Energy Conservation Program for Consumer Products: Test Procedures for Furnaces/Boilers, Vented Home Heating Equipment, and Pool Heaters

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

10 CFR Part 430

[Docket No. EE-RM-93-501]

RIN 1904-AA45

Energy Conservation Program for Consumer Products: Test

Procedures for Furnaces/Boilers, Vented Home Heating Equipment, and

Pool Heaters

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

Energy.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: The Energy Policy and Conservation Act, as amended, requires

the Department of Energy (DOE or the Department) to administer an

energy conservation program for certain major household appliances and

commercial equipment. Among other program elements, the Act requires

that standard methods of testing be prescribed for each covered

product. Today's final rule amends the test procedures for furnaces and

boilers, vented home heating equipment, and pool heaters.

EFFECTIVE DATE: This rule is effective November 10, 1997. The

incorporation by reference of certain publications listed in the

regulations is approved by the Director of the Federal Register as of

November 10, 1997.

ADDRESSES: The Department is incorporating by reference test standards

from the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-

Conditioning Engineers, Inc. (ASHRAE) and the American National

Standards Institute, Inc. (ANSI). These standards are listed below:

American National Standards Institute/American Society of Heating,

Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers Standard 103-1993,

``Methods of Testing for Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency of

Residential Central Furnaces and Boilers,'' and American National

Standards Institute Standard Z21.56-1994, ``Gas-Fired Pool Heaters.''

Copies of these standards may be viewed at the Department of Energy

Freedom of Information Reading Room, Forrestal Building, Room 1E-190,

1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585, (202) 586-6020

between the hours of 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, except

Federal holidays.

Copies of the ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1993 can be obtained from

ASHRAE Publication Sales, 1791 Tullie Circle, NE, Atlanta, GA 30329,

(1-800-5-ASHRAE). Copies of the ANSI Standard Z21.56-1994 can be

obtained from the ANSI, Inc., 11 West 42nd Street, New York, N.Y.

10036, (212) 642-4936.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

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

Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Mail Station, EE-43, 1000 Independence

Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C. 20585-0121, (202) 586-9142, FAX (202) 586-

4617.

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

Counsel, Mail Station, GC-72, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington,

D.C. 20585-0103, (202) 586-9507.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Introduction

A. Authority

B. Background

II. Discussion of Comments

A. Furnaces

B. Vented Home Heating Equipment

C. Pool Heaters

III. Procedural Requirements

A. Review Under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969

B. Review Under Executive Order 12866, ``Regulatory Planning and

Review''

C. Review Under the Regulatory Flexibility Act

D. Review Under Executive Order 12612, ``Federalism''

E. Review Under Section 32 of the Federal Energy Administration

Act of 1974

F. Review Under Executive Order 12630, ``Governmental Actions

and Interference With Constitutionally Protected Property Rights''

G. Review Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980

H. Review Under Executive Order 12988, ``Civil Justice Reform''

I. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act Review

J. Review Under Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness

Act of 1996

I. Introduction

A. Authority

Part B of Title III of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act, Pub.

L. 94-163, as amended by the National Energy Conservation Policy Act

(NECPA) Pub. L. 95-619, the National Appliance Energy Conservation Act

(NAECA) of 1987, Pub. L. 100-12, the National Appliance Energy

Conservation Amendments of 1988 (NAECA 1988), Pub. L. 100-357 and the

Energy Policy Act of 1992 (EPACT), Pub. L. 102-486, created the Energy

Conservation Program for Consumer Products other than Automobiles

(Program).1 The 13 consumer household products currently

subject to this Program (referred to hereinafter as ``covered

products'') include furnaces/boilers, vented home heating equipment,

and pool heaters, the subjects of today's notice.

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\ 1\ Part B of Title III of the Energy Policy and Conservation

Act , as amended, is referred to in this final rule as the ``Act''

or EPCA. Part B of Title III is codified at 42 U.S.C. 6291-6309.

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Under the EPCA, the Program consists essentially of three parts:

Testing, labeling, and Federal energy conservation standards. The

Department, in consultation with the National Institute of Standards

and Technology (NIST), is required to amend or establish new test

procedures as appropriate for each of the covered products. EPCA

section 323, 42 U.S.C. 6293. Test procedures appear at 10 CFR part 430,

subpart B. The purpose of the test procedures is to produce test

results that measure energy efficiency, energy use, or estimated annual

operating cost of a covered product during a representative average use

cycle or period of use. The procedures must not be unduly burdensome to

conduct. EPCA section 323(b)(3), 42 U.S.C. 6293 (b)(3). A test

procedure is not required if DOE determines by rule that one cannot be

developed. EPCA section 323(d)(1), 42 U.S.C. 6293(d)(1).

One hundred and eighty days after a test procedure for a product is

adopted, no manufacturer may represent the energy consumption of, or

the cost of energy consumed by, the product, except as reflected in

tests conducted according to the DOE procedure. EPCA section 323(c)(2),

42 U.S.C. 6293(c)(2). However, the 180-day period referred to in

section 323(c)(2) may be extended for up to an additional 180 days if

the Secretary determines that the requirements of section 323(c)(2)

would impose an undue burden. EPCA section 323(c)(3), 42 U.S.C. 6293

(c)(3).

Section 323(e) of the Act requires DOE to determine to what extent,

if any, a proposed test procedure would alter the measured energy

efficiency or measured energy use of any covered product as determined

under the existing test procedure. If DOE determines that an amended

test procedure would alter the measured efficiency or measured energy

use of a covered product, DOE is required to amend the related energy

conservation standard accordingly. In determining the amended standard,

DOE is required to measure the energy efficiency or energy use of

representative samples of covered products that minimally comply with

the existing standard. The average efficiency of these representative

samples, tested using the amended test procedure, constitutes the

[[Page 26141]]

amended standard. EPCA section 323(e)(2), 42 U.S.C. 6293(e)(2).

B. Background

On March 28, 1984, the Department published in the Federal Register

a final rule, hereinafter referred to as the 1984 Final Rule, amending

the test procedures for furnaces, vented home heating equipment, and

unvented home heating equipment. 49 FR 12148. For furnaces, the 1984

Final Rule referenced the ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1982 entitled

``Methods of Testing for Heating Seasonal Efficiency of Central

Furnaces and Boilers.'' In addition, it prescribed furnace test

procedures for systems and issues that were not adequately covered by

the ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1982. Those included, for example,

provisions for modulating and condensing furnaces and boilers.

Particularly impacted were units with thermal stack dampers. Other

deviations between the 1984 Final Rule and ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-

1982 related to oversize factors, furnaces without draft relief or

direct exhaust system, hot water boiler minimum return (inlet) water

temperature and minimum water temperature rise, pump delay on boiler

controls, an improved method for the determination of the S/F factor

(the ratio of stack gas mass flow rate to flue gas mass flow rate) for

furnaces and boilers, and the option of an assigned jacket loss value

instead of actual measurement.

The Department originally published a test procedure for vented

home heating equipment on May 2, 1978. 43 FR 20182. The Department

amended this test procedure in the 1984 Final Rule, to include a

simplified vented heater test procedure for heaters with modulating

controls, manually controlled vented heaters, vented heaters equipped

with thermal stack dampers, and floor furnaces. 49 FR 12169.

The Department published the pool heater test procedure final rule

on February 7, 1989, referencing ANSI Standard Z21.56-1986 for gas pool

heaters and extending the test procedure to cover oil-fired pool

heaters. 54 FR 6076.

Since 1984, through cooperative efforts with the furnace industry

and through the DOE test procedure waiver process, DOE has become aware

of several additional issues regarding furnace and vented home heating

equipment test procedures. On August 23, 1993, DOE published in the

Federal Register a proposed rule and notice of public hearing,

hereinafter referred to as the 1993 Proposed Rule, to amend the

furnace, vented home heating equipment, and pool heater test procedures

to address these issues. 58 FR 44538. A public hearing was held in

Washington, DC on January 5, 1994.

After reviewing the comments presented at the public hearing on

January 5, 1994, and additional written comments submitted following

the public hearing, the Department decided to reopen the public comment

period to solicit additional comments on one subject of particular

concern to commenters in the 1993 Proposed Rule--the application of a

multiplication factor to the auxiliary electricity consumption of a

fossil-fueled appliance. The proposed multiplication factor in the 1993

Proposed Rule consisted of the ratio of the electrical ``source

energy'' (the amount of energy used in producing the electricity

consumed by the appliance) to the electrical ``site energy'' (the

amount of electricity consumed by the appliance). The multiplication

factor was used in the two proposed new energy descriptors, named

Energy Factor (EF) and Annual Efficiency (AE), proposed by the

Department to include the auxiliary electrical energy consumption by

fossil-fueled appliances.

On January 20, 1995, the Department published a Federal Register

notice, reopening the comment period to seek comments on a revision of

the proposed definition of the multiplication factor. The new proposed

definition was the ratio of the cost of electricity to the cost of

fossil fuel to the consumer. 60 FR 4348. The 30-day public comment

period was extended by an additional 30 days at the request of

commenters and was closed on March 21, 1995.

Today's notice amends the test procedures for furnaces and boilers,

vented home heating equipment, and pool heaters as follows:

(1) DOE is amending the test procedure for furnaces and boilers

first, to incorporate provisions contained in test procedure waivers

granted to different manufacturers from 1985 to 1996 and secondly, to

include test procedures for new product designs. To accomplish this,

the ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1993 is incorporated by reference into the

test procedure, in the place of ANSI/ASHRAE 103-1988 that was

referenced in the 1993 proposed rule. (See below at II. a. 23. ``ANSI/

ASHRAE Standard 103-1993.'') This incorporation establishes revised

test procedures for the following furnaces and features: Atmospheric

furnaces with burner air inlet dampers or flue dampers; the jacket loss

measurement for downflow furnaces; and furnaces and boilers employing

electro-mechanical stack dampers with delayed opening and power vented

units employing post purge during the off-cycle. In addition, however,

today's notice incorporates into DOE's test procedure provisions that

are modifications of certain sections of ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1993.

Those modifications include the limit on air circulation blower delay

time at burner shut-off for furnaces with unvarying control on blower

delay time, deletion of the insulation requirement on the internal vent

pipe of downflow furnace during the cool-down and heat-up tests,

deletion of the requirement for the sealing of cabinet ventilation

openings during the jacket loss measurement, longer allowed free post

purge time for power vented units employing post purge, and input

requirement on interrupted ignition device. In addition, today's final

rule provides procedures for the calculation of the annual fossil fuel

and auxiliary electrical energy consumptions.

(2) DOE is amending the test procedure for vented home heating

equipment by, first, including modified calculation procedures for the

weighted average steady-state efficiency and Annual Fuel Utilization

Efficiency (AFUE) for certain manually-controlled heaters, and

secondly, adding a procedure for calculating the annual energy

consumption of fossil fuel and auxiliary electrical energy for vented

home heating equipment.

(3) DOE is amending the test procedure for pool heaters by updating

the referenced ANSI standard for pool heaters from ANSI Z21.56-1986 to

ANSI Z21.56-1994. DOE is also adding a procedure for calculating the

annual energy consumption of fossil fuel and auxiliary electrical

energy for pool heaters and a pool heater heating seasonal efficiency

descriptor that takes into account the energy consumption by the pilot

light during the standby period of the pool heating season.

II. Discussion of Comments

A. Furnaces

In general, the comments received were supportive of the goals of

the proposed amendments to incorporate provisions contained in waivers

previously granted, to include test procedures for new product designs,

and to capture the electrical consumption of furnaces. However, the

comments by various organizations presented disagreements with DOE's

proposal on the effect of some of the amendments on the measured AFUE.

Additionally, many comments were received on the proposed formulation

of energy descriptors to capture electrical

[[Page 26142]]

consumption, on both the 1993 Proposed Rule and the January 20, 1995,

Federal Register notice.

In its testimony and written statement, the Gas Appliance

Manufacturers Association (GAMA) classified the proposed revisions to

the current test procedure contained in the 1993 Proposed Rule into

three categories. (GAMA, No. 8, at 2).2

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\2\ Written comments on the 1993 Proposed Rule were assigned

docket numbers and are numbered consecutively. Comments presented at

the January 5, 1994, public hearing are contained in the transcript.

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The first category comprised changes that GAMA states would not

lower the measured AFUE of most existing furnace and boiler models,

including changes to bring the test procedures in line with waivers

previously granted. GAMA stated its support for the immediate

implementation of most of the first category of changes.

The second category included changes that GAMA states would lower

the measured AFUE of most existing furnace and boiler models. Such a

change, GAMA claimed, would require the Department to amend the furnace

and boiler efficiency standards because of the impact on existing

models that marginally meet the standard. According to GAMA, this would

cause confusion in the marketplace, accustomed as it is to the current

standard, a minimum AFUE of 78 percent for warm air furnaces.

Additionally, GAMA asserted that a reduction in the measured AFUE would

result in many units no longer qualifying for utility rebate programs

that require an AFUE of at least 80 percent. GAMA stated the view that

these changes would place a heavy burden on manufacturers and requested

a delay in the implementation of the second category of changes until

any revised efficiency standards went into effect. GAMA puts the

following changes in this category: Revised calculation for the

effectiveness of electro-mechanical stack dampers; power vented systems

employing post purge after burner shut-off; sealing of cabinet

ventilation openings during jacket loss test; insulation of horizontal

mounted external draft diverters; insulation of the flue collector box

for power vented units; insulation of the internal flue pipe for

downflow furnaces during heat-up and cool-down tests; minimum values

for the draft factor DP and DF; measurement of

water pump energy consumption; and test requirement for modulating

boilers.

The third category was the addition of the proposed AE energy

descriptor. GAMA suggested further study on the third category before

implementation.

Consolidated Industries, Carrier Corp., and Lennox Industries

supported GAMA's statement. (Consolidated, No. 21, at 1; Carrier, No.

12, at 1; and Lennox, Transcript, at 77). Inter-City Products presented

the same list of revisions regarding their potential impact on AFUE as

GAMA did. Many of the other commenters referred to GAMA's

classification of the three categories of proposed revisions to the DOE

test procedure in their oral and written statements and these

categories are referred to in the discussion of comments below.

The following discussion addresses the comments received on the

proposed rule.

1. Furnaces and Boilers With Small Air Passage in the Flue

In the 1993 Proposed Rule, DOE proposed to change the limiting

value of 10 percent from a flow rate ratio to an area ratio. Both GAMA

and Inter-City Products supported the proposed revision. (GAMA, No. 8,

at 2; and Inter-City, No. 7, at 4). No other commenters offered comment

on this issue. The Department is adopting the change in sections

8.2.1.2.2 and 8.3.1.2 of ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1993 in today's final

rule.

2. Air Circulation Blower Delay at Burner Ignition

The 1993 Proposed Rule specified a minimum blower delay time of 20

seconds during the heat-up test for furnaces designed with non-

adjustable, unvarying delay time that is less than 20 seconds. The

current furnace test procedure requires a 1.5-minute delay between the

ignition of the burner and the starting of the blower. Manufacturers

have requested and been granted waivers from this requirement because

of an unvarying time delay designed into their specific models. The

designed time delay granted in the waivers varied from 20 seconds to 66

seconds among the specific models with 30 seconds as the predominant

time delay. The manufacturers claimed increases in the AFUE value of

from 0.4 to 2.0 percentage points if the designed time delays were used

in the rating test instead of the 1.5 minutes specified in the current

test procedure. The Department's granting of the waivers permitted

those manufacturers to test units with blowers having unvarying time

delay designed into them. In the 1993 Proposed Rule, the Department

proposed test procedures to allow testing with an unvarying time delay,

but also proposed a minimum blower delay time of 20 seconds during the

heat-up test. This is achieved by bypassing the electronic control, if

the designed non-adjustable, unvarying delay time is less than 20

seconds.

Both GAMA and Inter-City Products opposed the requirement of a

minimum 20-second delay during the heat-up test for furnaces with

designed, unvarying blower time delay at burner start-up. Amana

Refrigeration, Inc., stated that DOE's reason of avoiding a cold draft

in the occupied zone is an issue of comfort, not energy efficiency, and

that DOE should let the competitive marketplace design products that

fulfill consumers' desires. (Amana, No. 2, at 1). Inter-City Products

stated that DOE should not define what occupant comfort is, and as

advances in heat exchanger technology come about, low mass heat

exchanger with very short heat-up characteristics will evolve allowing

short on-time delays. Inter-City Products also stated that mandating

time delays as to occupant comfort is to prescribe the design of a

furnace and would not necessarily reflect the true operation and

efficiency of current or future furnace designs. (Inter-City, No. 7, at

2). GAMA and York International Corp. gave similar reasons as Inter-

City Products for opposing the 20-second requirement, and stated that

DOE is acting outside its authority in factoring occupant comfort into

the efficiency test procedure. Further they stated that it is for the

marketplace, not DOE, to discourage the sale of furnaces that do not

provide a reasonable level of occupant comfort. In addition, the

complexity of the electronic controls used in today's furnaces makes it

very difficult for a field installer or repairer to modify an unvarying

blower time delay. (GAMA, No. 8, at 16; and York, No. 10, at 3.)

Carrier Corp. and Consolidated Industries both supported GAMA's

statement. (Carrier No. 12, at 1; and Consolidated, No. 21, at 1.) Mr.

Woodworth stated that comfort should not be the basis for provisions

being included in a laboratory test procedure. Further, he suggested

that the procedure should be changed to agree with section 9.6.1 of

ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1993, that does not include the 20-second

requirement. (Woodworth, No. 20, at 5).

In the current test procedure for furnaces, the 1.5-minute fan

delay at burner ignition was specified on the basis of obtaining a low

overall cost of combined fossil fuel and auxiliary electrical energy

consumption.3 This

[[Page 26143]]

was balanced with the historically accepted industry practice in

furnace operation of providing occupant comfort. In granting the waiver

requests, the Department recognized the advances made by manufacturers

on lighter weight heat exchanger designs with fan-assisted combustion

systems over the past decade. These advances permitted a faster heat-up

of the heat exchanger and a shorter fan delay time while still

achieving the desired low overall energy consumption. In the 1993

proposed rule, the Department believed that there is a limit to

reducing the weight of the heat exchanger and, in turn, a limit to the

achievable minimum fan delay time. This is evident from the fan delay

times in the waiver requests, that were mostly greater than or equal to

30 seconds. It is possible, however, that as new material and

technology evolve, an even lighter weight heat exchanger with better

heat transfer performance will be developed. Such a heat exchanger

could result in a faster furnace heat-up and allow a fan delay time of

less than 20 seconds. The 20-second minimum fan delay time might become

inappropriate for these better-designed furnaces of the future.

Nevertheless, for furnaces lacking such designs, the Department

believes that without the minimum fan delay requirement used during the

test for furnaces with non-adjustable, unvarying fan delay control, a

manufacturer could simply modify the furnace's electronic control

without any resulting improvement in its heat transfer performance.

Thus, the manufacturer would obtain a higher AFUE value. The Department

assumes that consideration of consumer satisfaction in the long term

will prevent that practice.

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\3\ Unpublished National Bureau of Standards report, Joseph Chi,

``A Note on Effect of HX Weights on annual performance and cost of

Operation of a furnace,'' February, 1978.

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Based on the above reasons, the Department has decided to drop the

proposed requirement of a 20-second minimum fan delay for furnaces

designed with a non-adjustable, unvarying blower time delay during the

heat-up test. Instead, DOE is adopting the procedure specified in

section 9.6.1 of ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1993 in today's final rule.

3. Air Circulation Blower Delay at Burner Shut-off

In the 1993 Proposed Rule, DOE proposed a modification to the ANSI/

ASHRAE Standard 103-1988 version of the procedure now specified in

section 9.5.1.2.2 of ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1993. The modification

requires that a furnace, if designed with an unvarying time delay that

does not provide the same blower delay time that is specified for units

with adjustable blower control, shall be tested with the blower control

bypassed, and the blower manually controlled to give the delay time

specified during the cool-down test. This delay time is three minutes

for non-condensing, or 1.5 minutes for condensing furnaces, or 40 deg.F

temperature difference, whichever gives the longer time delay.

During the cool-down test, the extant test procedure allows a delay

in blower shut-off of three minutes (1.5 minutes for condensing

furnaces) or until the supply air temperature drops to a value of

40 deg.F above the inlet air temperature, whichever gives the longer

time delay. ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1993 provided an additional

exception (section 9.5.1.2.2) that for a furnace without adjustable fan

control, the delay shall be as designed.

Both GAMA and Inter-City Products, as well as other commenters,

expressed opposition to the specified maximum time delays for blowers

with unvarying time delay in the proposed test procedure during the

cool-down test. Inter-City Products stated that older or heavier mass

heat exchangers may require more than three minutes of cool-down time.

They gave the same reasons as given in Inter-City Products' comments

against blower time delay at burner ignition in opposing the use of

occupant comfort as the criterion in determining the maximum allowable

time delay. (Inter-City, No. 7, at 2). GAMA gave similar reasons as

Inter-City Products in opposing the requirement with respect to high

mass heat exchangers. Further, they gave the same reasons as given in

GAMA's comments against blower time delay at burner ignition in

opposing the use of occupant comfort as a criterion in the test

procedure. GAMA also pointed out the difficulty of adjusting an

unvarying electronic time delay control in the field. (GAMA, No. 8, at

16). York International gave similar reasons as GAMA. (York

International, No. 10, at 3). Carrier Corp. and Consolidated Industries

both supported GAMA's statement. (Carrier, No. 12, at 1; and

Consolidated, No. 21, at 1). The California Energy Commission (CEC)

pointed out that the wording in section 8.4 of appendix N in the 1993

Proposed Rule is misleading. It stated that the time delay criterion of

40 deg.F temperature difference between supply air and return air for

units with adjustable fan control can be interpreted as not applying to

condensing furnaces. Also, the time to reach the 40 deg.F differential

after burner shut-off may be shorter than three minutes, resulting in

both a cold draft and a higher rating that fail to achieve a reasonable

level of occupant comfort. (CEC, No. 25, at 1).

In the current test procedure for furnaces, the requirement for

maximum fan delay time after burner shut-off was specified on the basis

of obtaining an overall low cost of combined fossil fuel and auxiliary

electrical energy consumption balanced with the historically accepted

industry practice in furnace operation to provide occupant comfort. The

after burner shut-off is defined as three minutes, or 1.5 minutes for

condensing furnaces, after the burner shuts off, or until the supply

air temperature drops to a value of 40 deg.F above the inlet air

temperature, whichever gives a longer fan-on time. The Department

recognized the heat capacity of a heavier mass heat exchanger in

retaining a greater amount of heat energy. This is evidenced by the

specification in the existing test procedure of either three minutes

(1.5 minutes for condensing furnaces) or 40 deg.F differential in

plenum to return air temperature, whichever gives a longer fan-on time.

The removal of the maximum fan-on time requirement could encourage some

manufacturers to lengthen the fan-on time after burner shut off without

an accompanying improvement in furnace design. The manufacturers could

do this by simply changing the electronics in the controller. Those

furnaces would be able to obtain a slightly higher calculated AFUE by

using a lower flue gas temperature measured at nine minutes after

burner shut-off when the fan runs longer. Those furnaces however, would

actually be consuming greater electrical energy than the savings in

fossil fuel. This would be contrary to the intent of EPCA to reduce the

nation's overall energy consumption.

Based on the reasons given above, and the fact that the proposed

provision does not affect the rating of any existing furnaces, today's

final rule prescribes the maximum blower delay time criterion specified

in the 1993 Proposed Rule. This specification is for a furnace designed

with an unvarying blower time delay during the cool-down test in

today's final rule.

With respect to the comment by the CEC, the Department agrees that

the wording in the 1993 Proposed Rule is misleading. In today's rule,

therefore, the wording of ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1993, section

9.5.1.2.1, which includes the 40 deg.F temperature difference for

condensing furnaces, is adopted instead. CEC also commented that for

certain furnaces the 40 deg.F temperature differential could be reached

in less than three minutes and

[[Page 26144]]

thus creating a possible cold draft. The blower time delay criterion is

prescribed for blowers with adjustable time delay control in the

current furnace test procedure. Changing the criterion would require

the retesting of many existing furnaces. Also, the criterion was agreed

to by consensus of the ASHRAE Standard Project Committee (SPC) 103 and

specified in ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1993. The Department sees no

reason to change that criterion presently.

In the 1993 Proposed Rule, the Department also specified an

exception to the delay time requirement for furnaces that employ a

single motor to drive a power burner and the air circulation blower. In

that case, the power burner and the blower would be stopped together.

The current test procedure includes this exception of simultaneous

start/stop operations during both the heat-up and the cool-down tests.

ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1993 specifically includes this exception in

the heat-up test but it is not specified in the section for the cool-

down test. The Department considered it to be only an inadvertent

omission in ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1993. There was no comment

received on this issue, and the Department is specifying, in today's

final rule, the modification to ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1993. The

Department specifies that if a single motor drives a power burner and

the air circulating blower, the power burner and the blower shall be

stopped together during the cool-down test.

4. Burner Box Inlet Damper and Flue Damper

Both GAMA and Inter-City Products supported the proposal to include

a tracer gas test method for atmospheric furnaces with inlet or flue

dampers. (GAMA, No. 8, at 2; and Inter-City, No. 7, at 4). There were

no other comments on this issue. The Department has included this

provision in today's final rule.

5. Jacket Loss Test for Downflow Furnaces

The proposal in the 1993 Proposed Rule to include a jacket loss

test for downflow furnaces was supported by both GAMA and Inter-City

Products. (GAMA, No. 8, at 2; and Inter-City, No. 7, at 4). These were

the only comments on this issue. The Department is adopting the

proposed jacket loss test procedure for downflow furnaces as specified

in ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1993 referenced in today's final rule.

6. Blower Compartment Heat Loss During Jacket Loss Test

Both GAMA and Inter-City Products supported the proposal in the

1993 Proposed Rule to exclude the surface area of the blower

compartment in the jacket loss test. The CEC believed that the blower

compartment should not be considered as part of the duct system and

that the heat loss through the blower compartment should be measured in

the jacket loss test. It stated that if the blower compartment is

considered as the duct system, then the insulation requirement for duct

systems in building codes will apply to the compartment. The CEC

believed that this is not presently done to the furnace cabinet in the

field and, in addition, manufacturers and others may recommend against

the insulation of the cabinet. (CEC, No. 25, at 2).

The Department believes that for most furnaces, the blower

compartment is in the return air side of the cabinet. The surface

temperature of the blower compartment will be nearly the same as the

air temperature around the compartment, and the heat loss from that

surface to the test room air will be negligible. The added burden of

instrumenting the blower compartment surface with thermocouples is not

justified. The Department is therefore not adopting the CEC's

suggestion of requiring some mechanism for measuring the heat loss from

the blower compartment. The Department is adopting the provision of

excluding the surface area of the blower compartment in the jacket loss

test as specified in the ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1993 referenced in

today's final rule.

7. Revised Piping Arrangement for Hot Water Boilers

Both GAMA and Inter-City Products supported the proposal in the

1993 Proposed Rule for a revised piping arrangement for hot water

boilers. (GAMA, No. 8, at 2; and Inter-City, No. 7, at 4). This was the

only comment on this issue. The Department has adopted this provision

as specified in ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1993, which is referenced in

today's final rule.

8. Maintaining of Draft During Off-Cycle

Both GAMA and Inter-City Products supported the proposal to

maintain draft during off-cycle for only those oil-fueled or power gas

burner furnaces that employ barometric dampers for draft control.

(GAMA, No. 8, at 2; and Inter-City, No. 7, at 4). This was the only

comment on this issue. The Department has adopted this provision as

specified in ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1993, which is referenced in

today's final rule.

9. Tests Requirement for Modulating Units

In the 1993 Proposed Rule, DOE proposed to correct the following

discrepancy between the current DOE test procedure and ANSI/ASHRAE

Standard 103-1988, which DOE proposed to reference. The current DOE

test procedure requires that for step modulating units, the steady-

state efficiency test shall be conducted at both the maximum and the

reduced input rates. The ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1988 required the

above tests at the reduced rate only. The 1993 Proposed Rule made clear

that DOE would continue to require testing at both rates.

Both GAMA and Inter-City Products supported the proposal for

testing modulating furnaces. GAMA put the proposed correction to ANSI/

ASHRAE Standard 103-1988 for testing modulating boilers into the

category of proposals on which it asked for delay in implementation

until revised efficiency standards are adopted. (GAMA, No. 8, at 4; and

Inter-City, No. 7, at 4). Carrier Corp. and Consolidated Industries

both supported GAMA's position. (Carrier, No. 12, at 1; and

Consolidated, No. 21, at 1). The Department does not agree with the

comments that the correction is a revision to the existing DOE test

procedure for modulating boilers. Such a test is already included.

Specifically, the conditions (at rated input or reduced input) under

which heat-up and cool-down tests are to be conducted are already

specified in the current DOE test procedure. (See sections 3.1, 3.2,

3.4, and 4.5 of appendix N to subpart B of part 430.) The proposed

clarification for the optional tracer gas test at rated input or at a

reduced input rate is to make certain that the resulting measured draft

factor DP value(s) would be consistent with the other

measured quantities when they are combined in the calculation procedure

for the off-cycle losses. The Department believes that this

clarification will have either no effect, or negligible effect on an

insignificant number of units.

Such a requirement was not clearly stated in ANSI/ASHRAE Standard

103-1988, but in DOE's view it was implicit in that standard. The

Department proposed this provision in the 1993 Proposed Rule only to

clarify the language in the then-referenced ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-

1988. The Department has therefore adopted this provision as specified

in ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1993, which is referenced in today's final

rule.

[[Page 26145]]

10. On-Cycle Time Constant and Off-Cycle Time Constant

Both GAMA and Inter-City Products supported the proposal for the

on-cycle time constant and off-cycle time constant. (GAMA, No. 8, at 2;

and Inter-City, No. 7, at 4). The Department has adopted this provision

as specified in ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1993, which is referenced in

today's final rule.

11. Multiplication Factor for Jacket Loss for Finned Tube Boilers for

Isolated Combustion System (ICS)

In the 1993 Proposed Rule, DOE proposed to use the multiplication

factor of Cj=0.50. Both GAMA and Inter-City Products supported the

proposal for the value of the multiplication factor for jacket loss for

finned tube boilers. (GAMA, No. 8, at 3; and Inter-City, No. 7, at 4).

The Department has adopted this provision as specified in ANSI/ASHRAE

Standard 103-1993, which is referenced in today's final rule.

12. Calculation Procedure for Electro-Mechanical Stack Dampers

GAMA commented that the proposed calculation procedure for

evaluating the effectiveness of a stack damper would reduce the

measured AFUE of both furnaces and boilers. (GAMA, No. 8, at 3). GAMA

believes that the proposed changes would affect the efficiency rating

of existing warm air furnaces.

In the case of warm air furnaces, the Department has considered the

comment and disagrees with the statement that the proposed changes

would affect the efficiency rating of existing warm air furnaces.

Referring to Table 6, System Numbers, and sections 11.2.9.18, 11.2.10.3

and 11.2.10.4 of ANSI/ASHRAE 103-1993, a stack damper's operation has

no effect on a warm air furnace installed as an Isolated Combustion

System (ICS) No. 9 or 10. Because the existing non-weatherized warm air

furnaces are rated as ICS systems, the problems cited by GAMA do not

apply to existing furnaces. Also, because any direct vent system is

defined as system No. 9 or 10, the problems likewise would not apply to

direct vent systems such as those used for most mobile home furnaces.

In the case of boilers, which are installed indoors and rated as

indoor systems, the effect of the revisions on the measured AFUE would

be very small. For most existing boilers the stack damper closes within

30 seconds after the main burner is shut off, and the effect will be on

the order of 0.1 percentage-point change in AFUE. The effect is

therefore negligible for any stack damper that is completely closed

within the 30-second interval. The effect, however, could be large if

the damper closing time delay were to be extended for a long period.

Such an extension would take advantage of the deficiency in the current

procedure, where the damper is assumed to close instantaneously after

the burner shut-off. The Department has therefore, adopted the revision

as proposed in the 1993 Proposed Rule (and as included in ANSI/ASHRAE

Standard 103-1993) in today's final rule.

13. Power Vented Systems Employing Post Purge After Burner Shut-Off

In the 1993 Proposed Rule, the maximum free post purge time was

specified to be five seconds for both gas-and oil-fired furnaces and

boilers. There were seven comments on this proposal. GAMA stated that

the proposed maximum free post purge time would significantly reduce

the measured AFUE of most existing models, and require DOE to amend the

NAECA furnace and boiler efficiency standards for existing models that

marginally meet the current minimum standard of 78 percent AFUE for

furnaces and 80 percent for boilers. (GAMA, No. 8, at 4). Carrier

Corp., Consolidated Industries, and Lennox Industries all supported

GAMA's position. (Carrier, No. 12, at 1; Consolidated, No. 21, at 1;

and Lennox, Transcript, at 77).

Inter-City Products requested that the implementation of this and

other category 2 revisions be postponed to a future rulemaking,

coordinated with implementation of amendments to furnace minimum

efficiency standards. To support its request, Inter-City Products

commented that DOE needs to lower the minimum standard on marginal

units to correspond to changes in test procedure measurements, and

address the problem associated with the utility rebate program. Inter-

City Products further stated that for the manufacturers to modify these

models, such that they attain the 80 percent AFUE value, the redesigned

equipment may operate in the condensing region that can affect

performance, reliability, and life of both the equipment and the

associated vent system. (Inter-City, No. 7, at 3).

Energy Kinetics, Inc. commented that the proposed revision does not

cover systems equipped with a power burner and a draft inducer. Energy

Kinetics stated that the off-cycle flue gas flow rate with only the

inducer on, but not the power burner, is significantly reduced from the

on-cycle flow rate. According to Energy Kinetics, since the proposed

revision in the 1993 Proposed Rule uses the on-cycle flue gas volume

flow rate as a base to compute the flue loss during the post purge

period, the loss will be higher than it should be. Energy Kinetics

suggests that a tracer gas option be allowed for this type of system.

(Energy Kinetics, No. 16, at 6).

The independent commenter, Mr. John Woodworth asserted that, based

on research conducted at Brookhaven National Laboratory, the post-purge

provisions are not accurate for oil-fired furnaces and boilers with

relatively long post purge-periods. He reasons that, to reduce the test

burden on manufacturers, the provisions assume a linearly decreasing

flue gas temperature between the beginning and the end of the post

purge period. Thus, measurements at only two points are required in the

calculation. According to Mr. Woodworth, this assumption of a linearly

varying temperature is valid only for a limited interval, since the

temperature will eventually level off to nearly ambient conditions over

a long purge period. Mr. Woodworth recommends that DOE adopt the

provisions of ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1993 which limit the post purge

period during the test to 180 seconds. (Woodworth, No. 20, at 4).

The Department believes that the use of a post purge in power

vented units during the off-cycle, when longer than necessary, is a

waste of energy because a forced purge increases the loss of the

residue heat in the furnace or boiler through the vent system. A forced

purge is the forced combustion air flow through the heat exchanger.

Given the deficiencies in the existing test procedure described in the

1993 Proposed Rule, DOE is aware that the current procedure could

encourage a manufacturer to use a long post purge period to obtain a

higher calculated AFUE rating while actually wasting more energy

through the vent system. Tests conducted at NIST on a gas furnace with

an induced draft combustion blower showed that increasing the post

purge interval increased the flue loss, but the calculated AFUE based

on current test procedure showed an increase in value. The discrepancy

between the AFUE based on the current calculation procedure, and on the

proposed calculation procedure, becomes progressively greater with an

increasing post purge period. The difference was 0.9 percentage points

with 30 seconds post purge and increased to 4.5 percentage points with

180 seconds post purge. Yet the calculated AFUE based on the current

test procedure showed a gain (from the condition of no post purge) of

about 0.2 percentage points at 30 seconds post purge to nearly 1.0

[[Page 26146]]

percentage point at 180 seconds post purge.

Data gathered indicated that the six major control manufacturers

surveyed all have post purge timing of 30 seconds or less on their post

purge control equipment. The data was gathered by the Lawrence Berkeley

National Laboratory (LBNL) for DOE regarding the current practice of

the furnace industry. The survey showed that if the free post purge

time is extended from five seconds, as proposed in the 1993 Proposed

Rule, to 30 seconds before the post purge calculation method is

required, most of the existing furnace and boiler models that employ

post purge will be treated as if there is no post purge. With post

purge timing of 30 seconds, no retesting or re-rating will be required

and no reduction in AFUE will result for those existing furnaces and

boiler models.

Based on the above reasons, DOE is changing the maximum free post

purge time of five seconds in the 1993 Proposed Rule to 30 seconds.

That is, only units with post purge time longer than 30 seconds shall

be tested by the prescribed post purge test procedure. Further, units

with post purge periods of less than or equal to 30 seconds shall be

tested without the post purge test procedure. The Department agrees

with the commenters that if the maximum free post purge time is limited

to the proposed five seconds, some existing furnace and boiler models

that employ post purge time between five and thirty seconds would have

to be retested. The Department acts today to limit the burden on the

manufacturers of retesting those models and the possibility of lower

AFUE ratings. The Department is prescribing, in today's final rule, the

modified free post purge period of 30 seconds as the criterion for

applying the revised test and calculation procedures for units that

employ post purge after burner shut off.

DOE believes, however, that with this exception, where the maximum

free post purge time is thirty seconds, additional energy is being lost

through the venting system by the combustion blower. The Department

will continue to examine this subject and may consider later

implementation of the original five second criterion, which is based on

the technical judgement of the ASHRAE Standard Project Committee (SPC)

that developed ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1993.

Secondly, on the issue of oil-fired furnaces and boilers that have

purge periods greater than three minutes, the Department acts to limit

the post purge time to 180 seconds during the rating test as suggested

by commenter Mr. John Woodworth. If the designed post purge time is

longer than 180 seconds, the blower control is to be bypassed and the

blower manually turned off during the cool-down test. This provision is

specified in ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1993, which is referenced in

today's final rule.

The comment by Energy Kinetics on the difference in the flue gas

flow rate between the on-cycle (power burner and inducer on) and off-

cycle (only inducer on during post purge) on oil-fired boilers, if the

draft inducer is an integral part of the boiler supplied by the

manufacturer, would require additional study. Therefore, this type of

boiler is not covered by today's final rule. The Department will

continue to solicit additional data on the on-cycle and off-cycle

operations of this type of boilers, and will issue a revision to the

test procedure at a future time.

14. Sealing of Ventilation Openings During Jacket Loss Test

The 1993 Proposed Rule would require conducting the jacket loss

test with the ventilation openings sealed. There were six comments on

this issue. GAMA provided data from tests recently conducted at the ETL

Testing Laboratories of the Inchcape Testing Services (ETL). This data

showed that for four furnace models tested for sealing the ventilation

openings in jacket loss test, the percentage point reductions in AFUE

were 1.0, 0.5, 0.7 and 0.1 for models currently rated at AFUE of 78.7

percent, 80.0 percent, 80.0 percent and 78.0 percent, respectively.

Thus, two models would be below the 78 percent minimum and two models

would be below the 80 percent rebate criteria if tested pursuant to the

proposed revision. (GAMA, No. 8, at 4 and A-1). Carrier Corp.,

Consolidated Industries, and Lennox Industries all supported GAMA's

position (Carrier, No. 12, at 1; Consolidated, No. 21, at 1; and

Lennox, Transcript, at 77). Inter-City Products made several assertions

on this issue. First, it stated that sealing ventilation openings could

potentially reduce AFUE by 0.3-0.5 percent. Second, it stated that an

attempt to determine which louver openings are for ventilation air

egress and which are for intake cooling air would be a time-consuming

and subjective test procedure. Third, the company claimed that a louver

acting as ventilation air intake in one operating mode may be an

exhaust louver in another. Fourth, it asserted that additional test

time in development, agency certification, and independent efficiency

audits (by ETL) would increase manufacturers' costs substantially.

Finally, according to Inter-City, the revised procedure would lower the

baseline efficiencies of equipment currently at 78 percent. (Inter-

City, No.7, at 2). The CEC suggested that air leakage during the jacket

loss test from any part of the furnace cabinet should represent the

performance of the product as installed in the field. Any joints,

holes, or other openings should remain as shipped by the manufacturer

and should not be taped or sealed for the test. (CEC, No. 25, at 2).

Today's final rule does not include the sealing of furnace cabinet

ventilation openings during the jacket loss test, and the sealing

requirement specified in section 8.6.1.1 of the referenced ANSI/ASHRAE

Standard 103-1993 has not been included in today's rule. Upon review,

the Department considers that sealing of the ventilation openings will

result in a more accurate measure of the combined effects of conduction

and radiation heat loss. This is the heat loss from the cabinet surface

to the test room surroundings and the convective cooling of the airflow

into and out of the spaces adjacent to the inside surfaces of the

jacket. The Department, however, has decided not to incorporate this

provision into today's final rule. This is because the Department sees

some merit in the objections offered by commenters with respect to test

time, retesting and re-rating all the currently rated furnace units and

the associated costs, reduction in currently marginal AFUE ratings, and

the difficulty in objectively determining the most effective openings

to seal. DOE will continue to examine this subject and may consider

implementation of the provision at a later date.

15. Insulation Requirement for Units With Draft Diverter

The 1993 Proposed Rule would require insulation for units with a

draft diverter, when testing furnaces with exposed diverters. There

were three comments on this issue. GAMA objected to its immediate

implementation. In addition, GAMA provided data from tests recently

conducted at ETL. This data showed that, for two furnace models with

integral draft diverters tested with insulation added to the draft

diverter, the percentage point reductions in AFUE were 0.3 and 0.4 for

the two models currently rated at AFUE of 78.0 percent. They would be

below the 78 percent minimum standard if tested in accordance with the

proposed revision. (GAMA, No. 8, at 4 and A-2). Carrier Corp. and

Consolidated Industries both supported GAMA's position. (Carrier, No.

12, at 1; Consolidated, No. 21, at 1).

[[Page 26147]]

As described in the 1993 Proposed Rule on this issue, the ETL

stated that it insulates the exposed diverters (in horizontal furnaces)

when testing furnaces with exposed diverters. (April 30, 1991, letter

from ETL to NIST). Therefore, the rated AFUE values for horizontal

furnaces with exposed integral draft diverters in GAMA's Efficiency

Certification Directory were tested with the proposed insulation in

place. This means that the existing furnaces have already been tested

according to the proposed provision and found to meet the minimum

efficiency standard. Thus, no retesting or re-rating is required.

The Department therefore is not accepting GAMA's request that this

provision be omitted from the final rule, and instead has adopted this

provision as specified in ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1993, which is

referenced in today's final rule.

16. Insulation Requirement for Flue Collector Box

In the 1993 Proposed Rule, DOE called for the insulation of the

flue collector box. Numerous comments were received on this issue.

Specifically, Inter-City Products requested that the implementation of

this provision be postponed to a later date. Inter-City Products cited

the reduced AFUE of existing marginal units, that would require DOE to

reduce the minimum standard, and the criterion of the 80 percent AFUE

by the utility rebate program in support of the request. (Inter-City,

No.7, at 1). Inter-City Products suggested that the flue collector box

on equipment with draft inducers is significantly smaller in area than

the sheet metal involved in an integral draft diverter, so losses are

consequently less. Inter-City Products estimated that this provision

would have an impact of lowering the efficiency by 0.3-0.4 percent in

AFUE. Inter-City Products also believed that the requirement of

insulating the collector box during the cool-down and heat-up tests,

but not during the jacket loss test, constitutes ``double dipping.''

This is because any loss in heat from the collector box would be

accounted for twice--first, as a reduced efficiency from a higher flue

gas temperature during the cool-down and heat-up tests (cyclic test)

due to the insulation requirement, and second, as a larger measured

jacket loss because the insulation is not applied during the steady-

state jacket loss test.

GAMA put this issue in its second category of proposed changes in

the 1993 Proposed Rule and objected to its immediate implementation. In

addition, GAMA provided data from tests recently conducted at ETL to

show that for eleven furnace models tested for insulation of the

exposed flue collector box, the percentage point reductions in AFUE

ranged from 0.5 to 2.8 for models currently rated at AFUE of 78.0

percent to 80.2 percent. Seven models will be below the 78 percent

minimum and five models will be below the 80 percent rebate criterion,

if tested in accordance with the proposed revision. (GAMA, No. 8, at 4

and A-2). Carrier Corp., Consolidated Industries, and Lennox Industries

all supported GAMA's position (Carrier, No. 12, at 1; Consolidated, No.

21, at 1; and Lennox, Transcript, at 77).

Energy Kinetics, Inc. commented that in addition to the cool-down

and heat-up tests, the flue collector box should be insulated for the

steady-state portion of the test also. It believed that without the

insulation, the measured steady state efficiency is higher due to a

lower measured flue gas temperature than that measured with the

insulation. (Energy Kinetics, No. 16, at 6).

The commenters are not correct in classifying the proposed

requirement of insulating the flue collector box on induced draft or

forced draft units as a revision of the furnace test procedure. This

requirement is already specified in the current test procedure, and has

been in the DOE test procedure since 1980. Compliance with this

requirement is demonstrated by a waiver request that was denied by DOE.

This request was from the Carrier Corporation in 1980 for an exemption

from the requirement of insulating the ``flue collector and inducer

housing'' on its induced draft gas furnace. 76 FR 22799, April 21,

1981. The current test procedure cited at section 3.0--Test procedure,

of appendix N to subpart B of part 430, 56 FR 12159, March 28, 1984

references section 9 of ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1982 as the pertinent

test procedure. In ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1982, the requirement of

section 9.1.1.6 specifies ``* * * cover the draft diverter and flue

gas collector box (on a power vented unit) with insulation having an R

value no less than 7. * * *'' Therefore, the provision is not a new

requirement and should require no retesting or re-rating of any

existing gas-fired, power vented units. The specification in the 1993

Proposed Rule was to: (1) Combine the requirement with the language in

section 9.1.4 of ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1988 that does not

specifically include the language for a power vented unit in the

insulation requirement, as was done in ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1982,

and (2) include any units that employ a power burner. The requirement

is now specifically included in sections 7.2.2.2, 7.3.2.2, and 9.1.4,

ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1993.

DOE has reviewed the comments by Inter-City Products on ``double

dipping,'' and by Energy Kinetics on the steady state efficiency being

overstated due to an un-insulated flue gas collector box. The jacket

loss and the steady state efficiency are measured without the

insulation on the flue gas collector box because these conditions exist

in practice. The reason for insulating the flue gas collector box

during the transient cool-down and heat-up tests is to obtain a

measured flue gas temperature as close as possible to its true value

when the flue gas first exits from the heat exchanger. This allows a

better calculation of the off-cycle flow through the heat exchanger. In

the original development of the flue loss methodology, an assumption

was made on the flue gas temperature variation during the transient

condition of cool-down and heat-up. This assumption was based on the

value of a flue gas temperature exiting the heat exchanger, not on a

lowered value measured some distance away. This transient gas

temperature variation has never been used in the calculation for jacket

loss and steady state efficiency.

DOE has adopted this provision as specified in ANSI/ASHRAE Standard

103-1993, which is referenced in today's final rule. This action is

taken for the reasons described above, and because this is not a new

requirement for gas-fired units and no comments were received opposing

the requirement for insulation of the flue gas collector box on oil-

fired units.

17. Insulation Requirement for Downflow Furnaces

DOE proposed an insulation provision that specifies that during the

cool-down and heat-up tests, the internal section of the vent pipe is

to be insulated to an R value of not less than 7 ft \2\-h- deg.F/Btu.

GAMA and Inter-City Products both expressed their opposition to the

insulation requirement. They claim that the insulation requirement will

reduce the AFUE value of currently rated units, requiring the possible

lowering of the minimum standard on marginal units and affecting the

utility rebate program. GAMA provided data from tests recently

conducted at ETL to show that for twelve furnace models tested with

insulation of the internal vent pipe on downflow furnaces, the

percentage point reductions in AFUE range from 0.2 to 1.1 for models

currently rated at AFUE of from 78 percent to 80.2 percent. Eight of

the models will be

[[Page 26148]]

below the 78 percent minimum, and three will be below the 80 percent

rebate criterion, if tested pursuant to the proposed revision. (GAMA,

No. 8, at 2,4 and A-1; and Inter-City, No. 7, at 4). Carrier Corp.,

Consolidated Industries, and Lennox Industries all supported GAMA's

position. (Carrier, No. 12, at 1; Consolidated, No. 21, at 1; and

Lennox, Transcript, at 77).

The purpose of the proposal to require insulation of the flue pipe

is to obtain as nearly as possible the true flue gas temperature

required in the calculation of the flue loss. The assumption made in

the calculation procedure is that the flue gas temperature is the

temperature at the exit plane from the heat exchanger. Since this is

sometimes impossible to measure in practice, provisions are made in the

test procedure to measure the flue gas temperature in a more convenient

and accessible location such as in the flue pipe or stack. Insulation

of the sections of the flue gas passage between the heat exchanger exit

plane and the flue gas temperature measuring plane in the stack is not

for the purpose of reducing the heat loss through the jacket but to

obtain a more accurate flue gas temperature.

Today's final rule does not include the insulation of the internal

flue pipe during the cool-down and heat-up tests. Also, the insulation

requirement specified in section 7.2.2.5 of the referenced ANSI/ASHRAE

Standard 103-1993 has not been included in today's final rule. This

action is justified by the fact that for the downflow furnace, there is

no existing specification in the current DOE test procedure that covers

the internal flue pipe. The Department considers the insulation of the

internal flue pipe during the heat-up and cool-down tests as a

desirable procedure in obtaining a more accurate measure of the flue

gas temperatures. Commenters objected to immediate implementation,

however, because of the test time, retesting and re-rating of all the

currently rated downflow furnace units with the associated costs, and

the reduction in AFUE. The Department decided that the objections

offered by commenters warrant a delay in the implementation of this

provision. DOE will continue to examine this subject and may consider

the implementation of the insulation requirement at a later date.

18. Revised Minimum Value for the Draft Factor DP and

DF

DOE proposed that a value of 0.05 for the draft factor

DP be assigned for any units whose DP value, when

measured by the optional tracer gas method, is less than 0.10. This

action was based on the following circumstances. The current test

procedure allows the minimum value for the draft factor DP

and DF to equal 0.0 on units where absolutely no air flows

through the combustion chamber and heat exchanger when the burner is

off (section 9.4.4 of ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1982 as referenced in

section 3.0 of appendix N to subpart B of part 430, 56 FR 12159, March

28, 1984). However, it is very difficult to verify an ``absolutely no

air-flow'' condition by current flow measurement technology.

Only two comments were received. GAMA objected to the immediate

implementation of these changes. (GAMA, No. 8, at 4). Carrier Corp. and

Consolidated Industries both supported GAMA's position. (Carrier, No.

12, at 1; and Consolidated, No. 21, at 1). Energy Kinetics, Inc.

commented that the values are too small to have any significant effect.

(Energy Kinetics, No. 16, at 6).

The Department does not agree with GAMA's position and has adopted

this provision as specified in ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1993, which is

referenced in today's final rule. This action is founded upon the

following observations. The measurement of very low flow rates of flue

gas is very difficult, and replicating the measurement would be a

problem at the low flow rate encountered. The Department considers the

value of 0.05 to be reasonable. The Department believes that only pulse

combustion furnaces meet the requirement of no air flow during the off-

cycle. The effect of this change will be that more units can use a

lower draft factor DF (with a very slight increase in AFUE),

but it will not result in a lower AFUE for the set of units that are

minimally compliant with this provision, and will negate the necessity

of repeatedly conducting the tracer gas test to confirm the accuracy of

a measured value varying below the 0.1 range.

19. Water Pump Energy Consumption

DOE proposed the measurement of the electrical energy consumption

of the water pump for hot water boilers in the 1993 Proposed Rule. GAMA

put this requirement in its second category (GAMA, No. 8, at 4).

Carrier Corp. and Consolidated both supported GAMA's position.

(Carrier, No. 12, at 1; and Consolidated, No. 21, at 1). Hydronics

Institute (HI) stated that not all boilers are supplied with pumps.

Instead of measuring the pump power, HI suggested adopting the

requirement in ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1993. This requirement

specifies the use of the nameplate wattage if the pump is supplied by

the manufacturers and a default value of 0.13 kW if no pump is

supplied. (HI, No. 15, at 3). Energy Kinetics stated that the value of

0.13 kW is too high and that the standard pumps shipped with

residential systems today consume no more than 60 watts (W). (Energy

Kinetics, No. 16, at 7). Mr. John Woodworth, independent commenter,

stated that the requirement would create a hardship and the results

would have an insignificant effect on the annual efficiency descriptor.

He stated that boilers are seldom tested with the ``standard pump'' in

the laboratory. Instead, test rigs in most laboratories include pumps

and mixing valves to test all sizes of boilers. When sold, a model

boiler may be equipped with as many as three different brands of pumps,

or shipped without a pump. Mr. Woodworth recommended that DOE adopt the

requirement of ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1993 instead of the proposed

measurement requirement. (J. Woodworth, No. 20, at 3).

The Department, in today's final rule, adopts the requirement of

ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1993 for pump power consumption. The

requirement states that if a pump is supplied with the boiler (as cited

by Energy Kinetics), then BE (electrical power to water pump) is the

nameplate wattage rating, and if no pump is supplied, then the current

default value of BE is 0.13 kW in calculation of annual electrical

energy consumption. By referencing the revised ANSI/ASHRAE Standard

103-1993, this is included in today's final rule. The Department does

not agree with GAMA's inclusion of this issue in its second category,

since pump power consumption is not involved with the calculation of

AFUE. DOE does agree that the 1993 Proposed Rule, by requiring an

additional measurement of pump power consumption, would impose a burden

that does not significantly improve the calculation of annual

electrical energy consumption. Hence, DOE adopts instead the ANSI/

ASHRAE provision.

20. Energy Factor and Annual Efficiency Descriptors

In the 1993 Proposed Rule, the Department proposed two energy

descriptors, the energy factor and annual efficiency, for both fossil-

fueled furnaces and boilers. The proposed energy factor includes the

auxiliary electrical energy consumption of the appliance, and is

identical to the energy factor term as defined in appendix B of ANSI/

ASHRAE Standard 103-1993, except that DOE proposed a different ``F-

factor.'' Appendix B defined ``energy

[[Page 26149]]

factor'' as the ratio of the annual output of heat energy provided to

the space to the total annual energy input required to operate the

appliance. The annual output of heat energy includes the contribution

from a portion of the auxiliary electrical energy that is recovered as

useful heat. The total annual energy input required includes both the

fossil fuel and the auxiliary electric energy. The F-factor, however,

equal to 3.0 in ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1993, was 3.37 in the DOE

proposal. The modified F-factor then approximated the ratio of the

energy required to generate and transmit the auxiliary electricity

consumed by the appliance to the amount of such electrical energy. The

F-factor was applied to the auxiliary electrical consumption to reflect

the efficiency in the use of all energy used to run the appliance.

The purpose of the Department's proposal to establish the new

efficiency descriptor and the energy factor was to account for the

auxiliary electric energy in the operation of fossil-fueled furnaces

and boilers. The proposed descriptors would combine the consumption of

fossil fuel and auxiliary electricity into a single value that would

reflect the overall energy cost of a fossil-fueled appliance. The

current energy descriptor, AFUE, deals only with the primary type of

energy consumed by an appliance. Therefore, it does not give the

consumer a complete account of the overall energy and cost performance

of the appliance. On the basis of AFUE alone, a consumer would not be

able to compare the overall cost of operation of two or more different

models of fossil-fueled furnaces or boilers of comparable output

capacity with blowers of different motor efficiencies or on/off

controller timings. The proposed energy descriptors were intended to

give the consumer the necessary information for a more informed

decision. Another purpose for the proposed energy descriptors was to

provide an evaluation procedure for different design options for

fossil-fueled furnaces and boilers that involves auxiliary electric

energy consumption. This information would be considered in the

determination of energy efficiency standard levels.

At the public hearing and during the public comment period

following the publication of the 1993 Proposed Rule, twenty-one

commenters offered views on this issue. The comments ranged from

support for an energy descriptor that included both the fossil fuel and

the auxiliary electric energy consumption, to complete disagreement

with that concept. Nearly all commenters however, expressed

reservations on the source-based multiplication factor (the F-factor to

be applied to the auxiliary electrical energy consumption of fossil-

fueled appliances). A summary of the commenters' reasons for objection

include: (1) The use of source energy in determining the energy

efficiency, through the proposed F-factor, is not permitted by EPCA and

NAECA, which specify that efficiency must be determined by energy

consumption at the point of use (site) of the covered products; (2) the

application of the F-factor to the auxiliary electrical energy consumed

by fossil-fueled appliances, but not to all-electric furnaces, is

biased against fossil-fueled appliances; (3) a national average source

to site energy ratio ignores the variation in the value of the F-factor

due to different methods of power generation; (4) the value of the

proposed energy descriptor would be lower than the AFUE, creating

confusion for AFUE based rebate/incentive programs by utility

companies; (5) combination furnace/air-conditioning systems with a

single heating capacity may require different size blowers depending on

cooling load requirements; and (6) fuel switching and marketplace

distortion could result. A detailed summary of comments on the F-factor

and the proposed energy descriptor is found in the Federal Register

notice. 60 FR 4348 ( January 20, 1995).

In 1995 the Department reopened the comment period on the 1993

Proposed Rule, solely to address this issue, and the Department

proposed a revision of its 1993 proposal. In place of the 1993 Proposed

Rule's definition of the F-factor as a source-to-site based energy

ratio, the Department proposed a cost-based electricity-to-fossil fuel

price ratio with a value of 3.36 at the point of use. The proposed

revision was published in the Federal Register on January 20, 1995. 60

FR 4348.

Seventy comments were received concerning this proposed revision to

the F-factor. Many comments were similar to those received in response

to the original 1993 proposal, and disregarded the change to an F-

factor based on cost of energy. Most commenters considered the proposal

as violating the intent and language of EPCA and NAECA, asserting that

these statutes define energy efficiency with reference to energy

consumption at the point of use (site energy). Because comments were

similar or identical to those submitted following the 1993 proposal, a

commenter-by-commenter description of the comments is not presented

here. Virtually all of the commenters urged DOE to either withdraw or

modify the F-factor proposal.

One of the principal issues raised by the commenters is the

authority of DOE to establish an energy efficiency standard for

furnaces on the basis of either energy cost or source energy, as

opposed to site energy consumption in units of energy. Upon further

examination, it is the view of the Department of Energy that EPCA

requires the energy efficiency of a furnace to be based on consumption

of energy at the site of the furnace, and that the statute does not

permit the promulgation of an energy efficiency standard that is

expressed in terms of annual operating costs of the furnace.

EPCA defines the energy conservation standard of a covered

appliance as ``a performance standard which prescribes a minimum level

of energy efficiency or a maximum quantity of energy use.'' EPCA

section 321(6), 42 U.S.C. 6291(6). EPCA defines ``energy efficiency''

as the ratio of a product's useful output of services to its ``energy

use.'' EPCA section 321(5), 42 U.S.C. 6291(5). Thus, ``energy use'' is

a basis for any standard for furnaces and boilers. ``Energy use'' in

turn is defined in section 321(4), 42 U.S.C. 6291(4), as ``the quantity

of energy directly consumed by a consumer product at point of use.''

Therefore, furnace energy conservation standards must be based on

consumption of energy at the site of the appliance. The Department

believes that this conclusion is further supported by terminology used

in section 325(f) of EPCA, 42 U.S.C. 6295(f), which concerns standards

for furnaces. Section 325(f)(1)(B), for example, requires the

promulgation of an ``energy conservation standard'' for small furnaces,

and, as just discussed, such a standard must be based on energy

consumption at the site of the application.

Based on the above analysis, the Department is withdrawing the

proposed energy descriptor and energy factor in today's final rule. The

current procedures of determining AFUE from the energy efficiency

descriptor, and of calculating of the annual energy consumption of

fossil fuel and electrical energy for furnaces/boilers, therefore will

remain unchanged. In the meantime, the Department will continue to

explore and to solicit input from interested parties on various options

for the development of a descriptor that would take into account

separately both a new energy factor for fossil fueled furnaces and the

auxiliary electrical energy consumption of an appliance.

[[Page 26150]]

21. Measurement of Electric Energy Consumption for Interrupted Ignition

Device

The 1993 Proposed Rule required measurement of the energy

consumption by the interrupted ignition device. Both GAMA and Inter-

City Products argued that the electrical energy consumption of the

interrupted ignition device constitutes an extremely small amount of

all electrical consumption of a furnace. To include the measurement of

the energy consumption of the device is burdensome in time and effort.

Carrier Corp. and Consolidated Industries both supported GAMA's

position. (Inter-City, No. 7, at 3; GAMA, No. 8, at 18; Carrier, No.

12, at 1; and Consolidated, No. 21, at 1). HI and independent commenter

Mr. John Woodworth both stated that the energy consumption of these

ignition devices is small and will not affect the energy descriptors.

Additionally, according to HI and Mr. Woodworth, a separate test would

be required since the ignition devices are off during the steady state

test, and they are difficult to measure because the time duration and

power draw are not constant during ignition. Therefore, HI recommended

the deletion of the device in the proposed measurement requirement and

the calculation procedures. (HI, No. 15, at 3; and J. Woodworth, No.

20, at 4).

To assess the merits of these comments, and to determine the amount

of energy consumption of an interrupted ignition device, NIST measured

the power input, on-time duration and energy consumption of an electric

hot surface ignition device on a 90,000 Btu/h input gas-fired furnace.

It was found that the power input varied from 515 W to 470 W during the

40 seconds the device was on. Except for the first few seconds, the

power draw was approximately 470 W. This translated into an energy

consumption of approximately 18 Btu per burner on-cycle, or 63 Btu/h

for the assumed average 3.5 burner on-cycles per hour (3.87 minutes on

and 13.3 minutes off) for a single stage furnace. While this compares

favorably with the average 400 Btu/h energy consumption of a pilot

light, DOE does not agree that the energy consumption of the

interrupted ignition device should be completely ignored. DOE agrees,

however, that the energy consumption is small enough to justify the

deletion of the measurement requirement in the proposed test procedure.

Therefore, DOE is specifying in today's final rule that the on-time of

an interrupted ignition device, as specified in a furnace's nameplate,

should be used as the actual on-time. Further, the nameplate power

input rating, or 0.4 kW if none is specified on the nameplate, should

be used as the average power draw in the electrical energy calculation.

The device on-time will be measured with a stop watch if not specified

on the nameplate. The device on-time will be set to equal zero if the

nameplate or measured value is less than or equal to five seconds.

22. Measurement of Energy Consumption of Combustion Blower During Post

Purge

The test procedure of the proposed rule and ASHRAE 103-93 requires

the measurement of the energy consumption of combustion blowers during

a post purge. Commenters GAMA and Inter-City Products both argued that

the electrical energy consumption of the combustion blower during post

purge constitutes an extremely small amount of all electrical

consumption of a furnace, and that to include the measurement of the

energy consumption of the combustion blower is overly burdensome in

time and effort. Carrier Corp. and Consolidated Industries both

supported GAMA's position. (Inter-City, No. 7, at 3; GAMA, No. 8, at

18; Carrier, No. 12, at 1; and Consolidated, No. 21, at 1). Energy

Kinetics, while not commenting on the power consumption of the draft

inducer during post purge, pointed out that the power burner is off for

some oil-fired units during post purge and thus, only the draft inducer

is on. As a result, the auxiliary electrical energy consumption

measured during steady state may not be equal to the electrical energy

consumption during the post purge period. (Energy Kinetics, No. 16, at

6).

The 1989 ASHRAE Handbook of Fundamentals states that the power

consumption of motors with rated horsepowers of \1/20\ hp and \1/12\

hp, which would be typical for combustion blowers, are approximately

360 Btu/h and 580 Btu/h, respectively. For a post purge period of 30

seconds, the energy consumptions would be 3-5 Btu per off-cycle for the

two sizes of motors, and for a post purge period of 180 seconds, the

motor energy consumptions would be 18-29 Btu per off-cycle. For an

average 3.5 on-cycles per hour of furnace operation, the energy

consumption would be 10 Btu/h to 17 Btu/h for the 30-second post purge

and 60 Btu/h to 100 Btu/h for the 180-second post purge. For boilers

with an average of 1.3 on-cycles per hour, the values would be

approximately \1/3\ the above.

DOE does not agree that the energy consumption should be completely

ignored. Therefore, DOE is specifying in today's final rule that the

nameplate power rating of the combustion blower be used as the power

consumption in the calculation for the electrical energy consumption.

DOE agrees that the energy consumption is small enough to justify the

deletion of the electric power measurement requirement for the

combustion blower. But measurement of the full length of the post purge

period, easily determined with a stop watch, is still required as set

forth in the proposed rule.

23. ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1993

The 1993 Proposed Rule referenced ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1988 and

added additional amendments to cover the changes, revisions and

advances in technology between the years when the Standard was

published (1988) and the Proposed Rule was published (1993). Those

additional amendments included a revised calculation procedure for

units with stack dampers; revised test procedures for atmospheric

burner units with a burner inlet damper or flue damper; revised test

procedures for power burner units employing post purge during the off-

cycle; insulation requirements during heat-up and cool-down tests for

downflow furnaces; a jacket loss test for units with ventilation

openings on their cabinets; and other technical corrections.

Subsequent to the publication of the 1993 Proposed Rule, ASHRAE

published in October 1993 ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1993 which

supersedes ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1988. The revised ANSI/ASHRAE

Standard 103-1993 incorporated most of the revisions and additions to

ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1988 that were included in the 1993 Proposed

Rule, with the following exceptions: (1) The requirement of a minimum

on-time delay for the blower at burner ignition and a maximum off-time

delay after burner shut-off for units with an unvarying blower timing

control; (2) the actual measurement of power input to hot water boiler

pumps; (3) the measurement of ignition energy input to interrupted

ignition devices; and (4) the measurement of combustion blower time

delay during post purge after burner shut-off in power vented units.

With the above exceptions, the revised ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1993

and the 1993 Proposed Rule are nearly identical in content.

Commenters including GAMA stated that ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1993

should be incorporated in the Department's test procedure rather than

ANSI/ASHRAE 103-1988 as proposed in the 1993 Proposed Rule. (GAMA,

Transcript, at 8). HI stated that since

[[Page 26151]]

ANSI/ASHRAE 103-1988 is no longer the current standard and will no

longer be published by ASHRAE, it would be difficult for manufacturers

to obtain additional copies for reference; therefore, the 1993 version

should be referenced. (HI, Transcript, at 74). Mr. John Woodworth, who

was Chairman of the SPC that developed ANSI/ASHRAE 103-1993, Secretary

of the SPC for ANSI/ASHRAE 103-1988 and Vice-Chairman of the SPC for

ANSI/ASHRAE 103-1982, suggested that DOE should reference the ANSI/

ASHRAE 103-1993 rather than ANSI/ASHRAE 103-1988. He asserts that, with

few exceptions, the requirements in ANSI/ASHRAE 103-1993 are the same

as the requirements in the 1993 Proposed Rule. In addition, ANSI/ASHRAE

103-1988 will no longer be available from ASHRAE. (John Woodworth, No.

20, at 2). The CEC stated that it supports the use of ANSI/ASHRAE

Standard 103-1993 with DOE-specified changes. (CEC, No. 25, at 3). It

was suggested by Lennox (Lennox Transcript, at 78) that the test

procedure be published in its entirety.

The Department agrees with the commenters on this issue and is

referencing the ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1993 instead of the 1988

version in today's final rule. DOE decided not to publish the above

standard in its entirety, since it is the practice of the Department to

incorporate by reference any industry consensus standards, and the test

procedures adopted in today's final rule are nearly identical to ANSI/

ASHRAE Standard 103-1993.

24. Other Minor Modifications to ANSI/ASHRAE Standards 103-1988 and

103-1993

In the 1993 Proposed Rule, DOE also proposed to adopt corrections

and clarifications of several typographical errors and inconsistencies

identified by ASHRAE SPC 103 following publication of ASHRAE Standard

103-1988.

No commenter expressed objection to those specific revisions with

the exception of Mr. Woodworth on revision to section 9.7.3 of the

Standard. Therein, Mr. Woodworth stated that, since TF,OFF

is not needed in the calculation of off-period flue gas mass flow rate

if the draft is maintained during cool-down, the TF,OFF

reading is not necessary. The draft is maintained during cool-down for

units with barometric draft regulators. Therefore, the phrase ``if

draft is not maintained during cool-down'' should not be deleted. (J.

Woodworth, No. 20, at 4). DOE agrees with Mr. Woodworth's comment, and

the proposed revision is dropped from today's final rule.

DOE, by referencing ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1993 today, has

included all the other minor revisions and corrections to ANSI/ASHRAE

Standard 103-1988 in today's final rule. With the exception of the item

commented on by Mr. Woodworth above, the revised ANSI/ASHRAE Standard

103-1993 incorporated all the other minor revisions and corrections to

ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1988 described in the 1993 Proposed Rule.

After the publication of ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1993, a few

typographical errors were identified. On October 24, 1996, ASHRAE

issued an Errata Sheet for ASHRAE Standard 103-1993, that listed the

typographical errors to be corrected in ANSI/ASHRAE 103-1993. This

ASHRAE Errata is incorporated by reference in today's final rule.

25. Other Issues

The following is a discussion of comments DOE received on issues

not raised by the proposed test procedure for furnaces and boilers. As

discussed below, however, in the 1993 Proposed Rule DOE had requested

comments on certain of these issues.

(1) Distribution System Efficiency.--First, commenters including

Dr. M. A. Habegger of Boulder, Colorado, remarked that in the field

installation, the air flow rate through the distribution system has a

large effect on the overall system efficiency. Further, the value of

AFUE obtained through the current test procedure is usually much higher

than the overall system efficiency. (M. A. Habegger, No. 22 at 1). The

Department agrees that a reduced air flow rate will reduce the overall

efficiency of the heating system due to a higher flue gas temperature

and duct air leakage.

Dr. Habegger further comments that the circulation air flow rate is

not considered in the current test procedure and that testing the

efficiency of equipment without considering the overall installed

system effect is meaningless. The Department disagrees. The rate of

circulation air flow is addressed in the test procedure by the limits

set on both the minimum external static pressure and the air

temperature rise between the supply and return air. This assures that

the circulation air blower will deliver the appropriate amount of air

flow at the required design conditions.

As the Department specifically pointed out in the preamble to the

1984 Final Rule for furnaces, boilers, and vented and unvented home

heaters, the test procedures cannot predict the energy performance of a

furnace in every installation. 49 FR 12153 (March 28, 1984). Rather,

their use is for comparison purposes and thus installation variables

are only representatively accounted for. That preamble continues to

state the Department's position on this issue.

(2) Input/Output Method.--Two commenters, Energy Kinetics and the

CEC, responded to the Department's request to comment on the

appropriateness of a test procedure for furnaces and boilers based on

an input/output method. Both suggested the development or adoption of

the input/output method as a more accurate method for rating furnaces

and boilers in place of the present flue loss method. (Energy Kinetics,

No. 16, at 7; and CEC, No. 25, at 3). GAMA, in response to questions

during the public hearing, stated that ETL researchers working on an

input/output method for GAMA experienced a great deal of difficulty in

repeating the test results and in correlating the resulting efficiency

rating with the current method. GAMA felt that more time is needed for

work in the input/output method. (GAMA, Transcript, at 35).

An analysis by Dr. D. R. Tree of Purdue University with data

supplied by NIST on the errors associated with the input/output method

showed that for warm air furnaces, the uncertainties in duct air flow

measurement and non-uniform temperature distribution in the duct,

during steady state and cyclic conditions, would result in an error

estimate of 12 percent for the AFUE value. This made the

input/output method unacceptable as a test procedure for warm air

furnaces.4 The problem of flow and temperature measurements

for hot water boilers would not be as severe. A detailed method,

however, on the transient performance of hot water boilers, both during

the on-cycle (energy delivered) and the off-cycle (heat loss) needs to

be developed and a consensus on the procedure agreed upon. The problems

of testing according to two different test procedures, one for warm air

furnaces and one for hydronic heating systems, also require further

discussion. The Department is, therefore, reserving action on the

possible adoption of an input/output method for hydronic heating

systems to a future rulemaking.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

\4\ David R. Tree, ``Error Analysis of Testing for Annual Fuel

Utilization Efficiency of Residential Central Furnace Boilers,

Report Number 4, Executive Summary,'' Ray W. Herrick Laboratories,

Purdue University.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

(3) Test Procedure for Combined Space/Water Heating Appliances.--

Only Energy Kinetics raised this issue, and questioned the

appropriateness of the current ASHRAE Standard 124-

[[Page 26152]]

1991 that covers the testing and rating of combination appliances.

(Energy Kinetics, No. 16, at 8).

The Department is preparing to propose a test procedure for

combined space/water heating appliances in the future. DOE welcomes any

comments and input from industry and interested individuals and

organizations.

(4) Off-Cycle Draft Setting.--Only Energy Kinetics commented that

the operation and off-cycle draft conditions at the flue connection to

a unit affect the ratings of the unit, and suggested that the draft

value should not be left to be at the manufacturer's recommendation.

Energy Kinetics suggested a standard draft level of 0.05'' water column

to be maintained at both the on-cycle and off-cycle periods during the

test. (Energy Kinetics, No. 16, at 5).

DOE believes that this specification is not necessary as the draft

produced during the operation of the unit cannot be arbitrarily set by

the manufacturer if proper operation, such as smoke number,

CO2 concentration, and flame stability, of the unit is to be

maintained. DOE reasons that if the manufacturers do not require or

recommend the maintenance of a specific draft level during the off-

cycle for the normal operation of their unit, it should not be required

during the off-period test.

(5) Supply and Return Water Temperature Settings for Hot Water

Boilers.--Energy Kinetics stated that the hot water boiler temperature

settings of 120 deg.F return water temperature and 140 deg.F supply

water temperature during the tests, as prescribed in the current test

procedure, are too low. They are not the normal temperatures of

160 deg.F and 180 deg.F encountered in a home installation. (Energy

Kinetics, No. 16, at 4).

The Department prescribed the test conditions for hot water boilers

(boiler return water of at least 120 deg.F and a 20 deg.F temperature

rise) during the 1983 proposed rulemaking (48 FR 28014, June 17, 1983)

before the publication of the final rule for the current furnace test

procedure (49 FR 12148, March 24, 1984). In so doing, the Department

stated its belief that all non-condensing hot water boilers, including

finned tube boilers and low thermal mass boilers, generally operated at

these conditions, and the specifications would eliminate the need for

future test procedure waivers for specific types of hot water boilers

from a uniform test condition. At that time the boiler industry had

also indicated its desire to have these test conditions included. The

Department sees no fundamental change in the application of hot water

boilers to warrant revision to the current test procedure. In addition,

changing the test conditions to those suggested by Energy Kinetics

would result in a reduction of the AFUE for existing hot water boilers

as the flue loss would be slightly higher due to a higher flue gas

temperature. This would require the retesting and re-rating of most

existing hot water boilers.

For the reasons discussed above, today's final rule does not

include any changes to the test conditions with respect to the boiler

water return temperature and temperature rise for hot water boilers as

specified in the current test procedure.

(6) Energy Lost at Appliance Location (Boilers in Unheated

Space).--Energy Kinetics disagreed with the requirement that boilers be

tested as indoor installation. It claimed that most boilers are

installed in un-conditioned space. (Energy Kinetics, No. 16, at 4).

Since the minimum standard for boilers is based on a statutory

definition of AFUE which explicitly assumes that non-weatherized

boilers are located indoors, DOE will not consider any change in the

installation location for boilers at the present time.

(7) Setting Throughput Air Temperature Rise for Furnaces.--In the

current DOE test procedure and ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1988, the

adjustment to the air throughput for warm air furnaces at steady state

operation is specified under the following conditions: a temperature

rise, across the heat exchanger, shall be the higher of (1) 15 deg.F

below the maximum temperature rise, or (2) 15 deg.F above the minimum

temperature rise, as specified by the manufacturer.

In the 1993 Proposed Rule and in the 1993 revision of ANSI/ASHRAE

Standard 103 (as 103-1993), a provision was added to the test setting

of the air temperature rise. The provision requires that, for furnaces

whose design does not permit a temperature rise range of 30 deg.F, the

furnace shall be tested at the midpoint of the rise range specified by

the manufacturer if the rise is less than 30 deg.F. Commenters GAMA and

Inter-City mentioned this provision for condensing furnaces whose

temperature rise range may be less than 30 deg.F, and listed this

provision in GAMA's first category of revisions for immediate

implementation. (GAMA, No. 8 at 3; Inter-City, No. 7 at 4).

DOE has adopted this provision as specified in ANSI/ASHRAE Standard

103-1993 referenced in today's final rule.

B. Vented Home Heating Equipment

The Department originally published the test procedure for vented

home heating equipment on May 2, 1978. 43 FR 20182. The Department

amended this test procedure on March 28, 1984, to include a simplified

vented heater test procedure for heaters with modulating controls,

manually controlled vented heaters, vented heaters equipped with

thermal stack dampers, and floor furnaces. 49 FR 12169.

In the 1993 Proposed Rule, DOE proposed the following amendments to

the vented home heating equipment test procedure: (1) To establish an

annual efficiency descriptor to account for the auxiliary electrical

energy consumed by the fan or blowers in addition to the fossil fuel

consumed; (2) to revise the calculation procedure for AFUE for manually

controlled heaters; and (3) to revise the calculation procedure for

weighted average steady-state efficiency for manually controlled

heaters with various input rates.

The following discussion addresses the comments received on the

proposed rule.

1. Annual Efficiency Descriptor

The Department proposed in the 1993 Proposed Rule to adopt the

energy factor as defined in appendix B of ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1993

as the new energy descriptor for vented home heating equipment, and

renamed it the annual efficiency descriptor.

The Department's current test procedure for vented home heating

equipment prescribes the calculation of AFUE based on the energy

consumption of fossil fuel only. Since auxiliary electrical energy can

be consumed by these appliances such as for the operation of a blower,

DOE considered that a more appropriate energy descriptor was needed to

account for both fossil fuel and auxiliary electrical energy

consumption of the appliances. This energy descriptor would also be

used to address the electrical energy used by some of the design

options considered for energy standard level evaluation.

Seventeen commenters, directly or in support of another commenter,

have commented on this issue. The comments from each individual or

organization were discussed in the Federal Register notice of January

20, 1995. 60 FR 4348. This was described previously in the section for

the proposed energy factor and annual efficiency descriptors for

central furnaces and boilers. (See II.A. 20 above, ``Annual Efficiency

Descriptor and Energy Factor.'')

As concluded in the discussion above, DOE has decided to withdraw

the proposed energy descriptor from today's final rule. Since the

commenters

[[Page 26153]]

combined their comments on this proposed energy descriptor with those

for the central furnaces/boilers, readers are referred to that section

for a discussion of this issue. Therefore, the current procedures of

determining AFUE as the energy efficiency descriptor will remain

unchanged. However, the proposed procedure for the calculation of the

annual energy consumption of fossil fuel and electrical energy for the

vented home heating equipment is included in today's final rule. This

added procedure does not involve any additional testing beyond that

required by the current test procedure. The added calculation procedure

is intended to allow for the adequate and fair cost ranking of the

different design options that may be considered in future evaluations

of possible revisions of energy standard levels.

2. Pilot Light Energy Consumption for Manually Controlled Heaters

In the 1993 Proposed Rule, for manually controlled heaters, under

certain conditions, the measurement of pilot light energy is not

needed. Two comments on this issue were received. GAMA supported the

provision of not requiring the measurement of the pilot energy

consumption for manually controlled heaters equipped with a piezo

igniter. (GAMA, No. 8, at 20). The CEC stated that the language in the

provision should be more explicit in defining what is meant by the

phrase ``when the heater is not in use and instruction to do so is

given,'' in section 3.5.2 of appendix O to subpart B of part 430. The

CEC further stated that the manufacturer should only be allowed to

ignore the pilot energy use if the pilot extinguishes whenever the

burner is off. (CEC, No. 25, at 3).

The Department agrees with the suggestion of the CEC to clarify

when the proposed provision is applicable. This provision applies to a

heater that provides manually controlled settings for the control knob

in the operation of the appliance, and a clearly marked knob setting

such as the ``OFF'' knob setting shuts off the appliance completely

including the pilot light. DOE is today revising the section in

question to read as follows:

``3.5.2 For manually controlled heaters where the pilot light is

designed to be turned off by the user when the heater is not in use,

that is, turning the control to the OFF position will shut off the gas

supply to the burner(s) and to the pilot light, the measurement of

QP is not needed. This provision applies only if an

instruction to turn off the unit is provided on the heater near the gas

control valve (e.g., by label) by the manufacturer.''

3. Weighted Average Steady-State Efficiency

In the 1993 Proposed Rule, DOE proposed that for manually

controlled vented home heaters with multiple input rates whose design

is such that the specified minimum firing rate cannot be set at

505 percent of the unit's maximum firing rate, the test

will be conducted at the unit's minimum fuel input rate, provided that

the minimum input shall be no higher than \2/3\ of the maximum fuel

input rate of the heater.

GAMA supported this provision. (GAMA, No. 8, at 20). DOE is

adopting the provision in today's final rule.

C. Pool Heaters

The Department published the pool heater test procedure on February

7, 1989, referencing ANSI Standard Z21.56-1986 for gas-fired pool

heaters. 54 FR 6076. In the 1993 Proposed Rule, DOE proposed to amend

the pool heater test procedure, first, to include an annual efficiency

descriptor that accounts for the fossil fuel and the auxiliary

electrical energy consumed by any fan or pump and, second, to replace

the reference to ANSI Standard Z21.56-1986 with references to the then

updated version of ANSI Standard Z21.56.

Standard Z21.56 was updated again in 1994. But no substantive

changes were made in the portions of that Standard which DOE had

proposed, in the 1993 Proposed Rule, to incorporate into its pool

heater test procedure. DOE is therefore referencing ANSI Standard

Z21.56-1994 in the pool heater test procedure it adopts today.

All of the comments received on the proposed amendment to this test

procedure concerned the proposed annual efficiency descriptor. The

following discussion addresses those comments.

1. Annual Efficiency Descriptor

The Department proposed in the 1993 Proposed Rule a new energy

descriptor, the Annual Efficiency (AE), for pool heaters. The proposed

AE descriptor, was defined as the ratio of the annual output of energy

delivered to the heated pool water by fossil fuel to the total annual

energy input to the heater including auxiliary electrical energy. The

latter term, auxiliary electrical energy, was multiplied by a factor F

which represents the ratio of the heat energy required to generate and

transmit the electricity to the electrical energy delivered at the pool

heater. This was for the purpose of reflecting the efficiency of total

energy used to run the appliance.

The Department's current test procedure for pool heaters prescribes

the calculation of the thermal efficiency under steady state condition

only. The thermal efficiency is defined as the ratio of the useful

output of heated water to the sum of the input of fossil fuel energy

and auxiliary electric energy during the steady state test period. DOE

considered that a more appropriate energy descriptor was needed in

order to account for the energy consumption during the burner-off

periods of a pool heating season. DOE based this view on the fact that

a significant quantity of energy can be consumed by a continuous pilot

light and the auxiliary electrical energy consumption during the

burner-off periods of the pool heating season. The proposed energy

descriptor could also be used to address the energy savings by some of

the design options that might be considered in future evaluation of

possible revisions of energy standard levels. For example, to consider

electronic ignition, the evaluation would have to account for the

savings in gas consumption resulting from elimination of a continuous

burning pilot.

Seventeen commenters, directly or in support of another commenter,

have commented on this issue. The comments from each individual or

organization concerning the proposed multiplication factor F applied to

the auxiliary electric energy consumption are discussed in the Federal

Register notice of January 20, 1995 (60 FR 4348). This was described

previously in subsection 20 of section II.A of this notice, which

discusses the proposed energy factor and annual efficiency descriptors

for central furnaces and boilers. Readers are referred to that section

for the discussion of the F-factor issue.

GAMA also commented on the proposed annual efficiency descriptor

concerning pool heaters. GAMA stated that the use of a recirculating

pump should be factored into the AE descriptor only if the pump is used

during the thermal efficiency test under section 2.8.1 of ANSI Z21.56-

1990 standard. Further, GAMA claims, the pump or the pump/filter system

used in any given installation in the field that is not supplied by the

manufacturer should not be considered as part of the heater's auxiliary

components. GAMA commented that DOE should focus on addressing a pool

heater's primary electrical energy consumption rather than auxiliary

losses.

[[Page 26154]]

The Department believes that the above concerns expressed by GAMA

are unfounded. As shown in section 4 of appendix P of the 1993 Proposed

Rule, the determination of the auxiliary electrical energy consumption

of the pool heater is as specified in ANSI Z21.56-1990 standard, and

was not modified in the 1993 Proposed Rule. As proposed in section 4.4

of appendix P, the calculation of the annual auxiliary electrical

energy consumption is based on heater on-time only.

GAMA first stated that, since DOE defined the average number of

burner operating hours as 104 hours independent of pool and heater

size, then ``100,000 Btu/hr and 400,000 Btu/hr pool heaters can have

the same AE value, and would give the impression that a 400,000 Btu/hr

pool heater is an effective choice for heating a 500 gallon hot tub.''

GAMA then stated that during pool ``off-season'' hours, the continuous

pilot is usually shut off.

DOE disagrees with the first statement. If the output capacity of

the pool heater is properly selected by the contractor or installer

based on the size or load requirement of a particular pool, then the

burner operating time would be neither excessively long nor unduly

short. Moreover, although the selection of a particular pool heater

among models of similar capacity for a specific pool size may be based

on its energy efficiency, the selection of a correct capacity heater is

based on the pool size or load requirement. As to GAMA's statement

about the pilot light being off during the ``off season,'' the 1993

proposal already assumed that the continuous pilot light, if used, will

be off during non-heating season hours. (See section 4.2 of appendix P

to subpart B of part 430, on the definition of the average number of

seasonal pool operating hours (POH).)

In its statement, GAMA also suggested that, instead of the AE

descriptor, DOE should develop a methodology to calculate total annual

energy consumption, based on thermal efficiency, electrical energy

consumption, and continuous pilot light consumption. Thus, consumers

could use this information to estimate annual energy consumption and

operating costs for a specific pool size and season of operation.

DOE agrees with this suggestion. The calculation procedure in

today's final rule includes the calculation of the average annual

fossil fuel and auxiliary electric energy consumption.

The Department has decided to withdraw the proposed energy

descriptor with the proposed F-factor multiplier from today's final

rule, for the reasons discussed in subsection 20 of section II.A of

this notice. The current procedure for determining the energy

efficiency descriptor for pool heaters, the steady state thermal

efficiency, shall remain unchanged. A procedure, however, for the

calculation of the pool heater seasonal efficiency and the annual

energy consumption of fossil fuel and auxiliary electricity for the

pool heater is included in today's final rule. The pool heater seasonal

efficiency is defined as the ratio (in percent) of the useful output of

the heater in terms of heated pool water during the pool heating season

to the sum of the total energy input when the burner is on and the

energy consumption of the pilot light when the burner is off during the

pool heating season. The total burner-on hours and the length of the

pool heating season are assumed to be 104 hours and 4464 hours per

year, respectively. The heater is assumed to be in steady state

operation whenever the burner is on. The pilot light is assumed to be

off during the non-heating season hours (4296 hours) and on during the

pool heating season hours (4464 hours). The auxiliary electrical energy

consumption is assumed to be negligible when the burner is off. For

heaters which do not employ a continuous pilot light during the pool

heating season, the seasonal efficiency will be the same as the steady

state thermal efficiency. This procedure will account for the energy

consumption of those pool heaters that employ a continuous pilot light

during the pool heating season. As stated previously, the procedure

also provides a calculation procedure for the average annual fossil

fuel and auxiliary electric energy consumption. These calculations are

simply arithmetic exercises with no additional testing required. Since

these calculations could be used to address the energy savings by some

design options that might be considered in future evaluations of energy

standard levels, DOE believes it is justified to include these

additional calculations.

III. Procedural Requirements

A. Review Under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969

The Department has concluded that this final rule falls into a

class of actions (categorical exclusion A5) that are categorically

excluded from the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA)

review because they would not individually or cumulatively have a

significant impact on the human environment, as determined by DOE's

regulations (10 CFR part 1021, appendix A to subpart D) implementing

the NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4321, 4331-35, 4341-47). Therefore this final rule

does not require an environmental impact statement or an environmental

assessment pursuant to NEPA.

B. Review Under Executive Order 12866, ``Regulatory Planning and

Review''

Today's regulatory action has been determined not to be a

``significant regulatory action'' under Executive Order 12866,

``Regulatory Planning and Review,'' 58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993.

Accordingly, today's action was not subject to review under the

Executive Order by the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.

C. Review Under the Regulatory Flexibility Act

The Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 603, requires the

preparation of an initial regulatory flexibility analysis for every

rule which by law must be proposed for public comment, unless the

agency certifies that the rule, if promulgated, will not have a

significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.

A regulatory flexibility analysis examines the impact of the rule on

small entities and considers alternate ways of reducing negative

impacts.

The Department believes the final rule will not have a significant

impact on either small or large manufacturers of furnaces and boilers,

vented home heating equipment, and pool heaters under the provisions of

the Regulatory Flexibility Act. The final rule amends DOE's test

procedures, primarily to incorporate (1) test procedures already in use

by manufacturers pursuant to waivers that DOE previously granted to

those manufacturers, and (2) revisions to standard industry testing

methods, contained in American Society of Heating, Air-Conditioning and

Refrigerating Engineers (ASHRAE) Standard 103-1993, ``Methods of

Testing for Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency of Residential Central

Furnaces and Boilers,'' and American National Standards Institute

Standard Z21.56-1994, ``Gas-Fired Pool Heaters.'' Examples of

amendments are:

The 90-second delay from burner ignition to activation of

the warm air circulation fan designed with an unvarying time delay in a

central furnace has been shortened to accommodate current manufacturers

designs.

There is no requirement to calculate the energy

consumption of a gas pilot light on manually controlled vented home

heaters provided that there is instruction for the user to turn the

pilot light off and restart it.

[[Page 26155]]

The test procedure for modulated, vented home heating

equipment allows testing at 100 percent and sixty six percent rated

input power, instead of 100 percent and fifty percent power, to

accommodate new designs.

Such requirements presented in the final rule incorporate

improvements in the current testing technology for furnaces and

boilers, vented home heating equipment, and pool heaters utilized by

industry. But they would not have a significant economic impact, since

they are methods already in use by manufacturers, and will not cause

manufacturers to purchase equipment, consume testing time, nor employ

technical staff beyond what is required by existing DOE test

procedures.

In addition, in some respects the test procedures in the final rule

are less burdensome than the current procedures. For example:

The formula to calculate the time delay and energy loss of

a stack damper traversing from fully open to fully closed has been

adjusted for greater accuracy. The revised formula has been

incorporated into the existing computer program for the calculation of

the AFUE and will require no additional hand calculations.

Therefore, DOE certifies that the final rule, if promulgated, would

not have a ``significant economic impact on a substantial number of

small entities'' and that the preparation of a regulatory flexibility

analysis is not warranted.

D. Review Under Executive Order 12612, ``Federalism'

Executive Order 12612 (52 FR 41685, October 30, 1987) requires that

regulations or rules be reviewed for any substantial direct effects on

States, on the relationship between the Federal Government and the

States, or on the distribution of power and responsibilities among

various levels of government. If there are sufficient substantial

direct effects, then Executive Order 12612 requires preparation of a

Federalism assessment to be used in all decisions involved in

promulgating and implementing a regulation or a rule.

The final rule published today would not alter the distribution of

authority and responsibility to regulate in this area. The final rule

would only revise a currently applicable DOE test procedure to improve

existing testing methods, and to add provisions that DOE might use in

future standard setting. Accordingly, DOE has determined that

preparation of a federation assessment is unnecessary.

E. Review Under Section 32 of the Federal Energy Administration Act of

1974

The test procedures in this final rule incorporate commercial

standards to measure the efficiency and capacity of furnaces and/

boilers, vented home heating equipment, and pool heaters. The

commercial standards are ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1993, ``Method of

Testing for Annual Fuel utilization Efficiency of Residential Central

Furnaces and Boilers,'' and ANSI Standard Z21.56-1994, ``Gas Fired Pool

Heaters.''

Pursuant to section 301 of the Department of Energy Organization

Act (Pub. L. 95-91), DOE is required to comply with section 32 of the

Federal Energy Administration Act of 1974, as amended by section 9 of

the Federal Energy Administration Authorization Act of 1977 (FEAA) Pub.

L. 95-70, which imposes certain requirements where a proposed rule

contains commercial standards or authorizes or requires the use of such

standards. The findings required of DOE by section 32 serve to alert

the public and DOE regarding the use and background of commercial

standards in a proposal and through the rulemaking process. They allow

interested persons to make known their views regarding the

appropriateness of the use of any particular commercial standard in a

proposed rulemaking.

The Department has evaluated ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1993 and ANSI

Standard Z21.56-1994 with regard to compliance with section 32(b) of

the FEAA. The Department is unable to conclude whether these standards

fully complied with the requirements of section 32(b), i.e., that they

are developed in a manner which fully provided for public

participation, comment, and review.

In addition, section 32(c) of the FEAA precludes the Department

from incorporating any commercial standard into a rule unless it has

consulted with the Attorney General and the Chairman of the Federal

Trade Commission (FTC) as to the impact of such standard on

competition, and neither individual recommends against its

incorporation. Pursuant to section 32(c), the Department advised these

individuals of its intention to incorporate Standards 103-1993 and

Z21.56-1991 into its final test procedure rules for furnaces/boilers

and pool heaters, respectively. Neither recommended against such

incorporation.

The Department notes that it is incorporating into today's rule the

method for testing pool heaters that is set forth in ANSI Standard

Z21.56-1994. Standard Z21.56-1994 was not specifically identified in

the aforementioned communications with the FTC and Department of

Justice. It is, however, a revised and updated version of Standard

Z21.56-1991, which was mentioned in those communications, and the

provisions DOE is incorporating from Z21.56-1994 are identical in

substance to the corresponding provisions in Z21.56-1991.5

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

\5\ The Department has informally advised the Department of

Justice and the Federal Trade Commission of its intention to

incorporate the updated version of Standard Z21.56 into the final

rule.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

F. Review Under Executive Order 12630, ``Governmental Actions and

Interference With Constitutionally Protected Property Rights''

It has been determined pursuant to Executive Order 12630 (52 FR

8859, March 18, 1988) that this final rule would not result in any

takings which might require compensation under the Fifth Amendment to

the United States Constitution.

The Department believes that test procedures implementing a long-

established statutory mandate in a manner calculated to minimize

adverse economic impacts does not constitute a ``taking'' of private

property. Thus, testing under the appliance standards program does not

invoke the provisions of E.O. 12630.

G. Review Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980

No new information or record keeping requirements are imposed by

this rulemaking. Accordingly, no OMB clearance is required under the

Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).

H. Review Under Executive Order 12988, ``Civil Justice Reform''

With respect to the review of existing regulations and the

promulgation of new regulations, section 3(a) of Executive Order 12988,

``Civil Justice Reform,'' 61 FR 4729 (February 7, 1996), imposes on

Executive agencies the general duty to adhere to the following

requirements: (1) Eliminate drafting errors and ambiguity; (2) write

regulations to minimize litigation; and (3) provide a clear legal

standard for affected conduct rather than a general standard and

promote simplification and burden reduction. With regard to the review

required by section 3(a), section 3(b) of Executive Order 12988

specifically requires that Executive agencies make every reasonable

effort to ensure that the regulation: (1) Clearly

[[Page 26156]]

specifies the preemptive effect , if any; (2) clearly specifies any

effect on existing Federal law or regulation; (3) provides a clear

legal standard for affected conduct while promoting simplification and

burden reduction; (4) specifies the retroactive effect, if any; (5)

adequately defines key terms; and (6) addresses other important issues

affecting clarity and general draftsmanship under any guidelines issued

by the Attorney General. Section 3(c) of Executive Order 12988 requires

Executive agencies to review regulations in light of applicable

standards in section 3(a) and section 3(b) to determine whether they

are met or it is unreasonable to meet one or more of them. DOE has

completed the required review and determined that, to the extent

permitted by law, the final regulations meet the relevant standards of

Executive Order 12988.

I. Review Under Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995

If any proposed or final rule includes a Federal mandate that may

result in expenditure by state, local, and tribal governments, in the

aggregate, or by the private sector, of $100 million or more in any one

year, the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995, signed into law on

March 22, 1995, requires an agency (prior to promulgation) to prepare a

budgetary impact statement and select the least costly, most cost

effective and least burdensome alternative that achieve the objectives

of the rule and is consistent with statutory requirements.

DOE has determined that the action promulgated today does not

include such a Federal mandate. Therefore, the requirements of the

Unfunded Mandates Act do not apply to this action.

J. Review Under Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of

1996

As required by 5 U.S.C. 801, DOE will report to Congress

promulgation of the rule prior to its effective date. 5 U.S.C. 801. The

report will state that it has been determined that the rule is not a

``major rule'' as defined by 5 U.S.C. 804(3).

List of Subjects in 10 CFR Part 430

Administrative practice and procedure, Energy conservation,

Household appliances, Incorporation by reference.

Issued in Washington, DC, on February 28, 1997.

Christine A. Ervin,

Assistant Secretary, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

For the reasons set forth in the preamble, part 430 of chapter II

of Title 10, Code of Federal Regulations, is amended as set forth

below.

PART 430--ENERGY CONSERVATION PROGRAM FOR CONSUMER PRODUCTS

1. The authority citation for part 430 continues to read as

follows:

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 6291-6309

2. Section 430.2 is amended by adding a definition for the term

``Mobile home furnace'' in alphabetical order, to read as follows:

Sec. 430.2 Definitions.

* * * * *

Mobile home furnace means a direct vent furnace that is designed

for use only in mobile homes.

* * * * *

3. Section 430.22 is amended by adding paragraph (a)(3)(iv) and

adding item numbers 13 and 14 to paragraph (a)(4) to read as follows:

Sec. 430.22 Reference sources.

(a) * * *

(3) * * *

(iv) American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-

Conditioning Engineers, Inc., Publication Sales, 1791 Tullie Circle,

NE, Atlanta, GA 30329, (1-800-5-ASHRAE).

(4) * * *

13. American National Standards Institute/American Society of

Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers Standard 103-

1993, ``Methods of Testing for Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency of

Residential Central Furnaces and Boilers,'' (with Errata of October

24, 1996) except for sections 3.0, 7.2.2.5, 8.6.1.1, 9.1.2.2,

9.5.1.1, 9.5.1.2.1, 9.5.1.2.2, 9.5.2.1, 9.7.1, 10.0, 11.2.12,

11.3.12, 11.4.12, 11.5.12 and appendices B and C.

14. American National Standards Institute Standard Z21.56-1994,

``Gas-Fired Pool Heaters,'' section 2.9.

* * * * *

4. Section 430.23 is amended as follows:

A. In paragraph (n)(1)(i), the words ``section 4.8 or 4.10'' are

revised to read ``section 10.2.2 or 10.3'' and in paragraph (n)(1)(ii),

the words ``section 4.9'' are revised to read ``section 10.2.3'' and,

in the parenthetical phase, the words ``section 4'' are revised to read

``section 10.''

B. In paragraph (n)(2), the words ``section 4.6'' are revised to

read ``section 10.1'' and the words ``section 4.1 of appendix N of this

subpart'' are revised to read ``section 11.1 of American National

Standards Institute/American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and

Air-Conditioning Engineers (ANSI/ASHRAE) Standard 103-1993.''

C. In paragraph (n)(3)(i), the words ``section 4.11 or 4.13'' are

revised to read ``section 10.5.1 or 10.5.3'' and in paragraph

(n)(3)(ii), the words ``section 4.12'' are revised to read ``section

10.5.2.''

D. In paragraph (n)(4), the words ``section 4.14'' are revised to

read ``section 10.4.''

E. Revise paragraphs (o)(2), and (p)(1) to read as follows:

Sec. 430.23 Test procedures for measures of energy consumption.

* * * * *

(o) Vented home heating equipment. * * *

(2) The estimated annual operating cost for vented home heating

equipment is the sum of:

(i) The product of the average annual fuel energy consumption, in

Btu's per year for natural gas, propane, or oil fueled vented home

heating equipment, determined according to section 4.6.2 of appendix O

of this subpart, and the representative average unit cost in dollars

per Btu for natural gas, propane, or oil, as appropriate, as provided

pursuant to section 323(b)(2) of the Act; plus

(ii) The product of the average annual auxiliary electric energy

consumption in kilowatt-hours per year determined according to section

4.6.3 of appendix O of this subpart, and the representative average

unit cost in dollars per kilowatt-hours as provided pursuant to section

323(b)(2) of the Act, the resulting sum then being rounded off to the

nearest dollar per year.

* * * * *

(p) Pool heaters. (1) The estimated annual operating cost for pool

heaters is the sum of: (i) The product of the average annual fuel

energy consumption, in Btu's per year, of natural gas or oil fueled

pool heaters, determined according to section 4.2 of appendix P of this

subpart, and the representative average unit cost in dollars per Btu

for natural gas or oil, as appropriate, as provided pursuant to section

323(b)(2) of the Act; plus (ii) the product of the average annual

auxiliary electric energy consumption in kilowatt-hours per year

determined according to section 4.3 of appendix P of this subpart, and

the representative average unit cost in dollars per kilowatt-hours as

provided pursuant to section 323(b)(2) of the Act, the resulting sum

then being

[[Page 26157]]

rounded off to the nearest dollar per year.

* * * * *

5. Appendix N to subpart B of part 430 is revised to read as

follows:

Appendix N to Subpart B of Part 430--Uniform Test Method for Measuring

the Energy Consumption of Furnaces and Boilers

1.0 Scope. The scope of this appendix is as specified in

section 2.0 of ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1993.

2.0 Definitions. Definitions include the definitions specified

in section 3 of ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1993 and the following

additional and modified definitions:

2.1 ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1993 means the test standard

published in 1993 by ASHRAE, approved by the American National

Standards Institute (ANSI) on October 4, 1993, and entitled ``Method

of Testing for Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency of Residential

Central Furnaces and Boilers'' (with errata of October 24, 1996).

2.2 ASHRAE means the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating

and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Inc.

2.3 Thermal stack damper means a type of stack damper which is

dependent for operation exclusively upon the direct conversion of

thermal energy of the stack gases to open the damper.

2.4 Isolated combustion system. The definition of isolation

combustion system in section 3 of ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1993 is

incorporated with the addition of the following: ``The unit is

installed in an un-conditioned indoor space isolated from the heated

space.''

3.0 Classifications. Classifications are as specified in

section 4 of ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1993.

4.0 Requirements. Requirements are as specified in section 5 of

ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1993.

5.0 Instruments. Instruments must be as specified in section 6

of ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1993.

6.0 Apparatus. The apparatus used in conjunction with the

furnace or boiler during the testing must be as specified in section

7 of ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1993 except for section 7.2.2.5; and

as specified in section 6.1 of this appendix:

6.1 Downflow furnaces. Install the internal section of vent

pipe the same size as the flue collar for connecting the flue collar

to the top of the unit, if not supplied by the manufacturer. Do not

insulate the internal vent pipe during the jacket loss test (if

conducted) described in section 8.6 of ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1993

or the steady-state test described in section 9.1 of ANSI/ASHRAE

Standard 103-1993. Do not insulate the internal vent pipe before the

cool-down and heat-up tests described in sections 9.5 and 9.6,

respectively, of ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1993. If the vent pipe is

surrounded by a metal jacket, do not insulate the metal jacket.

Install a 5-ft test stack of the same cross sectional area or

perimeter as the vent pipe above the top of the furnace. Tape or

seal around the junction connecting the vent pipe and the 5-ft test

stack. Insulate the 5-ft test stack with insulation having an R-

value not less than 7 and an outer layer of aluminum foil. (See

Figure 3-E of ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1993.)

7.0 Testing conditions. The testing conditions shall be as

specified in section 8 of ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1993 with errata

of October 24, 1996, except for section 8.6.1.1; and as specified in

section 7.1 of this appendix.

7.1 Measurement of jacket surface temperature. The jacket of

the furnace or boiler shall be subdivided into 6-inch squares when

practical, and otherwise into 36-square-inch regions comprising 4

in. x 9 in. or 3 in. x 12 in. sections, and the surface temperature

at the center of each square or section shall be determined with a

surface thermocouple. The 36-square-inch areas shall be recorded in

groups where the temperature differential of the 36-square-inch area

is less than 10 deg.F for temperature up to 100 deg.F above room

temperature and less than 20 deg.F for temperature more than

100 deg.F above room temperature. For forced air central furnaces,

the circulating air blower compartment is considered as part of the

duct system and no surface temperature measurement of the blower

compartment needs to be recorded for the purpose of this test. For

downflow furnaces, measure all cabinet surface temperatures of the

heat exchanger and combustion section, including the bottom around

the outlet duct, and the burner door, using the 36 square-inch

thermocouple grid. The cabinet surface temperatures around the

blower section do not need to be measured (See figure 3-E of ANSI/

ASHRAE Standard 103-1993.)

8.0 Test procedure. Testing and measurements shall be as

specified in section 9 of ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1993 except for

sections 9.5.1.1, 9.5.1.2.1, 9.5.1.2.2, 9.5.2.1, and section 9.7.1.

; and as specified in sections 8.1, 8.2, 8.3, 8.4, and 8.5, of this

appendix.

8.1 Input to interrupted ignition device. For burners equipped

with an interrupted ignition device, record the nameplate electric

power used by the ignition device, PEIG, or use

PEIG=0.4 kW if no nameplate power input is provided.

Record the nameplate ignition device on-time interval,

tIG, or measure the on-time period at the beginning of

the test at the time the burner is turned on with a stop watch, if

no nameplate value is given. Set tIG=0 and

PEIG=0 if the device on-time is less than or equal to 5

seconds after the burner is on.

8.2 Gas- and oil-fueled gravity and forced air central furnaces

without stack dampers cool-down test. Turn off the main burner after

steady-state testing is completed, and measure the flue gas

temperature by means of the thermocouple grid described in section

7.6 of ANSI/ASHRAE 103-1993 at 1.5 minutes

(TF,OFF(t3)) and 9 minutes

(TF,OFF(t4)) after the burner shuts off. An

integral draft diverter shall remain blocked and insulated, and the

stack restriction shall remain in place. On atmospheric systems with

an integral draft diverter or draft hood, equipped with either an

electromechanical inlet damper or an electro-mechanical flue damper

that closes within 10 seconds after the burner shuts off to restrict

the flow through the heat exchanger in the off-cycle, bypass or

adjust the control for the electromechanical damper so that the

damper remains open during the cool-down test. For furnaces that

employ post purge, measure the length of the post-purge period with

a stopwatch. The time from burner OFF to combustion blower OFF

(electrically de-energized) shall be recorded as tp. For

the case where tp is intended to be greater than 180

seconds, stop the combustion blower at 180 seconds and use that

value for tp. Measure the flue gas temperature by means

of the thermocouple grid described in section 7.6 of ANSI/ASHRAE

103-1993 at the end of post-purge period, tp

(TF,OFF(tp)), and at the time (1.5 +

tp) minutes (TF,OFF(t3)) and (9.0 +

tp) minutes (TF,OFF(t4)) after the

main burner shuts off. For the case where the measured tp is less

than or equal to 30 seconds, it shall be tested as if there is no

post purge and tp shall be set equal to 0.

8.3 Gas- and oil-fueled gravity and forced air central furnaces

without stack dampers with adjustable fan control--cool-down test.

For a furnace with adjustable fan control, this time delay will be

3.0 minutes for non-condensing furnaces or 1.5 minutes for

condensing furnaces or until the supply air temperature drops to a

value of 40 deg.F above the inlet air temperature, whichever results

in the longest fan on-time. For a furnace without adjustable fan

control or with the type of adjustable fan control whose range of

adjustment does not allow for the delay time specified above, the

control shall be bypassed and the fan manually controlled to give

the delay times specified above. For a furnace which employs a

single motor to drive the power burner and the indoor air

circulating blower, the power burner and indoor air circulating

blower shall be stopped together.

8.4 Gas-and oil-fueled boilers without stack dampers cool-down

test. After steady-state testing has been completed, turn the main

burner(s) OFF and measure the flue gas temperature at 3.75

(TF,OFF(t3)) and 22.5

(TF,OFF(t4)) minutes after the burner shut

off, using the thermocouple grid described in section 7.6 of ANSI/

ASHRAE 103-1993. During this off-period, for units that do not have

pump delay after shutoff, no water shall be allowed to circulate

through the hot water boilers. For units that have pump delay on

shutoff, except those having pump controls sensing water

temperature, the pump shall be stopped by the unit control and the

time t+, between burner shutoff and pump shutoff shall be

measured within one-second accuracy. For units having pump delay

controls that sense water temperature, the pump shall be operated

for 15 minutes and t+ shall be 15 minutes. While the pump

is operating, the inlet water temperature and flow rate shall be

maintained at the same values as used during the steady-state test

as specified in sections 9.1 and 8.4.2.3 of ANSI/ASHRAE 103-1993.

For boilers that employ post purge, measure the length of the

post-purge period with a stopwatch. The time from burner OFF to

combustion blower OFF (electrically de-energized) shall be recorded

as tP. For the case where tP is intended to be

greater than

[[Page 26158]]

180 seconds, stop the combustion blower at 180 seconds and use that

value for tP. Measure the flue gas temperature by means

of the thermocouple grid described in section 7.6 of ANSI/ASHRAE

103-1993 at the end of the post purge period

tP(TF,OFF(tP)) and at the time

(3.75 + tP) minutes (TF,OFF(t3))

and (22.5 + tP) minutes

(TF,OFF(t4)) after the main burner shuts off.

For the case where the measured tP is less or equal to 30

seconds, it shall be tested as if there is no post purge and

tP shall be set to equal 0.

8.5 Direct measurement of off-cycle losses testing method.

[Reserved.]

9.0 Nomenclature. Nomenclature shall include the nomenclature

specified in section 10 of ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1993 and the

following additional variables:

Effmotor=Efficiency of power burner motor

PEIG=Electrical power to the interrupted ignition device,

kW

RT,a=RT,F if flue gas is measured

=RT,S if stack gas is measured

RT,F=Ratio of combustion air mass flow rate to

stoichiometric air mass flow rate

RT,S=Ratio of the sum of combustion air and relief air

mass flow rate to stoichiometric air mass flow rate

tIG=Electrical interrupted ignition device on-time, min.

Ta,SS,X=TF,SS,X if flue gas temperature is

measured, deg.F

=TS,SS,X if stack gas temperature is measured, deg.F

yIG=ratio of electrical interrupted ignition device on-

time to average burner on-time

yP=ratio of power burner combustion blower on-time to

average burner on-time

10.0 Calculation of derived results from test measurements.

Calculations shall be as specified in section 11 of ANSI/ASHRAE

Standard 103-1993 and the October 24, 1996, Errata Sheet for ASHRAE

Standard 103-1993, except for appendices B and C; and as specified

in sections 10.1 through 10.8 and Figure 1 of this appendix.

10.1 Annual fuel utilization efficiency. The annual fuel

utilization efficiency (AFUE) is as defined in sections 11.2.12

(non-condensing systems), 11.3.12 (condensing systems), 11.4.12

(non-condensing modulating systems) and 11.5.12 (condensing

modulating systems) of ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1993, except for the

definition for the term EffyHS in the defining equation

for AFUE. EffyHS is defined as:

EffyHS=heating seasonal efficiency as defined in sections

11.2.11 (non-condensing systems), 11.3.11 (condensing systems),

11.4.11 (non-condensing modulating systems) and 11.5.11 (condensing

modulating systems) of ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1993 and is based on

the assumptions that all weatherized warm air furnaces or boilers

are located out-of-doors, that warm air furnaces which are not

weatherized are installed as isolated combustion systems, and that

boilers which are not weatherized are installed indoors.

10.2 National average burner operating hours, average annual

fuel energy consumption and average annual auxiliary electrical

energy consumption for gas or oil furnaces and boilers.

10.2.1 National average number of burner operating hours. For

furnaces and boilers equipped with single stage controls, the

national average number of burner operating hours is defined as:

BOHSS=2,080 (0.77) A DHR-2,080 B

where:

2,080=national average heating load hours

0.77=adjustment factor to adjust the calculated design heating

requirement and heating load hours to the actual heating load

experienced by the heating system

DHR=typical design heating requirements as listed in Table 8 (in

unit of kBtu/h) of ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1993, using the proper

value of QOUT defined in 11.2.8.1 of ANSI/ASHRAE Standard

103-1993

A=100,000 /

[341,300(yPPE+yIGPEIG+yBE)+(QIN

-QP)EffyHS], for forced draft unit, indoors

=100,000 / [341,300(yPPE

Effmotor+yIGPEIG+y

BE)+(QIN-QP)EffyHS], for forced

draft unit, ICS,

=100,000 / [341,300(yPPE(1-

Effmotor)+yIGPEIG+y

BE)+(QIN-QP)EffyHS], for induced

draft unit, indoors, and

=100,000 /

[341,300(yIGPEIG+yBE)+(QIN-

QP)EffyHS], for induced draft unit, ICS

B=2 QP(EffyHS)(A) / 100,000

where:

Effmotor=Power burner motor efficiency provided by

manufacturer,

=0.50, an assumed default power burner efficiency if not

provided by manufacturer.

100,000=factor that accounts for percent and kBtu

PE=burner electrical power input at full-load steady-state

operation, including electrical ignition device if energized, as

defined in 9.1.2.2 of ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1993

yP=ratio of induced or forced draft blower on-time to

average burner on-time, as follows:

1 for units without post purge;

1+(tP/3.87) for single stage furnaces with post

purge;

1+(tP/10) for two-stage and step modulating furnaces

with post purge;

1+(tP/9.68) for single stage boilers with post purge;

or

1+(tP/15) for two stage and step modulating boilers

with post purge.

PEIG=electrical input rate to the interrupted ignition

device on burner (if employed), as defined in 8.1 of this appendix

yIG=ratio of burner interrupted ignition device on-time

to average burner on-time, as follows:

0 for burners not equipped with interrupted ignition device;

(tIG/3.87) for single stage furnaces;

(tIG/10) for two-stage and step modulating furnaces;

(tIG/9.68) for single stage boilers; or

(tIG/15) for two stage and step modulating boilers.

tIG=on-time of the burner interrupted ignition device, as

defined in 8.1 of this appendix

tP=post purge time as defined in 8.2 (furnace) or 8.4

(boiler) of this appendix

=0 if tP is equal to or less than 30 second.

y=ratio of blower or pump on-time to average burner on-time, as

follows:

1 for furnaces without fan delay;

1 for boilers without a pump delay;

1+(t+--t-)/3.87 for single stage furnaces

with fan delay;

1+(t+--t-)/10 for two-stage and step

modulating furnaces with fan delay;

1+(t+/9.68) for single stage boilers with pump delay;

or

1+(t+/15) for two stage and step modulating boilers

with pump delay.

BE=circulating air fan or water pump electrical energy input rate at

full load steady-state operation, as defined in ANSI/ASHRAE Standard

103-1993

QIN=as defined in 11.2.8.1 of ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-

1993

QP=as defined in 11.2.11 of ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1993

EffyHS=as defined in 11.2.11 (non-condensing systems) or

11.3.11.3 (condensing systems) of ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1993,

percent, and calculated on the basis of:

ICS installation, for non-weatherized warm air furnaces;

indoor installation, for non-weatherized boilers; or

outdoor installation, for furnaces and boilers that are

weatherized.

2=ratio of the average length of the heating season in hours to the

average heating load hours

t+=as defined in 9.5.1.2 of ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1993

or 8.4 of this appendix

t-=as defined in 9.6.1 of ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1993

10.2.1.1 For furnaces and boilers equipped with two stage or

step modulating controls the average annual energy used during the

heating season, EM, is defined as:

EM=(QIN-QP)

BOHSS+(8,760-4,600)QP

where:

QIN=as defined in 11.4.8.1.1 of ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-

1993

QP=as defined in 11.4.12 of ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1993

BOHSS=as defined in section 10.2.1 of this appendix, in

which the weighted EffyHS as defined in 11.4.11.3 or

11.5.11.3 of ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1993 is used for calculating

the values of A and B, the term DHR is based on the value of

QOUT defined in 11.4.8.1.1 or 11.5.8.1.1 of ANSI/ASHRAE

Standard 103-1993, and the term

(yPPE+yIGPEIG+yBE) in the factor A

is increased by the factor R, which is defined as:

R=2.3 for two stage controls

=2.3 for step modulating controls when the ratio of minimum-to-

maximum output is greater than or equal to 0.5

=3.0 for step modulating controls when the ratio of minimum-to-

maximum output is less than 0.5

A=100,000/[341,300(yPPE+yIGPEIG+y

BE) R+(QIN-QP) EffyHS], for forced

draft unit, indoors

=100,000/[341,300(yPPE

Effmotor+yIGPEIG+y BE)

R+(QIN-QP)EffyHS], for forced draft

unit, ICS,

[[Page 26159]]

=100,000/[341,300(yPPE(1-

Effmotor)+yIGPEIG+y BE)

R+(QIN-QP) EffyHS], for induced

draft unit, indoors, and

=100,000/[341,300(yIGPEIG+y BE)

R+(QIN-QP) EffyHS], for induced

draft unit, ICS

where:

Effmotor=Power burner motor efficiency provided by

manufacturer,

=0.50, an assumed default power burner efficiency if none

provided by manufacturer.

EffyHS=as defined in 11.4.11.3 or 11.5.11.3 of ANSI/

ASHRAE Standard 103-1993, and calculated on the basis of:

--ICS installation, for non-weatherized warm air furnaces

--indoor installation, for non-weatherized boilers

--outdoor installation, for furnaces and boilers that are

weatherized

8,760=total number of hours per year

4,600=as specified in 11.4.12 of ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1993

10.2.1.2 For furnaces and boilers equipped with two stage or

step modulating controls the national average number of burner

operating hours at the reduced operating mode is defined as:

BOHR=XREM/QIN,R

where:

XR=as defined in 11.4.8.7 of ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-

1993

EM=as defined in section 10.2.1.1 of this appendix

QIN,R=as defined in 11.4.8.1.2 of ANSI/ASHRAE Standard

103-1993

10.2.1.3 For furnaces and boilers equipped with two stage

controls the national average number of burner operating hours at

the maximum operating mode (BOHH) is defined as:

BOHH=XHEM/QIN

where:

XH=as defined in 11.4.8.6 of ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-

1993

EM=as defined in section 10.2.1.1 of this appendix

QIN=as defined in 11.4.8.1.1 of ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-

1993

10.2.1.4 For furnaces and boilers equipped with step modulating

controls the national average number of burner operating hours at

the modulating operating mode (BOHM) is defined as:

BOHM=XHEM/QIN,M

where:

XH=as defined in 11.4.8.6 of ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-

1993

EM=as defined in section 10.2.1.1 of this appendix

QIN,M=QOUT,M/(EffySS,M/100)

QOUT,M=as defined in 11.4.8.10 or 11.5.8.10 of ANSI/

ASHRAE Standard 103-1993, as appropriate

EffySS,M=as defined in 11.4.8.8 or 11.5.8.8 of ANSI/

ASHRAE Standard 103-1993, as appropriate, in percent

100=factor that accounts for percent

10.2.2 Average annual fuel energy consumption for gas or oil

fueled furnaces or boilers. For furnaces or boilers equipped with

single stage controls the average annual fuel energy consumption

(EF) is expressed in Btu per year and defined as:

EF=BOHSS(QIN-QP)+8,760

QP

where:

BOHSS=as defined in 10.2.1 of this appendix

QIN=as defined in 11.2.8.1 of ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-

1993

QP=as defined in 11.2.11 of ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1993

8,760=as specified in 10.2.1 of this appendix

10.2.2.1 For furnaces or boilers equipped with either two stage

or step modulating controls EF is defined as:

EF=EM + 4,600QP

where:

EM=as defined in 10.2.1.1 of this appendix

4,600=as specified in 11.4.12 of ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1993

QP=as defined in 11.2.11 of ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1993

10.2.3 Average annual auxiliary electrical energy consumption

for gas or oil fueled furnaces or boilers. For furnaces or boilers

equipped with single stage controls the average annual auxiliary

electrical consumption (EAE) is expressed in kilowatt-

hours and defined as:

EAE=BOHSS(yPPE

+yIGPEIG+yBE)

where:

BOHSS=as defined in 10.2.1 of this appendix

PE=as defined in 10.2.1 of this appendix

yP=as defined in 10.2.1 of this appendix

yIG=as defined in 10.2.1 of this appendix

PEIG=as defined in 10.2.1 of this appendix

y=as defined in 10.2.1 of this appendix

BE=as defined in 10.2.1 of this appendix

10.2.3.1 For furnaces or boilers equipped with two stage

controls EAE is defined as:

EAE=BOHR(yPPER+yIG

PEIG+yBER) +

BOHH(yPPEH+yIGPEIG

+y BEH)

where:

BOHR=as defined in 10.2.1.2 of this appendix

yP=as defined in 10.2.1 of this appendix

PER=as defined in 9.1.2.2 and measured at the reduced

fuel input rate, of ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1993

yIG=as defined in 10.2.1 of this appendix

PEIG=as defined in 10.2.1 of this appendix

y=as defined in 10.2.1 of this appendix

BER=as defined in 9.1.2.2 of ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-

1993, measured at the reduced fuel input rate

BOHH=as defined in 10.2.1.3 of this appendix

PEH=as defined in 9.1.2.2 of ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-

1993, measured at the maximum fuel input rate

BEH=as defined in 9.1.2.2 of ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-

1993, measured at the maximum fuel input rate

10.2.3.2 For furnaces or boilers equipped with step modulating

controls EAE is defined as:

EAE=BOHR(yP

PER+yIGPEIG+y

BER)+BOHM(yPPEH+yIG

PEIG+y BEH)

where:

BOHR=as defined in 10.2.1.2 of this appendix

yP=as defined in 10.2.1 of this appendix

PER=as defined in 9.1.2.2 of ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-

1993, measured at the reduced fuel input rate

yIG=as defined in 10.2.1 of this appendix

PEIG=as defined in 10.2.1 of this appendix

y=as defined in 10.2.1. of this appendix

BER=as defined in 9.1.2.2 of ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-

1993, measured at the reduced fuel input rate

BOHM=as defined in 10.2.1.4 of this appendix

PEH=as defined in 9.1.2.2 of ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-

1993, measured at the maximum fuel input rate

BEH=as defined in 9.1.2.2 of ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-

1993, measured at the maximum fuel inputs rate

10.3 Average annual electric energy consumption for electric

furnaces or boilers. For electric furnaces and boilers the average

annual energy consumption (EE) is expressed in kilowatt-

hours and defined as:

EE=100(2,080)(0.77)DHR/(3.412 AFUE)

where:

100=to express a percent as a decimal

2,080=as specified in 10.2.1 of this appendix

0.77=as specified in 10.2.1 of this appendix

DHR=as defined in 10.2.1 of this appendix

3.412=conversion to express energy in terms of watt-hours instead of

Btu

AFUE=as defined in 11.1 of ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1993, in

percent, and calculated on the basis of:

ICS installation, for non-weatherized warm air furnaces;

indoor installation, for non-weatherized boilers; or

outdoor installation, for furnaces and boilers that are

weatherized.

10.4 Energy factor.

10.4.1 Energy factor for gas or oil furnaces and boilers.

Calculate the energy factor, EF, for gas or oil furnaces and boilers

defined as, in percent:

[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TR12MY97.038

where:

EF=average annual fuel consumption as defined in 10.2.2

of this appendix.

EAE=as defined in 10.2.3 of this appendix.

EffyHS=Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency as defined in

11.2.11, 11.3.11, 11.4.11 or 11.5.11 of ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-

1993, in percent, and calculated on the basis of:

ICS installation, for non-weatherized warm air furnaces;

indoor installation, for non-weatherized boilers; or

outdoor installation, for furnaces and boilers that are

weatherized.

3,412=conversion factor from kilowatt to Btu/h

10.4.2 Energy factor for electric furnaces and boilers. The

energy factor, EF, for electric furnaces and boilers is defined as:

EF=AFUE

where:

AFUE=Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency as defined in section 10.3

of this appendix, in percent

10.5 Average annual energy consumption for furnaces and boilers

located in a different geographic region of the United States and in

[[Page 26160]]

buildings with different design heating requirements.

10.5.1 Average annual fuel energy consumption for gas or oil-

fueled furnaces and boilers located in a different geographic region

of the United States and in buildings with different design heating

requirements. For gas or oil-fueled furnaces and boilers the average

annual fuel energy consumption for a specific geographic region and

a specific typical design heating requirement (EFR) is

expressed in Btu per year and defined as:

EFR=(EF-8,760 QP)(HLH/2,080)+8,760

QP

where:

EF=as defined in 10.2.2 of this appendix

8,760=as specified in 10.2.1 of this appendix

QP=as defined in 11.2.11 of ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1993

HLH=heating load hours for a specific geographic region determined

from the heating load hour map in Figure 1 of this appendix

2,080=as defined in 10.2.1 of this appendix

10.5.2 Average annual auxiliary electrical energy consumption

for gas or oil-fueled furnaces and boilers located in a different

geographic region of the United States and in buildings with

different design heating requirements. For gas or oil-fueled

furnaces and boilers the average annual auxiliary electrical energy

consumption for a specific geographic region and a specific typical

design heating requirement (EAER) is expressed in

kilowatt-hours and defined as:

EAER=EAE (HLH/2,080)

where:

EAE=as defined in 10.2.3 of this appendix

HLH=as defined in 10.5.1 of this appendix

2,080=as specified in 10.2.1 of this appendix

10.5.3 Average annual electric energy consumption for electric

furnaces and boilers located in a different geographic region of the

United States and in buildings with different design heating

requirements. For electric furnaces and boilers the average annual

electric energy consumption for a specific geographic region and a

specific typical design heating requirement (EER) is

expressed in kilowatt-hours and defined as:

EER=100 (0.77) DHR HLH/(3.412 AFUE)

where:

100=as specified in 10.3 of this appendix

0.77=as specified in 10.2.1 of this appendix

DHR=as defined in 10.2.1 of this appendix

HLH=as defined in 10.5.1 of this appendix

3.412=as specified in 10.3 of this appendix

AFUE=as defined in 10.3 of this appendix, in percent

10.6 Annual energy consumption for mobile home furnaces

10.6.1 National average number of burner operating hours for

mobile home furnaces (BOHSS). BOHSS is the

same as in 10.2.1 of this appendix, except that the value of

EffyHS in the calculation of the burner operating hours,

BOHSS, is calculated on the basis of a direct vent unit

with system number 9 or 10.

10.6.2 Average annual fuel energy for mobile home furnaces

(EF). EF is same as in 10.2.2 of this appendix

except that the burner operating hours, BOHSS, is

calculated as specified in 10.6.1 of this appendix.

10.6.3 Average annual auxiliary electrical energy consumption

for mobile home furnaces (EAE). EAE is the

same as in 10.2.3 of this appendix, except that the burner operating

hours, BOHSS, is calculated as specified in 10.6.1 of

this appendix.

10.7 Calculation of sales weighted average annual energy

consumption for mobile home furnaces. In order to reflect the

distribution of mobile homes to geographical regions with average

HLHMHF value different from 2,080, adjust the annual

fossil fuel and auxiliary electrical energy consumption values for

mobile home furnaces using the following adjustment calculations.

10.7.1 For mobile home furnaces the sales weighted average

annual fossil fuel energy consumption is expressed in Btu per year

and defined as:

EF,MHF=(EF-8,760

QP)HLHMHF/2,080+8,760 QP

where:

EF=as defined in 10.6.2 of this appendix

8,760=as specified in 10.2.1 of this appendix

QP=as defined in 11.2.11 of ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 103-1993

HLHMHF=1880, sales weighted average heating load hours

for mobile home furnaces

2,080=as specified in 10.2.1 of this appendix

10.7.2 For mobile home furnaces the sales weighted average

annual auxiliary electrical energy consumption is expressed in

kilowatt-hours and defined as:

EAE,MHF=EAEHLHMHF/2,080

where:

EAE=as defined in 10.6.3 of this appendix

HLHMHF=as defined in 10.7.1 of this appendix

2,080=as specified in 10.2.1 of this appendix

10.8 Direct determination of off-cycle losses for furnaces and

boilers equipped with thermal stack dampers. [Reserved.]

BILLING CODE 6450-01-P

[[Page 26161]]

[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TR12MY97.039

BILLING CODE 6450-01-C

[[Page 26162]]

6. Appendix O to subpart B of part 430 is amended as follows:

Appendix O to Subpart B of Part 430--Uniform Test Method for Measuring

the Energy Consumption of Vented Home Heating Equipment

a. Section 3.5 is revised to read as follows:

3.5 Pilot light measurement.

3.5.1 Measure the energy input rate to the pilot light

(QP) with an error no greater than 3 percent for vented

heaters so equipped.

3.5.2 For manually controlled heaters where the pilot light is

designed to be turned off by the user when the heater is not in use,

that is, turning the control to the OFF position will shut off the

gas supply to the burner(s) and to the pilot light, the measurement

of QP is not needed. This provision applies only if an

instruction to turn off the unit is provided on the heater near the

gas control valve (e.g. by label) by the manufacturer.

b. Section 4.2.4 is revised to read as follows:

4.2.4 Weighted-average steady-state efficiency.

4.2.4.1 For manually controlled heaters with various input

rates the weighted average steady-state efficiency

(SS-WT), is determined as follows:

(1) at 50 percent of the maximum fuel input rate as measured in

either section 3.1.1 of this appendix for manually controlled gas

vented heaters or section 3.1.2 of this appendix for manually

controlled oil vented heaters, or

(2) at the minimum fuel input rate as measured in either section

3.1.1 to this appendix for manually controlled gas vented heaters or

section 3.1.2 to this appendix for manually controlled oil vented

heaters if the design of the heater is such that the 5

percent of 50 percent of the maximum fuel input rate cannot be set,

provided this minimum rate is no greater than \2/3\ of maximum input

rate of the heater.

4.2.4.2 For manually controlled heater with one single firing

rate the weighted average steady-state efficiency is the steady-

state efficiency measured at the single firing rate.

c. Section 4.2.6 is revised to read as follows:

4.2.6 Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency.

4.2.6.1 For manually controlled vented heaters, calculate the

AFUE expressed as a percent and defined as:

[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TR12MY97.040

where:

2,950=average number of heating degree days

SS=as defined as SS-WT in

4.2.4 of this appendix

u=as defined in 4.2.5 of this appendix

Qin-max=as defined as Qin at the maximum fuel

input rate, as defined in 3.1 of this appendix

4,600=average number of non-heating season hours per year

QP=as defined in 3.5 of this appendix

2.083=(65-15)/24=50/24

65=degree day base temperature, deg.F

15=national average outdoor design temperature for vented heaters as

defined in section 4.1.10 of this appendix

24=number of hours in a day

4.2.6.2 For manually controlled vented heaters where the pilot

light can be turned off by the user when the heater is not in use as

described in section 3.5.2, calculate the AFUE expressed as a

percent and defined as:

AFUE=u

where:

u=as defined in section 4.2.5 of this appendix

d. Section 4.3.7 is revised to read as follows:

4.3.7 Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency.

Calculate the AFUE expressed as a percent and defined as:

[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TR12MY97.041

where:

2,950=average number of heating degree days

SS-WT=as defined in 4.1.16 of this appendix

u=as defined in 4.3.6 of this appendix

Qin-max=as defined in 4.2.6 of this appendix

4,600=as specified in 4.2.6 of this appendix

QP=as defined in 3.5 of this appendix

2.083=as specified in 4.2.6 of this appendix

e. Add section 4.6 after section 4.5.3 and before the table 1 to

read as follows:

4.6 Annual energy consumption.

4.6.1 National average number of burner operating hours. For

vented heaters equipped with single stage controls or manual

controls, the national average number of burner operating hours

(BOH) is defined as:

BOHSS=1,416AFA DHR-1,416 B

where:

1,416=national average heating load hours for vented heaters based

on 2,950 degree days and 15 deg.F outdoor design temperature

AF=0.7067, adjustment factor to adjust the calculated

design heating requirement and heating load hours to the actual

heating load experienced by the heating system

DHR=typical design heating requirements based on QOUT,

from Table 4 of this appendix.

QOUT=[(SS/100)-Cj

(Lj/100)] Qin

Lj=jacket loss as defined in 4.1.5 of this appendix

Cj=2.8, adjustment factor as defined in 4.3.6 of this

appendix

SS=steady-state efficiency as defined in 4.1.10

of this appendix, percent

Qin=as defined in 3.1 of this appendix at the maximum

fuel input rate

A=100,000/

[341,300PE+(Qin-QP)u

]

B=2.938(QP) u A/100,000

100,000=factor that accounts for percent and kBtu

PE=as defined in 3.1.3 of this appendix

QP=as defined in 3.5 of this appendix

u=as defined in 4.3.6 of this appendix for

vented heaters using the tracer gas method, percent

=as defined in 4.2.5 of this appendix for manually controlled

vented heaters, percent

=2,950 AFUESS Qin/[2,950

SS Qin--

AFUE(2.083)(4,600)QP], for vented heaters equipped

without manual controls and without thermal stack dampers and not

using the optional tracer gas method, where:

AFUE=as defined in 4.1.17 of this appendix, percent

2,950=average number of heating degree days as defined in 4.2.6 of

this appendix

4,600=average number of non-heating season hours per year as defined

in 4.2.6 of this appendix

[[Page 26163]]

2.938=(4,160/1,416)=ratio of the average length of the heating

season in hours to the average heating load hours

2.083=as specified in 4.2.6 of this appendix

4.6.1.1 For vented heaters equipped with two stage or step

modulating controls the national average number of burner operating

hours at the reduced operating mode is defined as:

BOHR=X1EM/Qred-in

where:

X1=as defined in 4.1.14 of this appendix

Qred-in=as defined in 4.1.11 of this appendix

EM=average annual energy used during the heating season

=(Qin-QP)BOHSS+(8,760-4,600)QP

Qin=as defined in 3.1 of this appendix at the maximum

fuel input rate

QP=as defined in 3.5 of this appendix

BOHSS=as defined in 4.6.1 of this appendix, in which the

term PE in the factor A is increased by the factor R,

which is define

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