Energy Conservation Program for Consumer Products: Decision and Order Granting a Waiver From the Furnace Test Procedure to Consolidated Industries

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

[Case No. F-082]

Energy Conservation Program for Consumer Products: Decision and

Order Granting a Waiver From the Furnace Test Procedure to Consolidated

Industries

AGENCY: Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Department of

Energy.

ACTION: Decision and Order.

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SUMMARY: Notice is given of the Decision and Order (Case No. F-082)

granting a Waiver to Consolidated Industries (Consolidated) from the

existing Department of Energy (DOE or Department) test procedure for

furnaces. The Department is granting Consolidated's Petition for Waiver

regarding blower time delay in calculation of Annual Fuel Utilization

Efficiency (AFUE) for its USA and UCA series furnaces.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Cyrus H. Nasseri, U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy

Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Mail Station EE-431, Forrestal

Building, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20585-0121,

(202) 586-9138

Eugene Margolis, Esq., U.S. Department of Energy, Office of General

Counsel, Mail Station GC-72, Forrestal Building, 1000 Independence

Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20585-0103, (202) 586-9507

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In accordance with 10 CFR 430.27(j), notice

is hereby given of the issuance of the Decision and Order as set out

below. In the Decision and Order, Consolidated has been granted a

Waiver for its USA and UCA series furnaces permitting the company to

use an alternate test method in determining AFUE.

Issued in Washington, DC, on January 30, 1996.

Christine A. Ervin,

Assistant Secretary, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

DECISION AND ORDER

In The Matter of: Consolidated Industries. (Case No. F-082)

BACKGROUND

The Energy Conservation Program for Consumer Products (other than

automobiles) was established pursuant to the Energy Policy and

Conservation Act, Public Law 94-163, 89 Stat. 917, as amended (EPCA),

which requires DOE to prescribe standardized test procedures to measure

the energy consumption of certain consumer products, including

furnaces. The intent of the test procedures is to provide a comparable

measure of energy consumption that will assist consumers in making

purchasing decisions. These test procedures appear at 10 CFR Part 430,

Subpart B.

The Department amended the prescribed test procedures by adding 10

CFR 430.27 to create a waiver process. 45 FR 64108, September 26, 1980.

Thereafter, DOE further amended its appliance test procedure waiver

process to allow the Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and

Renewable Energy (Assistant Secretary) to grant an Interim Waiver from

test procedure requirements to manufacturers that have petitioned DOE

for a waiver of such prescribed test procedures. 51 FR 42823, November

26, 1986.

The waiver process allows the Assistant Secretary to waive

temporarily test procedures for a particular basic model when a

petitioner shows that the basic model contains one or more design

characteristics which prevent testing according to the prescribed test

procedures or when the prescribed test procedures may evaluate the

basic model in a manner so unrepresentative of its true energy

consumption as to provide materially inaccurate comparative data.

Waivers generally remain in effect until final test procedure

amendments become effective, resolving the problem that is the subject

of the waiver.

[[Page 4263]]

Consolidated filed a ``Petition for Waiver,'' dated April 26, 1995,

in accordance with section 430.27 of 10 CFR Part 430. The Department

published in the Federal Register on November 22, 1995, Consolidated's

Petition and solicited comments, data and information respecting the

Petition. 60 FR 57854, November 22, 1995. Consolidated also filed an

``Application for Interim Waiver'' under section 430.27(b)(2), which

DOE granted on November 13, 1995. 60 FR 57854, November 22, 1995.

No comments were received concerning either the ``Petition for

Waiver'' or the ``Application for Interim Waiver.'' The Department

consulted with The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) concerning the

Consolidated Petition. The FTC did not have any objections to the

issuance of the waiver to Consolidated.

Assertions and Determinations

Consolidated's Petition seeks a waiver from the DOE test provisions

that require a 1.5-minute time delay between the ignition of the burner

and the starting of the circulating air blower. Consolidated requests

the allowance to test using a 30-second blower time delay when testing

its USA and UCA series furnaces. Consolidated states that since the 30-

second delay is indicative of how these models actually operate, and

since such a delay results in an average furnace AFUE improvement of

1.0 percent, the Petition should be granted.

Under specific circumstances, the DOE test procedure contains

exceptions which allow testing with blower delay times of less than the

prescribed 1.5-minute delay. Consolidated indicates that it is unable

to take advantage of any of these exceptions for its USA and UCA series

furnaces.

Since the blower controls incorporated on the Consolidated furnaces

are designed to impose a 30-second blower delay in every instance of

start up, and since the current test procedure provisions do not

specifically address this type of control, DOE agrees that a waiver

should be granted to allow the 30-second blower time delay when testing

the Consolidated USA and UCA series furnaces. Accordingly, with regard

to testing the USA and UCA series furnaces, today's Decision and Order

exempts Consolidated from the existing test procedure provisions

regarding blower controls and allows testing with the 30-second delay.

It is, therefore, ordered That:

(1) The ``Petition for Waiver'' filed by Consolidated Industries.

(Case No. F-082) is hereby granted as set forth in paragraph (2) below,

subject to the provisions of paragraphs (3), (4), and (5).

(2) Notwithstanding any contrary provisions of Appendix N of 10 CFR

Part 430, Subpart B, Consolidated Industries, shall be permitted to

test its USA and UCA series furnaces on the basis of the test procedure

specified in 10 CFR Part 430, with modifications set forth below:

(i) Section 3.0 of Appendix N is deleted and replaced with the

following paragraph:

3.0 Test Procedure. Testing and measurements shall be as specified

in section 9 in ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-82 with the exception of

sections 9.2.2, 9.3.1, and 9.3.2, and the inclusion of the following

additional procedures:

(ii) Add a new paragraph 3.10 to Appendix N as follows:

3.10 Gas- and Oil-Fueled Central Furnaces. The following paragraph

is in lieu of the requirement specified in section 9.3.1 of ANSI/ASHRAE

Standard 103-82. After equilibrium conditions are achieved following

the cool-down test and the required measurements performed, turn on the

furnace and measure the flue gas temperature, using the thermocouple

grid described above, at 0.5 and 2.5 minutes after the main burner(s)

comes on. After the burner start-up, delay the blower start-up by 1.5

minutes (t-), unless: (1) The furnace employs a single motor to drive

the power burner and the indoor air circulating blower, in which case

the burner and blower shall be started together; or (2) the furnace is

designed to operate using an unvarying delay time that is other than

1.5 minutes, in which case the fan control shall be permitted to start

the blower; or (3) the delay time results in the activation of a

temperature safety device which shuts off the burner, in which case the

fan control shall be permitted to start the blower. In the latter case,

if the fan control is adjustable, set it to start the blower at the

highest temperature. If the fan control is permitted to start the

blower, measure time delay, (t-), using a stopwatch. Record the

measured temperatures. During the heat-up test for oil-fueled furnaces,

maintain the draft in the flue pipe within 0.01 inch of

water column of the manufacturer's recommended on-period draft.

(iii) With the exception of the modifications set forth above,

Consolidated Industries shall comply in all respects with the test

procedures specified in Appendix N of 10 CFR Part 430, Subpart B.

(3) The Waiver shall remain in effect from the date of issuance of

this Order until DOE prescribes final test procedures appropriate to

the USA and UCA series furnaces manufactured by Consolidated

Industries.

(4) This Waiver is based upon the presumed validity of statements,

allegations, and documentary materials submitted by the petitioner.

This Waiver may be revoked or modified at any time upon a determination

that the factual basis underlying the Petition is incorrect.

(5) Effective 1/30/96, this Waiver supersedes the Interim Waiver

granted Consolidated Industries on November 13, 1995. 60 FR 57854,

November 22, 1995 (Case No. F-082).

Issued In Washington, DC, on January 30, 1996.

Christine A. Ervin,

Assistant Secretary, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

[FR Doc. 96-2349 Filed 2-2-96; 8:45 am]

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