[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 218 (Friday, November 8, 1996)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 57794-57797]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-28746]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
10 CFR Part 430
[Docket No. EE-RM-94-230A]
Energy Conservation Program for Consumer Products: Test Procedure
for Clothes Washers and Reporting Requirements for Clothes Washers,
Clothes Dryers, and Dishwashers
AGENCY: Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, DOE.
ACTION: Proposed rule; limited reopening of the comment period.
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SUMMARY: Appendix J to subpart B of 10 CFR part 430 sets forth the test
procedures required for testing whether clothes washers comply with the
existing energy conservation standards. The Department of Energy (DOE
or Department) has proposed to amend these test procedures. The purpose
of this notice is to solicit comments on possible additional amendments
which would require certain specific procedures for testing clothes
washers with adaptive (machine controlled) water fill control
capability, and clothes washers with non-traditional temperature
selections.
DATES: Written comments in response to this notice must be received by
November 25, 1996.
ADDRESSES: Written comments, 10 copies, are to be submitted to: U.S.
Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy,
EE-43, Room 1J-018, ``Test Procedure for Clothes Washers and Reporting
Requirements for Clothes Washers, Clothes Dryers, and Dishwashers,''
Docket No. EE-RM-94-230A, Forrestal Building, 1000 Independence Avenue,
SW, Washington, DC 20585, (202)-586-7574.
Copies of the transcript of the public hearing and the public
comments received on the proposed rule, may be read or photocopied at
the Department of Energy Freedom of Information Reading Room, U.S.
Department of Energy, Forrestal Building, Room 1E-190, 1000
Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20585, (202) 586-6020 between
the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, except
Federal holidays.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
P. Marc LaFrance, U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Efficiency and
Renewable Energy, Mail Station EE-43, Forrestal Building, 1000
Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585-0121, (202) 586-8423
Edward Levy, Esq., U.S. Department of Energy, Office of General
Counsel, Mail Station GC-72, Forrestal Building, 1000 Independence
Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585, (202) 586-9507
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Introduction
II. Discussion
A. Adaptive Water Fill Control
Manual and Adaptive Water Fill Control
Multiple Adaptive Water Fill Control Settings
B. Temperature Selections
Multiple Warm Wash Temperature Combination Selections
Multiple Temperature Settings within a Temperature Combination
Selection
[[Page 57795]]
One and Two Temperature Combination Selections
I. Introduction
On March 23, 1995, the Department published a notice of proposed
rulemaking to make several amendments to the clothes washer test
procedure. 60 FR 15330 (hereafter referred to as the Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking or NOPR). On July 12, 1995, a hearing on the proposed rule
was held in Washington, DC.
The proposed amendments to the test procedure were based on the
same factual foundation as the existing test procedure and energy
conservation standards for clothes washers, so that the existing energy
conservation standard would not have to be adjusted. The Department
believes, however, that the existing test procedure currently
overstates the average annual energy consumption for clothes washers
because of changes in consumer habits since the current test procedure
was adopted.1 The Department had planned on initiating an
additional clothes washer test procedure rulemaking, at a later date,
which would take into account current consumer habits, and would be
used as the basis for considering revision of the clothes washer energy
conservation standards.2
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\1\ Proctor & Gamble data indicates a decrease in the use of hot
water and the number of cycles per year over time.
\2\ The second round of clothes washer standards rulemaking was
initiated by the publication of an Advance Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking (ANOPR). (59 FR 56423, November 14, 1994.)
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In response to the NOPR, the Association of Home Appliance
Manufacturers (AHAM) submitted comments asking DOE to adopt an
additional new test procedure, based on current consumer habits, which
would be used in considering revision of the clothes washer energy
conservation standards, and would take effect when new standards take
effect. On April 22, 1996, the Department proposed such a new clothes
washer test procedure, Appendix J1, as well as certain additional
revisions to the currently applicable test procedure in Appendix J to
Subpart B of 10 CFR part 430. 61 FR 17589 (hereafter referred to as the
Supplemental Notice of Proposed Rulemaking or Supplemental NOPR). The
Department proposed to issue a final rule with two test procedures, to
be codified in Appendices ``J'' and ``J1'' to subpart B of 10 CFR part
430. Appendix ``J'' would be a revision of the current test procedure,
would be consistent with the existing standards, and would become
effective 30 days after issuance of the final rule. Appendix ``J1'',
generally based on AHAM's suggested test procedures, would be used in
the analysis and review of possible revised efficiency standards, and
would apply to any revised standards. Upon adoption of any revised
standards, the Department would amend its regulations to replace
Appendix ``J'' with Appendix ``J1.''
However, since the publication of the NOPR and the Supplemental
NOPR, additional issues have arisen regarding the Appendix J test
procedure. The purpose of today's notice is to obtain public comment on
options the Department is considering for resolving these issues. These
issues arose in the context of interim waivers from the DOE clothes
washer test procedure granted by DOE with respect to clothes washer
features that are not covered by the current test procedure. On April
6, 1996, the Department granted General Electric Appliances (GEA) an
Interim Waiver (CW-004) for its 3 clothes washer that has multiple
warm wash temperature selections, various temperature settings within
each temperature selection, multiple adaptive water fill control
settings, and a manual water fill control option. 61 FR 18129. On
September 6, 1996, the Department granted GEA an Interim Waiver (CW-
005) for its clothes washer that has only two wash/rinse temperature
selections. 61 FR 47115. The Department is considering inclusion in the
Appendix J test procedure of test provisions that address these
features, and solicits comments only on the issues of whether and how
such features should be addressed in Appendix J.
\3\ GEA's clothes washer is actually manufactured by Fisher &
Paykel Limited from New Zealand.
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II. Discussion
A. Adaptive Water Fill Control
The amount of energy that a clothes washer consumes is almost
entirely a function of whether it uses heated or unheated water, and of
the temperature and amount of any heated water it uses. Adaptive water
fill control in a clothes washer is a control scheme which
automatically determines, without operator intervention, the amount of
water used to wash a particular load of clothing, based on the size of
that clothing load. In the NOPR, the Department proposed to amend
Appendix J to include test provisions for adaptive water fill control
4 schemes, but proposed no alteration of the existing test
procedures for manual water fill control.5
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\4\ In the NOPR, the terminology used was ``machine-controlled
water fill,'' although the Department plans to adopt language used
in the Supplemental NOPR ``adaptive water fill control.''
\5\ In Appendix J, two types of manual fill control are defined,
``sensor filled'' and ``timed filled.''
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Manual and Adaptive Water Fill Control
The GEA clothes washer that is the subject of Interim Waiver CW-
004, cited above, has both manual and adaptive water fill control
capability. However, neither the current Appendix J test procedure, nor
the proposed amendments to Appendix J, sets forth a procedure that
applies to a clothes washer that has both of these features. In the
Supplemental NOPR, the Department proposed that Appendix J1 provide
that such machines be tested in both the manual and adaptive water fill
modes, and that test results be prorated based on the assumption that
each mode is used 50 percent of the time. This methodology is used in
Interim Waiver CW-004 granted to GEA. The Department has not received
any negative comment regarding this methodology, and is considering
adoption of this approach for the Appendix J test procedure. The
Department welcomes comments on this issue.
Multiple Adaptive Water Fill Control Settings
The GEA clothes washer covered by Interim Waiver CW-004, also
permits adjustment of the ``sensitivity,'' or relative water fill
amounts, for the adaptive water fill control feature. This feature
allows a consumer to fine tune the adaptive water fill control system,
and permits use of different amounts of water for a given amount of
clothing being washed. The test method provided to GEA in Interim
Waiver CW-004, requires the two extreme ``sensitivities,'' which
provide the most and least energy intensive results, to be tested. Then
these two results, or associated energy consumption values, are
averaged to determine the adaptive water fill control energy
consumption value. As mentioned above, the adaptive water fill control
result is then prorated with the manual water fill control result. The
Department has not received any negative comment regarding this
methodology and is considering adoption of this approach for the
Appendix J test procedure. The Department welcomes comments on this
issue.
B. Temperature Selections
Currently, and as proposed, Appendix J allows for the testing of
three basic wash temperatures, cold, warm, and hot, in several
combinations with two
[[Page 57796]]
rinse temperatures, cold and warm. The test procedures set forth
percentages, called temperature use factors (TUFs), that represent the
proportion of the time that each combination of wash and rinse
temperatures is used. The test procedures have a set of TUFs that
applies to each clothes washer that is equipped with either three,
four, five or six discrete temperature combination selections (TCSs)
(wash/rinse offering to a consumer). Clothes washers with these TCSs
represent the majority of the market. However, new clothes washers,
such as the GEA clothes washers, have new temperature combinations
which are not explicitly covered by the Appendix J test procedure.
Multiple Warm Wash Temperature Combination Selections
The GEA clothes washer covered by Interim Waiver CW-004 has three
different warm wash selections, each of which has a cold rinse. The
warm wash temperatures of these three TCSs are equally spaced by
temperature, so that the temperature of the median warm wash is at the
mid-point between the temperatures of the warmest warm wash and the
coolest warm wash. The test methodology provided to GEA in the Interim
Waiver required that only the median warm wash TCS be tested. The above
and below median warm wash TCSs were not to be tested. The Department
did not receive any negative comment regarding this methodology.
The Department is considering adoption of a similar approach in
Appendix J. In addition, the Department is also considering adoption of
additional provisions to address two other situations where clothes
washers have multiple warm wash TCSs. First, similar to the clothes
washer covered by Interim Waiver CW-004, a clothes washer could have a
median warm wash selection and two or more pairs (one selection above
and the other below the median) of additional warm selections, with the
two selections in each pair being an equal distance (by temperature)
from the median. The Department contemplates that in such a situation,
as under Interim Waiver CW-004, a manufacturer should have to test only
the median warm wash TCS. Second, unlike the clothes washer covered by
Interim Waiver CW-004, a clothes washer could have multiple warm wash
TCSs that are not equidistant from a median warm wash TCS. The
Department is considering incorporation into Appendix J of a
requirement that, in such a situation, a manufacturer would test the
TCS with the warm wash temperature that is the next higher selection
above the actual mean selection, or above a theoretical mean warm wash
TCS if an actual mean selection does not exist. The Department seeks
comments regarding these issues.
Multiple Temperature Settings Within a Temperature Combination
Selection
The GEA clothes washer covered by Interim Waiver CW-004 also has
multiple temperature settings, i.e., a range of temperatures from which
a consumer can make a setting within a specific TCS. Section 3.2.2.2 of
the current test procedure requires that the ``hottest setting
available'' be used for testing the hot wash TCS. In Interim Waiver CW-
004, the Department provided a test methodology to GEA for its clothes
washer which requires that the hottest temperature setting within a
hot, warm or cold TCS be tested.
This approach is similar to the Department's proposal in the NOPR
for addressing similar TCSs that are labeled so as to appear to the
consumer to be virtually identical. In essence, the similarly labeled
TCSs are two temperature settings for one basic TCS. For example on a
single clothes washer, one cold wash/cold rinse TCS may be labeled
``cold/cold,'' with a wash temperature that is never heated, and
another can be labeled ``auto cold/cold'' with a wash temperature that
uses some hot water. The Department's NOPR proposes that the hottest of
these two selections be used for test results. The Department believes
this proposal is consistent with the industry's basic interpretation of
the test procedure. The Department believes this issue is essentially
the same as the multiple temperature setting issue regarding the GEA
clothes washer. The Department did not receive any negative comment
regarding the NOPR's provision for similarly labeled TCSs.
However, the Department did receive negative comment from Fisher &
Paykel Limited (Fisher and Paykel) 6 in response to the Interim
Waiver CW-004 granted to GEA. Fisher & Paykel is concerned that the
test methodology that requires testing at the hottest temperature
setting available within a TCS is inconsistent with the test
methodology regarding multiple warm wash TCSs, discussed above. The two
approaches may appear to be inconsistent, but the Department believes
they would establish the best solution given the treatment of multiple
warm TCSs in Interim Waiver CW-004 and the proposal in the NOPR for
similarly labeled TCSs. One of the Department's goals in proposing to
amend the Appendix J test procedure is to see that the test procedure
does not affect the energy rating of any model that must meet the
current minimum efficiency standard. In addition, to the extent
possible, the Department wants to ensure that all models are tested and
rated on a comparable basis. Therefore, the Department is considering
adoption of provisions for Appendix J that would require, for each TCS
tested, that the test be conducted at the hottest setting available for
that TCS. The Department welcomes comments on this issue.
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\6\ Fisher & Paykel Limited is the manufacturer of the clothes
washer that GEA is petitioning for a waiver.
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One and Two Temperature Combination Selections
The GEA clothes washers that are the subject of Interim Waiver CW-
005, cited above, have only two wash/rinse TCSs. One selection has a
cold wash and a cold rinse, while the other has a heated wash and a
cold rinse. In the Interim Waiver granted to GEA, the Department
provided a TUF of 15 percent for the cold/cold selection in these
clothes washers, which is the same TUF value as is contained in the
current test procedure for the cold/cold selection for three, four,
five, and six TCS clothes washers. The heated TCS addressed in Interim
Waiver CW-005 had the remaining percentage, or a TUF of 85 percent. The
Department did not receive any negative comments regarding these
proration factors. The Department is considering adoption of the same
TUF values for Appendix J.
In addition, the Department proposes to specify that a clothes
washer with only one TCS would be tested at that TCS 100 percent of the
time. The Department plans to adopt the following tables for Appendix
J:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Temperature
Wash/rinse temperature setting use factor
(TUF)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
One Temperature Selection (n=1)
Any........................................................ 1.0
Two Temperature Selection (n=2)
Heated/cold................................................ 0.85
Cold/cold.................................................. 0.15
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The Department welcomes comments regarding these issues.
List of Subjects in 10 CFR Part 430
Administrative practice and procedure, Energy conservation,
Household appliances.
[[Page 57797]]
Issued in Washington, DC, November 4, 1996.
Christine A. Ervin,
Assistant Secretary, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.
[FR Doc. 96-28746 Filed 11-7-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P