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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 167 / Wednesday, September 1, 2021 / Proposed Rules
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with PROPOSALS3

start test cycles with the test load at bone-dry or at up to 104 percent of the bone-dry weight. DOE further requests feedback on its assessment that this change would not affect test burden.

front-loading clothes washers, this procedure requires positioning the clothes washer on its back surface such that the door opening of the clothes container faces upwards and is leveled horizontally.

5. Cycle Time Measurement The current test procedure does not specify a measurement for average cycle time. In this NOPR, DOE is proposing to base the allocation of annual combined low-power mode hours on the measured average cycle time rather than a fixed value of 8,465 hours, for the proposed new Appendix J see section III.G.3 of this document. DOE is therefore proposing to require the measurement of average cycle time for the proposed new Appendix J. Calculating the annual standby mode and off mode hours using the measured average cycle time would provide a more representative basis for determining the energy consumption in the combined low-power modes for the specific clothes washer under test.
DOE is proposing to define the overall average cycle time of a clothes washer model as the weighted average of the individual cycle times for each wash cycle configuration conducted as part of the test procedure, using the TUFs and LUFs for the weighting. Using the weighted-average approach would align the average cycle time calculation with the calculations for determining weighted-average energy and water use.
These proposed changes would apply only to the proposed new Appendix J.
DOE does not expect the measurement of cycle time to increase test burden. To DOEs knowledge, test laboratories are either already measuring cycle time for all tested cycles or using data acquisition systems to record electronic logs of each cycle, from which determining the cycle time would require minimal additional work.
DOE requests comment on its proposal to add cycle time measurements and to calculate average cycle time using the weighted-average method in the proposed new Appendix J. DOE also requests comment on its assertion that adding cycle time measurements and a calculation of a weighted-average cycle time would not increase testing costs or overall test burden.

a. Computer-Aided Design DOE is aware that for some frontloading clothes washers, positioning the clothes washer on its back surface may be impractical or unsafe, particularly for very large or heavy clothes washers or those with internal components that could be damaged by the procedures specified in section 3.1 of Appendix J2.
85 FR 31065, 31072. On other clothes washers, filling the clothes container volume as described could be difficult or impractical, particularly for clothes washers with concave or otherwise complex door geometries. Id.
Recognizing these challenges, in the May 2020 RFI, DOE considered whether to allow manufacturers to determine the clothes container capacity by performing a calculation of the volume based upon computer-aided design CAD models of the basic model in lieu of physical measurements of a production unit of the basic model. 85
FR 31065, 31072. DOE allows a CADbased approach for consumer refrigerators, refrigerator-freezers, and freezers, as specified at 10 CFR
429.72c.45 In the May 2020 RFI, DOE
requested comments on whether to allow CAD-based determination of clothes container capacity for clothes washers in lieu of physical measurements of a production unit of the basic model. Id. DOE also requested comments on the impacts on manufacturer burden associated with any such change to the capacity measurement procedure. Id.
AHAM stated that the current volume measurement procedure works well as written, and AHAM does not believe it is necessary to allow for CAD-based determination of volume, stating that it would add unnecessary complexity to the test procedure. AHAM, No. 5 at p.
10
UL commented that while manufacturers could easily use CAD
models of their clothes washer containers in order to measure capacity,
6. Capacity Measurement Section 3.1 of Appendix J2 provides the procedure for measuring the clothes container capacity, which represents the maximum usable volume for washing clothes. The clothes container capacity is measured by filling the clothes container with water and using the weight of the water to determine the volume of the clothes container. For
45 Under this approach, any value of total refrigerated volume of a basic model reported to DOE in a certification of compliance in accordance with 429.14b2 must be calculated using the CAD-derived volumes and the applicable provisions in the test procedures in 10 CFR part 430
for measuring volume, and must be within 2
percent, or 0.5 ft3 0.2 ft3 for compact products, whichever is greater, of the volume of a production unit of the basic model measured in accordance with the applicable test procedure in 10 CFR part 430. See 10 CFR 429.72c.

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third-party laboratories would still need to use the water-filling method. UL
suggested that in order to eliminate the necessity of the water-filling method, manufacturers could submit CAD
drawings to DOE as part of the certification process. UL, No. 9 at p. 3
NEEA commented that DOE should not allow manufacturers to declare capacities that cannot be verified by a third party such as manufacturerreported CAD-based determinations.
NEEA, No. 12 at pp. 2627
No information is available at this time to determine how a capacity rating based on a CAD model would compare to the measured capacity using the procedure defined in Appendix J2. DOE
is not proposing to allow CAD-based capacity measurement at this time.
b. Alternative Measurements In test procedures established in certain other jurisdictions e.g., Europe, the United Arab Emirates, Australia, and New Zealand, clothes washer capacity is represented in terms of the weight of clothing e.g., kilograms or pounds that may be washed, rather than the physical volume of the clothes container. Furthermore, some of these test procedures allow for the clothes washer capacity to be declared by the manufacturer, representing the maximum weight of clothing that the clothes washer is designed to successfully clean. 85 FR 31065, 31072.
Some of the alternate representations of clothes washer capacity that DOE
could consider include:
A weight-based capacity, such as pounds of clothing, which could be derived from the measured volume of the clothes container in a similar manner to the way that the maximum test load is currently specified in Table 5.1 of Appendix J2 based on the measured clothes container volume.
A clothes container capacity that is declared by the manufacturer using an industry-standard methodology. For example, IEC 60456 provides two optional methodologies for determining clothes container capacity, using either table tennis balls or water.46
In the May 2020 RFI, DOE requested comment on whether to consider any changes to the representation of clothes washer capacity, including, but not limited to, a weight-based capacity or manufacturer-declared capacity based on industry-standard methodology. 85
FR 31065, 31072. Specifically, DOE
46 For the table tennis ball approach, the clothes container is filled with specified table tennis balls, and an empirically determined equation is provided to convert the number of balls into a capacity value.
The water approach is similar to the approach provided in section 3.1 of Appendix J2.

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