[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 147 (Thursday, July 31, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41032-41034]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-20211]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
[Case No. DH-012]


Energy Conservation Program for Consumer Products: Decision and 
Order Granting a Waiver From the Vented Home Heating Equipment Test 
Procedure to HEAT-N-GLO Fireplace Products, Inc.

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

ACTION: Decision and Order.

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SUMMARY: Notice is given of the Decision and Order (Case No. DH-012) 
granting a Waiver to HEAT-N-GLO Fireplace Products, Inc. (HEAT-N-GLO), 
from the existing Department of Energy (DOE or Department) test 
procedure for vented home heating equipment. The Department is granting 
HEAT-N-GLO's Petition for Waiver regarding the use of pilot light 
energy consumption in calculating the Annual Fuel Utilization 
Efficiency (AFUE) for its models BAYFYRE-TRS and 6000XLT vented 
heaters.


[[Page 41033]]



FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Bill Hui, U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and 
Renewable Energy, Mail Station: EE-43, Forrestal Building, 1000 
Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585-0121, Telephone: (202) 
586-9145, Facsimile: (202) 586-4617, E-mail: [email protected]
    or
Eugene Margolis, Esquire, U.S. Department of Energy, Office of General 
Counsel, Mail Station: GC-72, Forrestal Building, 1000 Independence 
Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585-0103, Telephone: (202) 586-9507, 
Facsimile: (202) 586-4116, E-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In accordance with Title 10 CFR 430.27(j), 
notice is hereby given of the issuance of the Decision and Order as set 
out below. In the Decision and Order, HEAT-N-GLO has been granted a 
Waiver for its models BAYFYRE-TRS and 6000XLT vented heaters, 
permitting the company to use an alternate test method in determining 
AFUE.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on July 25, 1997.
Joseph J. Romm,
Acting Assistant Secretary, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

Background

    The Energy Conservation Program for Consumer Products (other than 
automobiles) was established pursuant to the Energy Policy and 
Conservation Act, Public Law 94-163, 89 Stat. 917, as amended (EPCA), 
which requires the Department to prescribe standardized test procedures 
to measure the energy consumption of certain consumer products, 
including vented home heating equipment. The intent of the test 
procedures is to provide a comparable measure of energy consumption 
that will assist consumers in making purchasing decisions, and will 
determine whether a product complies with the applicable energy 
conservation standard. These test procedures appear at Title 10 CFR 
Part 430, Subpart B.
    The Department amended the prescribed test procedures by adding 
Title 10 CFR 430.27 to create a waiver process, 45 FR 64108 (September 
26, 1980). Thereafter, the Department further amended its appliance 
test procedure waiver process to allow the Assistant Secretary for 
Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (Assistant Secretary) to grant 
an Interim Waiver from test procedure requirements to manufacturers 
that have petitioned the Department for a waiver of such prescribed 
test procedures, 51 FR 42823 (November 26, 1986).
    The waiver process allows the Assistant Secretary to waive 
temporarily test procedures for a particular basic model when a 
petitioner shows that the basic model contains one or more design 
characteristics which prevent testing according to the prescribed test 
procedures or when the prescribed test procedures may evaluate the 
basic model in a manner so unrepresentative of its true energy 
consumption as to provide materially inaccurate comparative data. 
Waivers generally remain in effect until final test procedure 
amendments become effective, resolving the problem that is the subject 
of the waiver.
    HEAT-N-GLO Fireplace Products, Inc. (HEAT-N-GLO), filed a 
``Petition for Waiver,'' dated April 10, 1997, in accordance with 
section 430.27 of Title 10 CFR Part 430. The Department published in 
the Federal Register on May 21, 1997, HEAT-N-GLO's Petition and 
solicited comments, data, and information respecting the Petition, 62 
FR 27727 (May 21, 1997). HEAT-N-GLO also filed an ``Application for 
Interim Waiver'' under section 430.27(b)(2), which the Department 
granted on May 14, 1997, 62 FR 27727 (May 21, 1997).
    No comments were received concerning either the ``Petition for 
Waiver'' or the ``Interim Waiver.'' The Department consulted with the 
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) concerning HEAT-N-GLO's Petition. The 
FTC does not have any objections to the issuance of the waiver to HEAT-
N-GLO.
    On February 28, 1997, the Department issued the Final Rule on test 
procedures for furnaces/boilers, vented home heating equipment, and 
pool heaters. 62 FR 26140, (May 12, 1997). This Final Rule incorporates 
test procedure waivers granted to different manufacturers regarding the 
use of pilot light energy consumption in calculating the Annual Fuel 
Utilization Efficiency (AFUE). This Waiver granted to HEAT-N-GLO 
expires on November 10, 1997, the date when the final test procedure 
rule becomes effective, resolving the issue necessitating this Waiver.

Assertions and Determinations

    HEAT-N-GLO's Petition seeks a waiver from the Department's test 
provisions regarding the use of pilot light energy consumption in 
calculating the AFUE. The Department's test provisions in section 3.5 
of Title 10 CFR Part 430, Subpart B, Appendix O, require measurement of 
energy input rate to the pilot light (Qp) with an error no 
greater than 3 percent for vented heaters, and use of this data in 
section 4.2.6 for the calculation of AFUE using the formula: AFUE = 
[4400ssuQin-max]/
[4400ssQin-max + 
2.5(4600)uQp]. HEAT-N-GLO requests that 
it be allowed to delete Qp and accordingly, the 
[2.5(4600)uQp] term in the calculation 
of AFUE. HEAT-N-GLO states that its models BAYFYRE-TRS and 6000XLT 
vented heaters are designed with a transient pilot which is to be 
turned off by the user when the heater is not in use.
    The control knob on the combination gas control in these heaters 
has three positions: ``OFF,'' ``PILOT,'' and ``ON.'' Gas flow to the 
pilot is obtained by rotating the control knob from ``OFF'' to 
``PILOT,'' depressing the knob, holding in, pressing the piezo igniter. 
When the pilot heats a thermocouple element, sufficient voltage is 
supplied to the combination gas control for the pilot to remain lit 
when the knob is released and turned to the ``ON'' position. The main 
burner can then be ignited by moving an ON/OFF switch to the ``ON'' 
position. Instructions to users to turn the gas control knob to the 
``OFF'' position when the heater is not in use, which automatically 
turns off the pilot, are provided in the User's Instruction Manual and 
on a label adjacent to the gas control valve. If the manufacturer's 
instructions are observed by the user, the pilot light will not be left 
on. Since the current Departmental test procedure does not address this 
issue, and since others have received the same waiver under the same 
circumstances, HEAT-N-GLO asks that the Waiver be granted.
    Previous Petitions for Waiver under the same circumstances have 
been granted by the Department to Appalachian Stove and Fabricators, 
Inc., 56 FR 51711 (October 15, 1991); Valor Inc., 56 FR 51714 (October 
15, 1991); CFM International Inc., 61 FR 17287 (April 19, 1996); 
Vermont Castings, Inc., 61 FR 17290 (April 19, 1996); Superior 
Fireplace Company, 61 FR 17885 (April 23, 1996); Vermont Castings, 
Inc., 61 FR 57857 (November 8, 1996); EAT-N-GLO Fireplace Products, 
Inc., 61 FR 64519 (December 5, 1996); CFM Majestic Inc., 62 FR 10547 
(March 7, 1997); Hunter Energy and Technology Inc., 62 FR 14408 (March 
26, 1997); Wolf Steel Ltd., 62 FR 14409 (March 26, 1997); and Fireplace 
Manufacturers Incorporated, 62 FR 34443 (June 26, 1997).
    Based on the Department's review of how HEAT-N-GLO's models 
BAYFYRE-TRS and 6000XLT vented heaters operate and the fact that if the 
manufacturer's instructions are followed, the pilot light will not be 
left

[[Page 41034]]

on, the Department grants HEAT-N-GLO its Petition for Waiver to exclude 
the pilot light energy input in the calculation of AFUE.
    This decision is subject to the condition that the heaters shall 
have an easily read label near the gas control knob instructing the 
user to turn the valve to the off-position when the heaters are not in 
use.
    It is, therefore, ordered that:
    (1) The ``Petition for Waiver'' filed by HEAT-N-GLO Fireplace 
Products, Inc. (Case No. DH-012), is hereby granted as set forth in 
paragraph (2) below, subject to the provisions of paragraphs (3), (4), 
and (5).
    (2) Notwithstanding any contrary provisions of Appendix O of Title 
10 CFR Part 430, Subpart B, HEAT-N-GLO Fireplace Products, Inc., shall 
be permitted to test its models BAYFYRE-TRS and 6000XLT vented heaters 
on the basis of the test procedure specified in Title 10 CFR Part 430, 
with modifications set forth below:
    (i) Delete paragraph 3.5 of Appendix O.
    (ii) Delete paragraph 4.2.6 of Appendix O and replace with the 
following paragraph:
    4.2.6  Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency. For manually controlled 
vented heaters, calculate the Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency (AFUE) 
as a percent and defined as:

AFUE = u

where u is defined in section 4.2.5 of this 
appendix.

    (iii) With the exception of the modification set forth above, HEAT-
N-GLO Fireplace Products, Inc., shall comply in all respects with the 
test procedures specified in Appendix O of Title 10 CFR Part 430, 
Subpart B.
    (3) The Waiver shall remain in effect from the date of issuance of 
this Order until November 10, 1997, the date when the Department's 
final test procedure appropriate to models BAYFYRE-TRS and 6000XLT 
vented heaters manufactured by HEAT-N-GLO Fireplace Products, Inc., 
becomes effective.
    (4) This Waiver is based upon the presumed validity of statements, 
allegations, and documentary materials submitted by the petitioner. 
This Waiver may be revoked or modified at any time upon a determination 
that a factual basis underlying the Petition is incorrect.
    (5) Effective July 25, 1997, this Waiver supersedes the Interim 
Waiver granted HEAT-N-GLO Fireplace Products, Inc., on May 14, 1997, 62 
FR 27727 (May 21, 1997). (Case No. DH-012).

    Issued in Washington, DC, on July 25, 1997.
Joseph J. Romm,
Acting Assistant Secretary, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.
[FR Doc. 97-20211 Filed 7-30-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P