchase price of a product (including its installation) and the operating expense (including energy, maintenance, and repair expenditures) discounted over the lifetime of the product. The LCC analysis requires a variety of inputs, such as product prices, product energy consumption, energy prices, maintenance and repair costs, product lifetime, and consumer discount rates appropriate for consumers. To account for uncertainty and variability in specific inputs, such as product lifetime and discount rate, DOE uses a distribution of values, with probabilities attached to each value.

The PBP is the estimated amount of time (in years) it takes consumers to recover the increased purchase cost (including installation) of a more-efficient product through lower operating costs. DOE calculates the PBP by dividing the change in purchase cost due to a more-stringent standard by the change in annual operating cost for the year that standards are assumed to take effect.

For its LCC and PBP analysis, DOE assumes that consumers will purchase the covered products in the first year of compliance with amended standards. The LCC savings for the considered efficiency levels are calculated relative

to the case that reflects projected market trends in the absence of amended standards. DOE's LCC and PBP analysis is discussed in further detail in section IV.F of this SNOPR.

c. Energy Savings

Although significant conservation of energy is a separate statutory requirement for adopting an energy conservation standard, EPCA requires DOE, in determining the economic justification of a standard, to consider the total projected energy savings that are expected to result directly from the standard. (42 U.S.C. 6295(o)(2)(B)(i)(III)) As discussed in section III.E of this SNOPR, DOE uses the NIA spreadsheet models to project national energy savings.

d. Lessening of Utility or Performance of Products

In establishing product classes and in evaluating design options and the impact of potential standard levels, DOE evaluates potential standards that would not lessen the utility or performance of the considered products. (42 U.S.C. 6295(o)(2)(B)(i)(IV)) Based on data available to DOE, the standards proposed in this SNOPR would not reduce the utility or performance of the products under consideration in this rulemaking.

e. Impact of Any Lessening of Competition

EPCA directs DOE to consider the impact of any lessening of competition, as determined in writing by the Attorney General, that is likely to result from a proposed standard. (42 U.S.C. 6295(o)(2)(B)(i)(V)) It also directs the Attorney General to determine the impact, if any, of any lessening of competition likely to result from a proposed standard and to transmit such determination to the Secretary within 60 days of the publication of a proposed rule, together with an analysis of the nature and extent of the impact. (42 U.S.C. 6295(o)(2)(B)(ii)) DOE will transmit a copy of this proposed rule to the Attorney General with a request that the Department of Justice (DOJ) provide its determination on this issue. DOE will publish and respond to the Attorney General's determination in the final rule. DOE invites comment from the public regarding the competitive impacts that are likely to result from this proposed rule. In addition, stakeholders may also provide comments separately to DOJ regarding these potential impacts. See

ADDRESSES

section for information to send comments to DOJ.

f. Need for National Energy Conservation

DOE also considers the need for national energy conservation in determining whether a new or amended standard is economically justified. (42 U.S.C. 6295(o)(2)(B)(i)(VI)) The energy savings from new or amended standards are likely to provide improvements to the security and reliability of the nation's energy system. Reductions in the demand for electricity also may result in reduced costs for maintaining the reliability of the nation's electricity system. DOE conducts a utility impact analysis to estimate how standards may affect the nation's needed power generation capacity, as discussed in section IV.M of this SNOPR.

The proposed standards also are likely to result in environmental benefits in the form of reduced emissions of air pollutants and greenhouse gases (GHGs) associated with energy production and use. DOE conducts an emissions analysis to estimate how standards may affect these emissions, as discussed in section IV.K of this SNOPR; the emissions impacts are reported in section V.B of this SNOPR. DOE also estimates the economic value of emissions reductions resulting from the considered TSLs, as discussed in section IV.L of this proposed rule.

g. Other Factors

EPCA allows the Secretary of Energy, in determining whether a standard is economically justified, to consider any other factors that the Secretary deems to be relevant. (42 U.S.C. 6295(o)(2)(B)(i)(VII)) To the extent interested parties submit any relevant information regarding economic justification that does not fit into the other categories described above, DOE could consider such information under “other factors.”

2. Rebuttable Presumption

As set forth in 42 U.S.C. 6295(o)(2)(B)(iii), EPCA creates a rebuttable presumption that an energy conservation standard is economically justified if the additional cost to the consumer of a product that meets the standard is less than three times the value of the first year's energy savings resulting from the standard, as calculated under the applicable DOE test procedure. DOE's LCC and PBP analyses generate values used to calculate the effects that proposed energy conservation standards would have on the payback period for consumers. These analyses include, but are not limited to, the 3-year payback period contemplated under the rebuttable-presumption test. In addition, DOE routinely conducts an economic analysis that considers the full range of impacts to consumers, manufacturers, the Nation, and the environment, as required under 42 U.S.C. 6295(o)(2)(B)(i). The results of this analysis serve as the basis for DOE's evaluation of the economic justification for a potential standard level (thereby supporting or rebutting the results of any preliminary determination of economic justification). The rebuttable presumption payback calculation is discussed in section IV.F.10 of this proposed rule.

G. Changes to 10 CFR 429.23 Addressing the Certification, Compliance and Enforcement Criteria for Conventional Cooking Products

In this SNOPR, DOE is proposing to update the certification requirements for cooking products in 10 CFR 429.23 to include the annual energy use and integrated annual energy use metrics for conventional gas and electric cooking tops in the sampling plan requirements. Additionally, DOE is proposing to update the reporting requirements for conventional ovens to reflect the proposed prescriptive design requirements. DOE notes that the certification and reporting requirements for conventional cooking tops and conventional ovens also apply to the conventional cooking top component and conventional oven component of combined cooking products.

H. Other Issues

AHAM submitted a late comment discussing additional industry product testing, and provided a recommendation regarding the proposed standard levels selected for electric self-clean ovens. In this comment, AHAM stated that DOE did not analyze a sufficient sample size of electric standard ovens and, as a result, the efficiency levels for electric standard ovens presented in the June 2015 NOPR are significantly stricter than for electric self-clean ovens. (AHAM, No. 39 at pp. 2-4) AHAM claimed that the standard levels proposed in the June 2015 NOPR could result in manufacturers adding a self-clean cycle to electric standard ovens instead of improving the oven's efficiency to meet the proposed standard for electric standard ovens, thus eliminating or reducing the availability of electric standard ovens from the market. AHAM further stated that electric standard ovens are the lowest-priced conventional ovens in the retail market, so eliminating them would provide a hardship for low-

income and other consumers who rely on low purchase prices. (AHAM, No. 39 at pp. 4-5)

AHAM recommended standards for electric standard ovens that are based on subtracting the average self-clean energy consumption from the corresponding standard for electric self-clean ovens. AHAM believes this approach would mitigate the uncertainties of the analysis, avoid discriminating against consumers of electric standard ovens, and have a negligible effect on the total energy savings compared to the standard levels proposed in the June 2015 NOPR. (AHAM, No. 39 at pp. 7-8)

For the reasons discussed in section III.B of this SNOPR, DOE is proposing a prescriptive design requirement for the control system for conventional ovens in this SNOPR. This prescriptive standard would require the same design changes for both standard and self-clean ovens. As a result, DOE expects that the standards proposed in this SNOPR would not impose stricter requirements on electric standard ovens than on electric self-clean ovens, and would not eliminate or reduce the availability of electric standard ovens.

IV. Methodology and Discussion of Comments

DOE used several analytical tools to estimate the impact of the proposed standards. The first tool is a spreadsheet that calculates the LCC and PBP of potential energy conservation standards. The national impacts analysis uses a spreadsheet set that provides shipments forecasts and calculates national energy savings and net present value resulting from potential energy conservation standards. DOE uses the third spreadsheet tool, the Government Regulatory Impact Model (GRIM), to assess manufacturer impacts of potential standards. These three spreadsheet tools are available at the Web site for this rulemaking:

http://www1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/appliance_standards/rulemaking.aspx?ruleid=85

. Additionally, DOE used output from the EIA's

AEO 2015,

a widely known energy forecast for the United States, for the emissions and utility impact analyses.

A. Market and Technology Assessment

1. General

For the market and technology assessment, DOE develops information that provides an overall picture of the market for the products concerned, including the purpose of the products, the industry structure, and market characteristics. This activity includes both quantitative and qualitative assessments, based primarily on publicly available information. Chapter 3 of the SNOPR TSD contains additional discussion of the market and technology assessment.

2. Product Classes

When evaluating and establishing energy conservation standards, DOE divides covered products into product classes by the type of energy used or by capacity or other performance-related features that justifies a different standard. In making a determination whether a performance-related feature justifies a different standard, DOE must consider such factors as the utility to the consumer of the feature and other factors DOE determines are appropriate. (42 U.S.C. 6295(q))

a. Conventional Cooking Tops

During the previous energy conservation standards rulemaking for cooking products, DOE evaluated product classes for conventional cooking tops based on energy source (

i.e.,

gas or electric). These distinctions initially yielded two conventional cooking product classes: (1) Gas cooking tops; and (2) electric cooking tops. For electric cooking tops, DOE determined that the ease of cleaning smooth elements provides enhanced consumer utility over coil elements. Because smooth elements typically use more energy than coil elements, DOE defined two separate product classes for electric cooking tops. DOE defined the following product classes in the TSD for the April 2009 Final Rule (2009 TSD)

for conventional cooking tops:

The technical support document from the previous residential cooking products standards rulemaking is available at:

http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=EERE-2006-STD-0127-0097

• Electric cooking tops—low or high wattage open (coil) elements;

• Electric cooking tops—smooth elements; and

• Gas cooking tops—conventional burners.

Induction Heating

As part of the February 2014 RFI, DOE stated that it tentatively planned to maintain the product classes for conventional cooking tops from the previous standards rulemaking, as presented above. DOE also stated that it planned to consider induction heating as a technology option for electric smooth cooking tops rather than as a separate product class. DOE noted that induction heating provides the same basic function of cooking or heating food as heating by gas flame or electric resistance, and that the installation options available to consumers are also the same for both cooking products with induction and electric resistance heating. DOE stated that it might consider whether separate product classes are warranted for commercial-style gas cooking products with higher burner input rates. 79 FR 8337, 8341-8342 (Feb. 12, 2014).

In response to the February 2014 RFI, Laclede Gas Company (Laclede) claimed that the two product classes for electric cooking tops are based solely on aesthetics, which is not a sufficient reason for establishing separate product classes. (Laclede, No. 8 at p. 5) As noted above, DOE determined that the ease of cleaning smooth elements provides enhanced consumer utility over coil elements. Because smooth elements typically use more energy than coil elements, DOE defined two separate product classes for electric cooking tops. DOE maintains this determination that electric smooth cooking tops provide enhanced utility while using more energy than coil elements, and as a result, proposes to consider separate product classes for this SNOPR.

Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) agreed with DOE that induction heating should not be considered a separate product class, and further recommended classifying all electric cooking tops in a single product class. NRDC commented that DOE determined in the previous standards rulemaking that smooth element cooking tops warranted a separate product class because they consume more energy than open coil element cooking tops and provide the consumer utility of ease of cleaning. NRDC stated, however, that electric cooking tops using induction technology are now available that provide both high energy efficiency and ease of cleaning. NRDC believes that open coil elements do not provide any additional benefit to consumers and therefore may not necessitate a separate product class. (NRDC, No. 12 at p. 2) DOE recognizes that smooth cooking tops with induction technology can achieve higher energy efficiency than electric coil cooking tops while providing ease of cleaning, as suggested by NRDC. However, DOE notes that the electric resistance heating technology more commonly found in smooth element cooking tops are typically less efficient than coil elements. As a result, DOE is not proposing to establish a single product class for all electric cooking tops.

In response to the February 2014 RFI, AHAM and Whirlpool commented that induction cooking tops should be considered a separate product class and

not a technology option for electric smooth cooking tops, due to the following claimed performance and consumer utility differences:

• Induction cooking tops are easier to clean than smooth cooking tops with electric resistance heating because there is less likelihood of baked-on foods, which are difficult to clean. With induction cooking tops, the pot alone is heated through electromagnetic energy, while the spilled food on the cooking top receives only a small amount of conduction heating from the pot;

• Induction cooking tops heat faster than smooth cooking tops with electric resistance heating. AHAM and Whirlpool stated that there is a precedent to establishing separate product classes based on cycle time. According to these commenters, in the clothes washer rulemaking, DOE separated front-loading and top-loading clothes washers because the cycle times varied, significantly impacting consumer utility and product performance;

• Standby energy use will typically be higher for induction cooking tops than for smooth cooking tops because there are more advanced electronics, especially for full surface induction cooking tops that sense a pot when it is placed anywhere on the unit's surface. To maintain that consumer utility, induction cooking tops need a higher standby energy for the sensors to detect the placement of a pot;

• Magnetic cookware is needed for induction cooking tops, but not for smooth cooking tops with electric resistance heating. This may affect cooking performance and energy use by the end user, as certain non-magnetic cookware, such as aluminum, does not retain heat well; and

• Induction is an entirely different method of heating food (electromagnetic energy) than smooth cooking tops with electric resistance heating (radiant and conduction energy). (AHAM, No. 9 at pp. 4-5, 6, 7; Whirlpool, No. 13 at pp. 3, 4, 5)

NRDC and the California IOUs agreed with DOE that induction heating should be considered as a technology option for electric smooth cooking tops. (NRDC, No. 12 at p. 2; California IOUs, No. 11 at p. 2) NRDC noted that many induction cooking top models from multiple brands and manufacturers have entered the market, and that some manufacturers offer induction “hot plates,” as well as hybrid ranges and cooking tops that have electric and induction elements. NRDC also stated that induction cooking tops hold a significant portion of the market in Europe and Asia. For these reasons, NRDC urged DOE to consider induction technology in its analysis. (NRDC, No. 12 at pp. 1-2) The California IOUs urged DOE to review the Food Service Technology Center reports available on induction technology for commercial cooking products, which include measurements of energy input rate, heat-up temperature response, and heavy-load energy efficiency under the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) Standard F1521-03. According to the California IOUs, these reports would be helpful in assessing the test procedures and measured energy efficiency of induction cooking tops. (California IOUs, No. 11 at p. 2)

DOE observes that induction cooking tops provide the same basic function of cooking or heating food as does electric resistance heating. In addition, in considering whether there are any performance-related features that justify a higher energy use standard to establish a separate product class, DOE notes that the utility of speed of cooking, ease of cleaning, and requirements for specific cookware for induction cooking tops do not appear to be uniquely associated with higher energy use compared to other smooth cooking tops with electric resistance heating elements. DOE recognizes that induction cooking tops are only compatible with ferromagnetic cooking vessels. However, DOE does not identify any consumer utility unique to any specific type of cookware that would warrant establishing separate product classes. As discussed in section IV.F.2 of this SNOPR, DOE considered the cost of replacing cookware as part of the LCC analysis. DOE also conducted standby testing on full-surface induction cooking tops. Based on DOE's testing, the sensors required to detect the presence of a pot placed on the cooking surface do not remain active while the product is in standby mode. In addition, DOE notes that the standby power required for the tested model (0.25 watts (W)) was below the average standby power for other cooking tops in DOE's test sample (2.25 W). For these reasons, DOE is not considering a separate product class for induction cooking products in this proposal. As noted in section IV.A.3 of this SNOPR, DOE is considering induction heating as a technology option for electric smooth cooking tops. Because residential induction cooking tops are available on the market, DOE analyzed these products rather than information from commercial products, as suggested by the California IOUs, as part of the engineering analysis, including testing and tearing down multiple sample units.

Commercial-Style Cooking Tops

With regard to commercial-style cooking products, including those with higher burner input rates, AHAM commented in response to the February 2014 RFI that without a definition or test procedure for commercial-style cooking products, neither AHAM nor DOE can determine whether these products would warrant a separate product class. AHAM stated that DOE should first develop a test procedure for these products to allow for analysis of them. (AHAM, No. 9 at p. 12)

Based on DOE's review of conventional gas cooking tops available on the market, DOE determined that products marketed as commercial-style cannot be distinguished from standard residential-style products based on performance characteristics or consumer utility. While conventional gas cooking tops marketed as commercial-style have more than one burner rated above 14,000 Btu/h and cast iron grates, approximately 50 percent of cooking top models marketed as residential-style also have one or more burners rated above 14,000 Btu/h and cast iron grates.

DOE considered whether separate product classes for commercial-style gas cooking tops with higher burner input rates are warranted by comparing the test energy consumption of individual surface units in a sample of cooking tops tested by DOE.

DOE measured the test energy consumption of gas surface units in a sample of twelve gas cooking tops, which included six products marketed as commercial-style. The number of surface units per cooking top ranged from four to six. Figure IV.1 shows test energy consumption for an individual surface unit, normalized by the mass of the test load (as specified in the proposed cooking tops test procedure in the August 2016 TP SNOPR), versus burner input rate for each surface unit in the test sample. Because the mass of the test load depends on the input rate of the burner, the test energy consumption must be normalized for comparison. The higher the ratio of test energy consumption to

test load mass, the less efficient the surface unit.

DOE originally conducted testing on its test sample using the withdrawn hybrid test block method proposed in the December 2014 TP SNOPR. DOE tested four of the twelve units in its test sample using both the withdrawn hybrid test block method and the water heating test method proposed in the August 2016 TP SNOPR. DOE then used the relative difference in results between the two test methods to scale the normalized test energy consumption by surface unit for the remaining units in its test sample. Additional details of this analysis are provided in chapter 5 of the NOPR TSD.

EP02SE16.000

As indicated in Figure IV.1, there was no statistically significant correlation between burner input rate and the ratio of surface unit energy consumption to test load mass for cooking tops marketed as either residential-style or commercial-style. DOE's testing, as presented further in section IV.C.2 of this SNOPR, showed that this efficiency ratio for gas cooking tops is more closely related to burner and grate design rather than input rate.

In response to the June 2015 NOPR, Sub-Zero and BSH submitted late comments regarding commercial-style cooking tops. Sub-Zero commented that “high-performance cooking” is a better descriptor of this product segment than “commercial-style.” Sub-Zero stated that high-performance cooking products can be defined as cooking products that offer residential consumers performance similar to that found in restaurant equipment at a safety and convenience level that is acceptable for residential use. (Sub-Zero, No. 40 at p. 2)

Sub-Zero commented that a separate product class should be established for high-performance gas cooking tops to recognize the unique utility and performance attributes associated with high-performance cooking products. Sub-Zero expressed concern that DOE may not be adequately considering cooking performance in its analysis for cooking tops, and that DOE may not be fully addressing any combustion and emissions issues arising from potential design changes made to improve the efficiency of gas cooking tops. (Sub-Zero, No. 40 at p. 2)

Sub-Zero and BSH stated that customer input drives the design and cooking performance requirements for their gas cooking tops, and that high-performance gas cooking tops include design features that enhance cooking performance (rapid boiling, precision simmering, and even heat distribution) but negatively impact efficiency. (Sub-Zero, No. 25 at pp. 2-3; BSH, No. 41 at pp. 1-2) Sub-Zero and BSH noted that these features include:

• High input rate burners with large diameters provide faster heat up times and allow consumers to use larger cooking vessels while maintaining even heat distribution (Sub-Zero, No. 25 at p. 3; BSH, No. 41 at p. 2);

• High input rate burners with high levels of flame controllability, specifically high turndown ratios, allow for simmering of foods such as chocolates and sauces while also providing faster heat up times (Sub-Zero, No. 25 at p. 3; BSH, No. 41 at p. 2);

• Spacing between the gas flame, grate, and cooking vessel must be greater for high input rate burners than low input rate burners to meet performance and safety requirements, specifically even heat distribution and reduction of carbon monoxide. Reducing the spacing between the gas flame and the cooking vessel can increase efficiency, but flame quenching due to flame impingement and contact with the grate/cooking vessel can lead to increased carbon monoxide emissions and combustion by-products (Sub-Zero, No. 25 at p. 3);

• Heavy cast iron grates allow for better heat distribution to cooking vessels while also providing the strength required to support large loads and increased product longevity. (Sub-Zero, No. 25 at p. 4; BSH, No. 41 at p. 2) Heavier cast iron grates also retain

more heat once the burner is turned down during simmer or shut off. (Sub-Zero, No. 25 at p. 2-4)

Sub-Zero and BSH commented that safety, performance, and efficiency attributes of the cooking top must be considered systematically in terms of product design (

e.g.,

mass of the grates, diameter of the burner, distance from the burner to the cooking vessel, and open area allotted for exhaust of combustion by-products), because changes to one attribute can significantly impact the others (Sub-Zero, No. 40 at p. 3; BSH, No. 41 at p. 2)

For these reasons, Sub-Zero requested that DOE consider the impact that any proposed standard levels would have on small, niche-market, high-performance cooking product manufacturers and their ability to serve their unique set of customers. According to Sub-Zero, eliminating the unique features of commercial-style gas cooking tops would not allow companies such as Sub-Zero to adequately serve their customer base. (Sub-Zero, No. 40 at p. 4)

BSH commented that although it agrees with DOE's general approach of not analyzing cooking performance, commercial-style products must meet greater customer demands than residential-style products. BSH also commented that if DOE does not differentiate between commercial-style and residential-style products, more stringent standards would apply primarily to commercial-style products and have no effect on residential-style products. BSH commented that this could result in the elimination of commercial-style products from the market and limit consumer choice. BSH commented, therefore, that DOE should consider either a different test procedure or a separate product class for commercial-style products. (BSH, No. 41 at p. 3)

The Wisconsin Senators expressed concern that recombining the rulemaking to consider standards for both cooking tops and ovens would likely impact high performance products and would require significant design changes resulting in lessened consumer utility and product performance. (Wisconsin Senators, No. 45 at p. 1) Arizona Congress Member Grijalva and the Arizona Congressional Delegation similarly noted that recombining the rulemaking will make it more difficult to have separate product classes to account for the unique features of high performance products. (Arizona Congress Member Grijalva, No. 43 at p. 1; Arizona Congressional Delegation, No. 44 at pp. 1-2) The Wisconsin Senators, Arizona Congress Member Grijalva, and the Arizona Congressional Delegation noted that new standards could negatively impact manufacturers like Sub-Zero and their ability to compete in the marketplace if high performance cooking products are not distinguished from conventional residential-style products. (Wisconsin Senators, No. 45 at p. 1; Arizona Congress Member Grijalva, No. 43 at p. 1)

DOE recognizes that the presence of certain features, such as heavy cast iron grates and multiple high input rate burners, may help consumers perceive a difference between commercial-style and residential-style gas cooking top performance. However, DOE is not aware of clearly-defined and consistent design differences and corresponding utility provided by commercial-style gas cooking tops as compared to residential-style gas cooking tops. Although DOE's testing, presented in section IV.C.2, indicates there is a difference in energy consumption between residential-style and commercial-style gas cooking tops, this difference could not be correlated to any specific utility provided to consumers. Moreover, DOE is not aware of an industry test standard that evaluates cooking performance and that would quantify the utility provided by these products. In addition, as discussed above, DOE's testing showed that there was no statistically significant correlation between burner input rate and the ratio of surface unit energy consumption to test load mass for cooking tops marketed as either residential-style or commercial-style.

For these reasons, DOE is not proposing to establish a separate product class for gas cooking tops marketed as commercial-style or conventional gas cooking tops with higher burner input rates. However, as discussed in sections IV.C.3.b and V.C.1 of this SNOPR, DOE conducted its engineering analysis consistent with products currently available on the market and is proposing energy conservation standards for gas cooking tops in this SNOPR that would maintain the features available in conventional cooking tops marketed as commercial-style (

e.g.,

multiple high input rate burners, cast iron gates,

etc.

) that may be used to differentiate these products in the marketplace. In addition, the standards proposed in this SNOPR are based on burner and grate system designs that are available on the market and thus would not alter the safety of existing commercial-style gas cooking top in terms of combustion products or emissions.

b. Conventional Ovens

During the first energy conservation standards rulemaking for cooking products, DOE evaluated product classes for conventional ovens based on energy source (

i.e.,

gas or electric). These distinctions initially yielded two conventional oven product classes: (1) Gas ovens; and (2) electric ovens. DOE more recently determined that the type of oven-cleaning system is a utility feature that affects performance. DOE found that standard ovens and ovens using a catalytic continuous-cleaning process use roughly the same amount of energy. On the other hand, self-clean ovens use a pyrolytic process that provides enhanced consumer utility with lower overall energy consumption as compared to either standard or catalytically lined ovens. Therefore, DOE defined the following product classes in the TSD for the April 2009 Final Rule (2009 TSD)

for conventional ovens:

The technical support document from the previous residential cooking products standards rulemaking is available at:

http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=EERE-2006-STD-0127-0097

• Electric ovens—standard oven with or without a catalytic line;

• Electric ovens—self-clean oven;

• Gas ovens—standard oven with or without a catalytic line; and

• Gas ovens—self-clean oven.

As part of the February 2014 RFI, DOE stated that it tentatively planned to maintain the product classes for conventional ovens from the previous standards rulemaking, as presented above. DOE stated that it might consider whether separate product classes are warranted for commercial-style gas ovens with higher burner input rates. 79 FR 8337, 8341-8342 (Feb. 12, 2014).

Self-Cleaning Technology

Based on DOE's review of conventional gas ovens available on the U.S. market, and based on manufacturer interviews and testing conducted as part of the engineering analysis, DOE noted in the June 2015 NOPR that the self-cleaning function of the self-clean oven may employ methods other than a high-temperature pyrolytic cycle to perform the cleaning action. 80 FR 33030, 33043. Specifically, DOE noted that it is aware of a type of self-cleaning oven that uses a proprietary oven coating and water to perform a self-clean cycle with a shorter duration and at a significantly lower temperature setting. The self-cleaning cycle for these ovens, unlike catalytically-lined standard ovens that provide continuous cleaning during normal baking, still have a separate self-

cleaning mode that is user-selectable and must be tested separately. In the June 2015 NOPR, DOE clarified that a conventional self-clean electric or gas oven is an oven that has a user-selectable mode separate from the normal baking mode, not intended to heat or cook food, which is dedicated to cleaning and removing cooking deposits from the oven cavity walls.

Id.

Whirlpool agreed that separate product classes are justified for standard and self-clean ovens. (Whirlpool, No. 33 at p. 6) Whirlpool also agreed with DOE that ovens that provide the same consumer utility and benefits of self-clean via means other than a standard pyrolytic process should be subject to the same standards as those that employ a pyrolytic process because this framework promotes innovation in self-clean performance and energy efficiency. (Whirlpool, No. 33 at p. 5) GE commented that, while it supports the treatment of self-clean ovens as a separate product class, including non-pyrolytic models in the definition of self-clean would require unique provisions in the test procedure for this technology. In particular, GE suggested that DOE determine whether a usage factor of four times per year is appropriate for both pyrolytic and non-pyrolytic self-clean technologies, since the former is not as effective and requires additional cycles per year to achieve the same performance. (GE, No. 32 at p. 3)

DOE is not aware of any differences in consumer behavior in terms of the frequency of use of the self-clean function that would be predicated on the type of self-cleaning technology rather than on cleaning habits or cooking usage patterns that are not dependent on the type of technology. Therefore, DOE is not proposing a different usage factor for non-pyrolytic self-clean operation. However, DOE welcomes data on the consumer usage patterns of pyrolytic versus non-pyrolytic self-cleaning functions in conventional ovens.

Commercial-Style Ovens

With regards to gas oven burner input rates, DOE noted in the June 2015 NOPR that based on its review of the residential conventional gas ovens available on the market, residential-style gas ovens typically have an input rate of 16,000 to 18,000 Btu/h whereas residential gas ovens marketed as commercial-style typically have burner input rates ranging from 22,500 to 30,000 Btu/h.

80 FR 33030, 33043. Additional review of both the residential-style and commercial-style gas oven cavities indicated that there is significant overlap in oven cavity volume between the two oven types. Standard residential-style gas oven cavity volumes range from 2.5 to 5.6 cubic feet (ft

) and gas ovens marketed as commercial-style have cavity volumes ranging from 3.0 to 6.0 ft

. Sixty percent of the commercial-style models surveyed had cavity volumes between 4.0 and 5.0 ft

, while fifty percent of the standard models had cavity volumes between 4.0 and 5.0 ft

. The primary differentiating factor between the two oven types was burner input rate, which is greater than 22,500 Btu/h for commercial-style gas ovens.

Id.

However, DOE noted that many gas ranges, while marketed as commercial- or professional-style and having multiple surface units with high input rates, did not have a gas oven with a burner input rate above 22,500 Btu/h.

DOE conducted testing for the June 2015 NOPR using the version of the test procedure later adopted in the July 2015 TP Final Rule to determine whether commercial-style gas ovens with higher burner input rates warrant establishing a separate product class.

DOE evaluated the cooking efficiency of eight conventional gas ovens, including five ovens with burners rated at 18,000 Btu/h or less and the remaining three with burner input rates ranging from 27,000 Btu/h to 30,000 Btu/h. 80 FR 33030, 33043. DOE's testing showed that the measured cooking efficiencies for ovens with burner input rates above 22,500 Btu/h were lower than for ovens with ratings below 22,500 Btu/h, even after normalizing cooking efficiency to a fixed cavity volume. However, DOE also noted that the conventional gas ovens with higher burner input rates in DOE's test sample were marketed as commercial-style and had greater total thermal mass, including heavier racks and thicker cavity walls, even after normalizing for cavity volume. DOE's testing of a 30,000 Btu/h oven suggested that much of the energy input to commercial-style ovens with higher burner input rates goes to heating the added mass of the cavity, rather than the test load, resulting in relatively lower measured efficiency when measured according to the test procedure adopted in the July 2015 TP Final Rule. 80 FR 33030, 33043-33044. DOE also investigated the time it took each oven in the test sample to heat the test load to a final test temperature of 234 °F above its initial temperature, as specified in the DOE test procedure in Appendix I at the time of the testing. DOE's testing showed that gas ovens with burner input rates greater than 22,500 Btu/h do not heat the test load significantly faster than the ovens with lower burner input rates, and two out of the three units with the higher burner input rates took longer than the average time to heat the test load. Therefore, DOE concluded in the June 2015 NOPR that there is no unique utility associated with faster cook times that is provided by gas ovens with burner input rates greater than 22,500 Btu/h. 80 FR 33030, 33045.

Based on DOE's testing, reverse engineering, and additional discussions with manufacturers, DOE posited in the June 2015 NOPR that the major differentiation between conventional gas ovens with lower burner input rates and those with higher input rates, including those marketed as commercial-style, was design and construction related to aesthetics rather than improved cooking performance. Further, DOE did not identify any unique utility conferred by commercial-style gas ovens. For the reasons discussed above, DOE did not propose to establish a separate product class for commercial-style gas ovens with higher burner input rates. 80 FR 33030, 33045.

The Joint Efficiency Advocates agreed with DOE's determination that commercial-style gas ovens do not provide any unique utility. The Joint Efficiency Advocates added that Consumer Reports similarly found in their tests that “higher Btu hasn't guaranteed faster heating.” They noted that Consumer Reports also found that “pro-style ranges are big on style, but aren't the best ranges” and that “even regular ranges now have beefy knobs, rugged grates, and stainless trim for a lot less money,” observations which support DOE's decision not to establish a separate product class for commercial-style gas ovens with higher burner input rates. (Joint Efficiency Advocates, No. 31 at p. 2)

As noted for cooking tops, Sub-Zero commented that “high performance cooking” is a better descriptor of this product segment than “commercial-style.” Sub-Zero commented that a separate product class should be established for high performance electric and gas ovens to recognize the unique utility and performance attributes associated with high performance cooking products. Sub-Zero expressed concern that DOE did not consider cooking performance in its analysis for this rulemaking. According to Sub-Zero, the ability of any oven to bake and broil evenly, allow yeast products to rise consistently, and produce consistent quality from rack to rack when several racks are being used

are key criteria for consumer acceptance. (Sub-Zero, No. 25 at p. 2)

Sub-Zero and BSH stated that inputs from their customers drive the design and cooking performance requirements for their ovens. (Sub-Zero, No. 25 at pp. 2, 3; BSH, No. 41 at pp. 1-2) Sub-Zero commented that high performance ovens include the following design features that enhance cooking performance (professional quality baking, broiling, roasting, slow bake, proofing, and other functions) but negatively impact efficiency:

• Heavier gauge materials which extend product life and enhance product quality, cooking functionality and durability;

• Configurations that allow for up to six-rack baking capability with full extension, heavy-gauge oven racks to support large loads and provide enhanced safety and ergonomic benefit;

• Full oven-height dual convection blowers to optimize cooking air flow;

• Hidden bake elements that enhance customer safety, cleanability and heat distribution for better cooking performance;

• Controls and software to maximize the long-term reliability of oven cavity porcelain when employing a hidden bake element; and

• Cooling fans for the electronic printed circuit boards that provide precise oven control and touch-screen user interface for cooking modes and other features. (Sub-Zero, No. 25 at pp. 3, 5-6)

BSH also noted that commercial-style ovens include design features identified by Sub-Zero, including: Robust, full-extension ball-bearing oven racks to support heavy food loads; the ability to cook on three racks simultaneously with high output heating elements for even heat distribution; hidden bake elements. (BSH, No. 41 at p. 2) BSH also noted the following additional design features associated with commercial-style products:

• Soft-close hinges to handle constant loading and unloading of the oven to eliminate the noise of slamming doors;

• A variety of modes and options not typically found in residential-style products (

e.g.,

rapid steam generator, additional convection heating element, high power combination modes such as convection broil and steam convection);

• Powerful heating elements to maintain set temperatures during sessions of loading and unloading food (

e.g.,

caterers and entertainers at large house parties); and

• Very large usable baking space,

e.g.,

two ovens in a 60-inch range that operate independently to provide more versatility in cooking with each cavity capable of cooking one to three racks of food. In addition, commercial-style ovens can accommodate commercial baking pans that are more than twice the size of standard residential baking pans. (BSH, No. 41 at p. 2)

Sub-Zero commented that testing of their products shows that the standard levels must be increased for ovens with enhanced high performance and customer utility attributes. Its test data showed that there are significant differences in efficiency levels when comparing high performance oven designs to conventional oven designs. (Sub-Zero, No. 25 at pp. 2-3)

For these reasons, Sub-Zero requested that DOE reconsider the impact that the proposed standard levels will have on small, niche-market, high-performance cooking manufacturers and their ability to serve their unique set of customers. According to Sub-Zero, the proposed standard levels would not allow companies such as Sub-Zero to adequately serve their customer base. Sub-Zero added that the proposed standards would force them and other high performance cooking product manufacturers to compete in the conventional oven market space by requiring them to employ lighter gauge materials, exposed heating elements, lighter racks, simpler controls, and single versus dual convection fan systems, which Sub-Zero claims would eliminate the utility and performance features that market analysis shows is needed for its company to stay viable. (Sub-Zero, No. 25 at p. 6)

An Arizona Senator, California Congress Member, and Tennessee Congress Member separately commented that the proposed rule lacks any sort of distinction among residential ovens based on the cooking features they provide to the consumer, and may compromise the quality, functionality, and features associated with high-performance ovens. (Arizona Senator, No. 37 at p. 1; California Congress Member, No. 47 at p. 1; Tennessee Congress Member, No. 46 at p. 1) The Arizona Senator, the Arizona Congressional Delegation, California Congress Member, and Tennessee Congress Member encouraged DOE to work with the affected industry entities to reevaluate its proposal to prescribe a separate set of standards for high-performance ovens that acknowledges the unique characteristics of high-performance products and preserves customer choice. (Arizona Senator, No. 37 at p. 1; Arizona Congressional Delegation, No. 36 at p. 1; California Congress Member, No. 47 at pp. 1-2; Tennessee Congress Member, No. 46 at p. 2) The Arizona Congressional Delegation, California Congress Member, and Tennessee Congress Member also commented that the proposed rule is overly burdensome and would impose significant costs for companies in the high-performance oven market, including Sub-Zero and BSH. (Arizona Congressional Delegation, No. 36 at pp. 1; California Congress Member, No. 47 at pp. 1; Tennessee Congress Member, No. 46 at p. 1) The Arizona Congressional Delegation added that forcing a manufacturers like Sub-Zero to abandon its distinct line of cooking products and to manufacture mass-market products would lessen customer utility and the performance of its ovens, and create a significant disparity in the company's competitive landscape. (Arizona Congressional Delegation, No. 36 at p. 1)

As discussed previously for cooking tops, BSH commented that although it agrees with DOE's general approach of not analyzing cooking performance for ovens, commercial-style products have to fulfill higher customer demands than residential-style products. BSH stated that if DOE does not differentiate between commercial-style and residential-style products, more stringent standards would apply mainly to commercial-style products and have no effect on residential-style products. BSH commented that this could result in the elimination of commercial-style products from the market and limit consumer choice. Based on this, BSH commented that DOE should either consider a different test procedure or a separate product class for commercial-style products. (BSH, No. 41 at p. 3)

Miele also submitted a late comment in response to the June 2015 NOPR regarding commercial-style ovens. Miele commented that DOE should either consider establishing a separate product class and exempt commercial-style ovens from standards or delay the rulemaking until there is a finalized test procedure that adequately measures commercial-style products energy use and accounts for the enhanced cooking performance so that these products are not eliminated from the market. Miele commented that the DOE test procedure does not adequately reflect the energy use of commercial-style products because it does not account for the effects of door openings and the energy required for thermal recovery. Miele noted that the added mass of commercial-style ovens provides the advantage of requiring less energy and time to recover, which alters the quality of foods being cooked. (Miele, No. 42 at pp. 1-2)

To further address whether commercial-style ovens provide a

unique utility that would warrant establishing a separate product class, DOE conducted additional interviews with manufacturers of commercial-style cooking products and reviewed additional commercial-style test data. While these data demonstrated a difference in energy consumption between residential-style and commercial-style ovens when measured according to the test procedure adopted in the July 2015 TP Final Rule, this difference could not be correlated to any specific utility provided to consumers. Moreover, DOE is not aware of an industry test standard that evaluates cooking performance and that would quantify the utility provided by these products. DOE also notes that all conventional ovens, regardless of whether or not the product is marketed as commercial-style, must meet the same safety standards for the construction of the oven. American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Z21.1 “Household Cooking Gas Appliances” (ANSI Z21.1), Section 1.21.1, requires that the oven structure, and specifically the baking racks, have sufficient strength to sustain a load of up to 25 pounds depending on the width of the rack. A similar standard (Underwriters Laboratories (UL) 858 “Household Electric Ranges” (UL 858)) exists for electric ovens.

Furthermore, DOE has observed many of the design features identified by manufacturers as unique to commercial-style ovens and that may impact the energy consumption, such as extension racks, convection fans, cooling fans, and hidden bake elements, in residential-style products. DOE recognizes that the presence of these features, along with thicker oven cavity walls and higher burner input rates, may help consumers perceive a difference between commercial-style and residential-style ovens. However, DOE is not aware of a clearly-defined and consistent design difference and corresponding utility provided by commercial-style ovens as compared to residential-style ovens.

For these reasons, DOE is not proposing to establish a separate product class for commercial-style ovens. As discussed in sections III.B and III.C of this SNOPR, DOE is proposing to repeal the oven test procedure in the August 2016 TP SNOPR, noting that further investigation would be required to develop test methods that appropriately account for the effects of certain commercial-style oven design features (

e.g.,

heavier-gauge cavity construction, high input rate burners, extension racks,

etc.

). However, as discussed in sections III.B and V.C.1 of this SNOPR, the prescriptive control system design requirements proposed in this SNOPR would apply to all conventional oven product types and would maintain the features available in conventional ovens marketed as commercial-style that may be used to differentiate these products in the marketplace.

Installation Configuration

As discussed in section III.C of this SNOPR, in the October 2012 TP Final Rule, DOE amended Appendix I to include methods for measuring fan-only mode.

Based on DOE's testing of freestanding, built-in, and slide-in conventional gas and electric ovens, DOE observed that all of the built-in and slide-in ovens tested consumed energy in fan-only mode, whereas freestanding ovens did not. The energy consumption in fan-only mode for built-in and slide-in ovens ranged from approximately 1.3 to 37.6 watt-hours (Wh) per cycle, which corresponds to 0.25 to 7.6 kWh/yr. Based on DOE's reverse engineering analyses discussed in section IV.C of this SNOPR, DOE noted that built-in and slide-in products incorporated an additional exhaust fan and vent assembly that was not present in freestanding products. The additional energy required to exhaust air from the oven cavity is necessary for slide-in and built-in installation configurations to meet safety-related temperature requirements because the oven is enclosed in cabinetry. For these reasons, DOE proposed in the June 2015 NOPR to include separate product classes for freestanding and built-in/slide-in ovens. 80 FR 33030, 33045.

Fan-only mode is an active mode that is not user-selectable in which a fan circulates air internally or externally to the cooking product for a finite period of time after the end of the heating function.

AHAM, Whirlpool, and Electrolux supported DOE's proposal to establish separate product classes for freestanding and built-in/slide-in ovens. (AHAM, No. 29 at p. 8; Whirlpool, No. 33 at p. 6; Electrolux, No. 27 at p. 4) In the absence of adverse comments, and for the reasons discussed above, DOE is maintaining its proposal to establish separate product classes for freestanding and built-in/slide-in ovens.

In summary, DOE proposes the product classes listed in Table IV.1 for this SNOPR.

Table IV.1—Proposed Product Classes for Conventional Cooking Products

Product class

Product type

Sub-category

Installation type

Electric cooking top

Open (coil) elements.

Smooth elements.

Gas cooking top

Conventional burners.

Electric oven

Standard with or

without a catalytic line

Freestanding.

Built-in/Slide-in.

Self-clean

Freestanding.

Built-in/Slide-in.

Gas oven

Standard with or

without a catalytic line

Freestanding.

Built-in/Slide-in.

Self-clean

Freestanding.

Built-in/Slide-in.

3. Technology Options

As part of the market and technology assessment, DOE uses information about existing and past technology options and prototype designs to help identify technologies that manufacturers could use to improve energy efficiency. Initially, these technologies encompass all those that DOE believes are technologically feasible. Chapter 3 of the NOPR TSD includes the detailed list and descriptions of all technology options identified for this equipment.

a. Conventional Cooking Tops

In the February 2014 RFI, DOE stated that based on a preliminary review of the cooking products market and information published in recent trade publications, technical reports, and

manufacturer literature, the results of the technology screening analysis performed during the previous standards rulemaking remain largely relevant for this rulemaking. 79 FR 8337, 8341 (Feb. 12, 2014). DOE stated in the February 2014 RFI that it planned to consider the technology options presented in Table IV.2 for conventional cooking tops. 79 FR 8337, 8342-8343.

Table IV.2—February 2014 RFI Technology Options for Conventional Cooking Tops

Open (coil) element electric cooking tops:

1. Electronic controls.

2. Improved contact conductance.

3. Insulation.

4. Reflective Surfaces.

Smooth element electric cooking tops:

5. Electronic controls.

6. Halogen elements.

7. Induction elements.

8. Low-standby-loss electronic controls.

Gas Cooking Tops:

9. Catalytic burners.

10. Insulation.

11. Radiant gas burners.

12. Reduced excess air at burner.

13. Reflective surfaces.

14. Sealed burners.

15. Thermostatically controlled burners.

In response to the February 2014 RFI, DOE received a number of comments regarding the technology options for conventional cooking tops.

Whirlpool commented that there would not be efficiency gains from insulation for electric coil and gas cooking tops. Whirlpool further questioned where extra insulation would be placed on an electric coil or gas cooking top and whether consumers would accept that in the product's design. (Whirlpool, No. 13 at pp. 3, 4) Based on discussions with multiple manufacturers, DOE agrees that it is unclear where insulation could be placed in electric coil and gas cooking tops to improve efficiency, nor were manufacturers able to provide data demonstrating any measurable efficiency improvement association with added insulation. As a result, DOE did not further analyze this technology option for these proposed product classes.

Whirlpool commented that small energy savings are associated with thermostatically controlled burners for gas cooking tops, and that manufacturers would need to assess the possible quality impact from subjecting the electronics to high temperatures. (Whirlpool, No. 13 at p. 4) Whirlpool also commented that most electric coil element and smooth element cooking tops on the market today have electronic controls. (Whirlpool, No. 13 at p. 4) Based on DOE's review of products on the market, DOE agrees that the majority of electric smooth cooking tops on the market today have electronic controls. However, all of the electric coil cooking tops reviewed by DOE were equipped with electromechanical controls. Nonetheless, DOE determined that thermostatically controlled burners and electronic controls, which allow the burners or heating elements to automatically adjust in response to cooking-state set points (

e.g.,

cooking vessel temperature), would not improve efficiency based on the current DOE test procedure because the efficiency benefits of these design options can only be realized under variable burner or heating element conditions. As a result, DOE is not proposing to include these technologies in its analyses.

AHAM and Whirlpool commented that halogen elements should not be considered as a technology option for electric smooth cooking tops because they may not heat enough to properly cook food. AHAM and Whirlpool stated that they do not believe that these elements typically are capable of achieving temperatures greater than about 350 °F. (AHAM, No. 9 at p. 5; Whirlpool, No. 13 at p. 4) DOE notes that this technology option would incorporate radiant heating coils around the halogen element to provide supplemental heat around the element's edge, producing a highly responsive element with an even temperature distribution. Based on data presented in the 2009 TSD, halogen elements may increase efficiency by approximately 1.5 percent. As a result, DOE is retaining halogen elements as a technology option for electric smooth cooking tops.

Whirlpool commented that there may be negligible savings from improved contact conductance, as the coil element changes shape when heating, making it difficult to keep the element completely flat throughout the cooking cycle. According to Whirlpool, radiation also acts like conduction at very short distances (

i.e.,

the distance between test load and surface of non-flat coil element). Additionally, Whirlpool commented that the possible energy savings from improved contact conductance would not be realized by consumers because many do not have the completely flat cookware. (Whirlpool, No. 13 at pp. 4

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