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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 167 / Wednesday, September 1, 2021 / Proposed Rules
these two additional cycles beyond the two proposed cycles would create additional test burden with little, if any, improvement to representativeness compared to the proposal.
In summary, DOE tentatively concludes that the proposed changes to the water fill level settings, in conjunction with the proposed changes to the load sizes and the applicable LUFs, would continue to produce representative test results for each type of WFCS. Collectively, this combination of amendments would continue to approximate the same consumer usage patterns that provide the foundation for the current Appendix J2 test procedure.
DOE recognizes that for some models, these proposed amendments could change the measured efficiency. As noted, DOE is proposing to include the changes to the water fill level specifications only in the proposed new Appendix J, which DOE would use for the evaluation and issuance of updated efficiency standards. Thus, DOE is proposing that use of the proposed new Appendix J, if finalized, would not be required until such time as the energy conservation standards are amended using the measured efficiency as determined under Appendix J.
DOE requests comment on its proposal to change the water fill level selections in the proposed new Appendix J for clothes washers with manual and user-adjustable automatic WFCS to reflect the proposed small and large test load sizes. DOE seeks data and information on how the proposed changes to the water fill level selection for clothes washers with manual and user-adjustable automatic WFCS would impact test procedure representativeness.

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3. Determination of Warm Wash Tested Settings Section 3.5 of Appendix J2 states that if a clothes washer has four or more Warm Wash/Cold Rinse temperature selections, either all discrete selections shall be tested, or the clothes washer shall be tested at the 25-percent, 50percent, and 75-percent positions of the temperature selection device between the hottest hot 135 F 57.2 C wash and the coldest cold wash. If a selection is not available at the 25, 50 or 75percent position, in place of each such unavailable selection, the next warmer temperature selection shall be used.
DOE refers to the latter provision as the 25/50/75 test. Section 3.6 of Appendix J2 states that the 25/50/75 test provision also applies to the Warm Wash/Warm Rinse temperature selection.

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DOE first established the 25/50/75 test in Appendix J11997 to address the test burden for clothes washers that offer a large number of warm wash temperature selections, if the test procedure were to require testing all warm temperature selections. 62 FR 45484, 45497. DOE
had originally proposed a similar method 37 in the April 1996 SNOPR for clothes washers having infinite warm wash selections that are nonuniformly distributed. 61 FR 17589, 17599. In the August 1997 Final Rule, DOE
considered clothes washers with more than three warm wash temperatures to be clothes washers with infinite warm wash temperature selections, therefore allowing them to also use the 25/50/75
test. 62 FR 45484, 45498. DOE
concluded at that time that testing at the various test points of the temperature range, with a requirement to test to the next higher selection if a temperature selection is not available at a specified test point, would provide data representative of the warm wash temperature selection offerings. Id.
DOE notes that the 25/50/75 test was adopted before the widespread use of electronic controls, which now allow for the assignment of wash water temperatures that may not reflect the physical spacing between temperature selections on the control panel. For example, with electronic controls, the 25-percent, 50-percent, and 75-percent positions on the dial may not necessarily correspond to 25-percent, 50-percent, and 75-percent temperature differences between the hottest and coldest selections. DOE is aware of clothes washers on the market with four or more warm wash temperature selections, in which the temperature selections located at the 25, 50, and 75percent positions are low-temperature cycles that have wash temperatures only a few degrees higher than the coldest wash temperature; whereas the temperature selection labeled Warm is located beyond the 75-percent position on the temperature selection dial and is therefore not included for testing under the 25/50/75 test. 85 FR
31065, 31073.
In the May 2020 RFI, DOE requested feedback on the representativeness of using the 25/50/75 test on clothes washers with electronic controls, particularly for clothes washers in which the 25-percent, 50-percent, and 75-percent positions on the dial do not correspond to 25-percent, 50-percent, and 75-percent temperature increments between the hottest and coldest 37 The originally proposed test would have required testing at the 20/40/60/80 percent positions.

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selections. Id. DOE also requested comment on whether there is a less burdensome means for the test procedure to be reasonably designed to measure energy use or efficiency of the clothes washer during a representative average use cycle.
AHAM opposed any changes to the 25/50/75 test for clothes washers with four or more warm/cold temperature selections, stating that changes are not necessary. AHAM asserted that introducing any change could lead to increased test burden with no evident benefit to consumers or energy savings.
AHAM, No. 5 at p. 13
The CA IOUs supported DOE
amending the 25/50/75 test to define positions along the temperature range instead of positions along the temperature selection device. The CA
IOUs expressed concern that the current 25/50/75 test significantly underestimates energy usage of clothes washers in situations where positions along the temperature selection device do not match positions along the temperature range. CA IOUs, No. 8 at p. 16
The Joint Commenters expressed concern that the 25/50/75 test for clothes washers with four or more Warm Wash/Cold Rinse temperature selections is not representative because, for some clothes washers, the 25percent, 50-percent, and 75-percent positions on the temperature dial may not accurately represent the 25-percent, 50-percent, and 75-percent temperature differences between the coldest and hottest selections. The Joint Commenters encouraged DOE to amend the 25/50/75 test so that it adequately represents the energy use of all clothes washers Warm Wash/Cold Rinse temperature selections. Joint Commenters, No. 10 at p. 3
NEEA recommended that DOE
characterize the Warm Wash/Cold Rinse temperature selections using a single test run on the wash temperature setting labeled Warm in order to increase representativeness of real-world use.
NEEA expressed concern that the current test procedure likely underestimates hot water use and adds unnecessary test burden. NEEA, No. 12
at pp. 1820 NEEA added that its recommended change would eliminate up to six test runs from the test procedure three load sizes at two wash/
rinse temperatures. NEEA expects that this benefit would affect a sizeable percentage of the market, given NEEAs estimate that more than 75 percent of clothes washers sold in the Northwest have three or more discrete Warm Wash/Cold Rinse temperature selections. Id.

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