Quiero saber acerca de...

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 87 / Friday, May 7, 2021 / Proposed Rules Issue 20: DOE requests feedback on whether the distribution channels and underlying assumptions used in the January 2017 Final Rule are still applicable, as well as data to update its markups analysis for ceiling fans.
Issue 21: DOE requests data and feedback on the magnitude and impact of online sales to the ceiling fans distribution channels. DOE also seeks input on whether the markups for online sales are significantly different from ceiling fans sold through conventional distribution channels.
3. Life-Cycle Cost and Payback Period Analysis DOE conducts the LCC and PBP
analysis to evaluate the economic effects of potential energy conservation standards for ceiling fans on individual consumers. For any given efficiency level, DOE measures the PBP and the change in LCC relative to an estimated baseline level. The LCC is the total consumer expense over the life of the equipment, consisting of purchase, installation, and operating costs expenses for energy use, maintenance, and repair. Inputs to the calculation of total installed cost include the cost of the equipmentwhich includes MSPs, distribution channel markups, and sales taxesand installation costs. Inputs to the calculation of operating expenses include annual energy consumption, energy prices and price projections, repair and maintenance costs, equipment lifetimes, discount rates, and the year that compliance with new and amended standards is required.
a. DC Motor Market Share and Efficiency Trends DOE measures savings of potential standards relative to a no-newstandards case that reflects conditions without new and/or amended standards and uses current efficiency market shares to characterize the no-newstandards case product efficiency distribution. By accounting for consumers who already purchase more efficient ceiling fans, DOE avoids overstating the potential benefits from potential standards. Online ceiling fan data collection performed in support of the January 2017 Final Rule suggested that approximately 10 percent of standard and hugger ceiling fan models listed online in 2015 had DC motors.
More recent data collection shows that approximately 14 percent of standard and hugger ceiling fan models listed online have DC motors, suggesting a trend toward DC motors. Since DC
motors are generally more efficient than AC motors, standard and hugger ceiling fans with DC motors are expected to be
VerDate Sep<11>2014

17:32 May 06, 2021

Jkt 253001

more efficient than those with AC
motors.
Issue 22: DOE requests feedback and data on the current market share of DC
motor ceiling fans for each product class. DOE also requests feedback and data that would help characterize any shifts to higher efficiency technologies for each ceiling fan product class.
b. Installation Costs In the January 2017 Final Rule, DOE
assumed that installation costs were the same regardless of efficiency level for a given product class. 82 FR 6826, 6848.
DOE is not aware of any data that suggest the cost of installation changes as a function of efficiency for ceiling fans. DOE therefore assumed that installation costs are the same regardless of efficiency level and do not impact the LCC or PBP. As a result, DOE did not include installation costs in the LCC
and PBP analysis.
Issue 23: DOE requests feedback and data on whether any market or technology changes since the January 2017 Final Rule would indicate that installation costs vary by efficiency level. More specifically, DOE is interested in if and how installation costs are affected by ceiling fans with the specific technology options listed in Table II.2 and Table II.3 of this document.
c. Repair and Maintenance Costs In the January 2017 Final Rule, DOE
assumed that maintenance costs are the same for any given product class, regardless of efficiency level and therefore do not impact the LCC or PBP
analyses. DOE included a purchaser repair cost for 6.5 percent of ceiling fans with brushless DC motors primarily due to their electronic components based on an estimate from a ceiling fan technical expert, and no repair cost for AC motor fans. 82 FR 6826, 6850. This 6.5 percent repair rate is incremental over the assumed repair rate of ceiling fans with AC motors. The repair cost was $1,000 for LDCFs and $150 for all other product classes. All repair costs were assessed at half of the product lifetime.
Issue 24: DOE requests information and data on the frequency of repair and repair costs by product class for the technology options listed in Table II.2
and Table II.3 of this document. DOE
particularly requests information and data to inform the assumption from the January 2017 Final Rule that ceiling fans with DC motors require repair at a higher frequency than ceiling fans with AC motors. While DOE is interested in information regarding each of the listed technology options, DOE is also
PO 00000

Frm 00033

Fmt 4702

Sfmt 4702

24545

interested in whether consumers simply replace the products when they fail as opposed to repairing them.
d. Lifetimes In the January 2017 Final Rule, DOE
used historical shipments data and age distributions from installed stock data of standard and hugger ceiling fans to model ceiling fan lifetimes using a Weibull function having a mean of 13.8
years for all product classes. 82 FR
6826, 6851.
Issue 25: DOE requests feedback and data on the expected lifetimes of ceiling fans. In particular, DOE is interested in data that indicate if and how lifetimes differ by product class, as well as data on the expected lifetimes of VSD, HSSD, and large-diameter ceiling fans.
4. Net Present Value To develop the national NPV from potential standards, DOE calculates annual energy expenditures and annual equipment expenditures for the no-newstandards case and the standards case.
The discounted difference between energy bill savings and increased equipment expenditures in each year is the NPV.
For the January 2017 Final Rule, DOE
applied a price decline trend for ceiling fans with brushless DC motors. Given the absence of historical price data and cumulative shipments for brushless DC
motors, DOE assumed that it is the circuitry and electronic controls associated with brushless DC motors that would be affected by price trends driven by the larger electronics industry. As a result, DOE adopted an annual price decline rate of 6 percent applied to the incremental cost associated with a brushless DC motor i.e., the cost difference between the ceiling fan with a brushless DC motor and the ceiling fan at the lower efficiency level. 82 FR 6826, 6854.
Issue 26: DOE requests feedback and any relevant data that could inform its price trend methodology for ceiling fans. Specifically, DOE is interested in data indicating how the price of ceiling fans with DC motors has changed since the January 2017 Final Rule.
III. Submission of Comments DOE invites all interested parties to submit in writing by the date under the DATES heading, comments and information on matters addressed in this notification and on other matters relevant to DOEs early assessment of whether more-stringent energy conservation standards are not warranted for ceiling fans.
Submitting comments via http
www.regulations.gov. The http

E:FRFM07MYP1.SGM

07MYP1