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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 167 / Wednesday, September 1, 2021 / Proposed Rules
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p. 1 Whirlpool further supports a reasonable balancing of the DOE test procedure, considering repeatability, reproducibility, representativeness, and testing burden. Whirlpool, No. 7 at p.
1 As stated, EPCA requires that any test procedures be reasonably designed to produce test results which measure energy efficiency, energy use or estimated annual operating cost of a covered product or equipment during a representative average use cycle or period of use and not be unduly burdensome to conduct. 42 U.S.C.
6293b3; 42 U.S.C. 6314a2 As described in this NOPR, DOE is proposing a number of changes to be implemented in a proposed new Appendix J that DOE has tentatively concluded would significantly reduce test burden while maintaining or improving the representativeness of test results. In addition, both the amendments to Appendix J2 and the proposed new Appendix J are intended to further improve the repeatability and reproducibility of test results, as described in the relevant sections of this document.
DOE is proposing to establish a new test procedure at a new Appendix J at 10 CFR part 430 subpart B. Any changes to the test procedure that would impact measured efficiency would be provided in this proposed new Appendix J, which DOE would use for the evaluation and issuance of updated efficiency standards. Therefore, DOE is proposing that use of new Appendix J would not be required until the compliance date of any updated standards that are based on new Appendix J. 42 U.S.C.
6295gg2C. DOE also proposes to state in the introductory text to both Appendix J2 and the proposed new Appendix J that Appendix J2 is required to determine compliance with energy conservation standards until any such amended standards are adopted.
B. Scope of Coverage This NOPR covers those consumer products that meet the definition of clothes washer, as codified at 10 CFR
430.2.
EPCA does not define the term clothes washer. DOE has defined a clothes washer as a consumer product designed to clean clothes, utilizing a water solution of soap and/or detergent and mechanical agitation or other movement, that must be one of the following classes: Automatic clothes washers, semi-automatic clothes washers, and other clothes washers. 10
CFR 430.2.
An automatic clothes washer is a class of clothes washer that has a
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control system that is capable of scheduling a preselected combination of operations, such as regulation of water temperature, regulation of the water fill level, and performance of wash, rinse, drain, and spin functions without the need for user intervention subsequent to the initiation of machine operation.
Some models may require user intervention to initiate these different segments of the cycle after the machine has begun operation, but they do not require the user to intervene to regulate the water temperature by adjusting the external water faucet valves. Id.
A semi-automatic clothes washer is a class of clothes washer that is the same as an automatic clothes washer except that user intervention is required to regulate the water temperature by adjusting the external water faucet valves. Id.
Other clothes washer means a class of clothes washer that is not an automatic or semi-automatic clothes washer. Id.
This NOPR also covers commercial equipment that meets the definition of commercial clothes washer.
Commercial clothes washer is defined as a soft-mount front-loading or softmount top-loading clothes washer that A Has a clothes container compartment that i For horizontal-axis clothes washers, is not more than 3.5 cubic feet; and ii For vertical-axis clothes washers, is not more than 4.0 cubic feet; and B Is designed for use in i Applications in which the occupants of more than one household will be using the clothes washer, such as multi-family housing common areas and coin laundries; or ii Other commercial applications.

42 U.S.C. 631121; 10 CFR 431.452
DOE is not proposing any changes to the scope of products and equipment covered by its clothes washer test procedures, or to the relevant definitions.
C. Testing Conditions and Instrumentation 1. Water Meter Resolution Section 2.5.5 of Appendix J2 requires the use of water meters in the hot and cold water lines with a resolution no larger than 0.1 gallons and a maximum error no greater than 2 percent of the measured flow rate. DOE has observed that some clothes washers use very small amounts of hot water on some temperature selections, on the order of 0.1 gallons or less. 85 FR 31065, 31069.
For example, some clothes washers have both Cold and Tap Cold temperature selections, and the Cold selection may
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use a fraction of a gallon of hot water.
85 FR 31065, 31070. DOE believes that Appendix J2 may not provide the necessary resolution to accurately and precisely measure the hot water usage of such temperature selections. Id. In the May 2020 RFI, DOE requested input on whether to amend section 2.5.5 of Appendix J2 to require that water meters must have a resolution more precise than 0.1 gallons. Id.
The Joint Commenters encouraged DOE to require a water meter with greater precision than that of the current specification to ensure that the test procedures are accurately representing energy use. Joint Commenters, No. 10 at p. 3
AHAM commented that requiring more precise water meters could provide a benefit by increasing the accuracy of the measurements but could also increase the burden due to the cost of obtaining these meters that could become overly burdensome. AHAM, No. 5 at p. 7
GEA supported moving to a 0.01gallon resolution for water meters. GEA
stated that it uses water meters with this resolution and has encountered reproducibility issues when using a water meter with only 0.1-gallon resolution. GEA, No. 13 at p. 2
Whirlpool commented that requiring a more precise water meter is not justified. Whirlpool estimates that a manufacturer without these meters installed could face a cost of over $100,000 to purchase and install them, and cautioned that the need for a more precise water meter needs to be balanced with the cost burden.
Whirlpool, No. 7 at p. 1
DOE has identified clothes washers on the market that use less than 0.1
gallons of hot water on certain temperature selections or load sizes required for testing. In DOEs experience with such clothes washers, the maximum load size typically uses more than 0.1 gallons of hot water on each of the available temperature selections providing indication of which temperature selections use hot water, whereas the average and minimum load sizes may use a quantity less than 0.1
gallons. For these clothes washers, the existing water meter resolution of 0.1
gallons is insufficient to provide an accurate measurement of hot water consumption, i.e., the volume of hot water measured is less than the resolution of the water meter. To improve the representativeness of the water measurement, DOE is proposing a requirement to use a water meter with greater precision for clothes washers that use less than 0.1 gallons of hot water. DOEs testing suggests that
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