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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 167 / Wednesday, September 1, 2021 / Proposed Rules
proposed new Appendix J and 10 CFR
430.23j1i and j3i.

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2. Drying Energy Assumptions Section 4.3 of Appendix J2 provides an equation for calculating total percycle energy consumption for removal of moisture from the clothes washer test load in a clothes dryer, i.e., the drying energy. DOE first introduced the drying energy equation in Appendix J1
as part of the August 1997 Final Rule.
The drying energy calculation is based on the following three assumed values:
1 A clothes dryer final moisture content of 4 percent; 2 the nominal energy required for a clothes dryer to remove moisture from a pound of clothes DEF of 0.5 kWh/lb; and 3
a clothes dryer usage factor DUF of 0.91, representing the percentage of clothes washer loads dried in a clothes dryer.
a. Dryer Final Moisture Content DOEs test procedure for clothes dryers, codified at 10 CFR part 430, subpart B, appendix D1 Appendix D1, prescribes a final moisture content between 2.5 and 5.0 percent, which is consistent with the 4-percent final moisture content value in the clothes washer test procedure for determining the drying energy. However, DOEs alternate clothes dryer test procedure, codified at 10 CFR part 430, subpart B, appendix D2 Appendix D2, prescribes a final moisture content between 1 and 2.5 percent for timer dryers, which are clothes dryers that can be preset to carry out at least one operation that is terminated by a timer, but may also be manually controlled without including any automatic termination function. For automatic termination control dryers, which can be preset to carry out at least one sequence of operations to be terminated by means of a system assessing, directly or indirectly, the moisture content of the load, the test cycle is deemed invalid if the clothes dryer terminates the cycle at a final moisture content greater than 2
percent. Section 3.3.2 of Appendix D2.
In the final rule establishing Appendix D2, DOE determined a clothes dryer final moisture content of 2 percent using the DOE test load to be more representative in that, generally, consumers would find a final moisture content higher than this level unacceptable. 78 FR 49607, 49625 Aug.
14, 2013. Timer dryers are allowed a range of final moisture contents during the test because DOE concluded that it would be unduly burdensome to require the tester to dry the test load to an exact final moisture content; however, the measured test cycle energy consumption
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for timer dryers is normalized to calculate the energy consumption required to dry the test load to 2-percent final moisture content. Id.
Manufacturers may elect to use Appendix D2 to demonstrate compliance with the January 1, 2015, energy conservation standards;
however, the procedures in Appendix D2 need not be performed to determine compliance with energy conservation standards for clothes dryers at this time.
See introductory paragraph to Appendix D1. Use of Appendix D2 is, however, required for ENERGY STAR
certification.58
In the May 2020 RFI, DOE requested information to determine whether to revise the clothes dryer final moisture content in the clothes washer test procedure. 85 FR 31065, 31079.
AHAM opposed changing the final moisture content to align with DOEs clothes dryer test procedure in Appendix D2 because the current value of 4 percent is consistent with Appendix D1, which is still the mandatory test procedure and the one most often used. AHAM, No. 5 at p. 15
Samsung supported changing the final moisture content value in the drying energy calculation in Appendix J2 from 4 percent to 2 percent to align with the DOE clothes dryer test procedure in Appendix D2, because automatic termination dryers represent a majority of the clothes dryer market, and Appendix D2 has been recognized by stakeholders as representative of how automatic termination dryers are used by consumers. Samsung, No. 6 at p. 4
Samsung added that the Appendix D1
test procedure was intended as a stopgap measure to test sensor dryers using non-sensing settings, and that the Appendix D1 procedure does not represent how the sensor dry products are used by consumers as accurately as the Appendix D2 test procedure. Id.
The Joint Commenters and CA IOUs supported changing the final moisture content value in the drying energy calculation from 4 percent to 2 percent in order to align with the clothes dryer test procedure in Appendix D2. Joint Commenters, No. 10 at p. 4; CA IOUs, No. 8 at p. 9
Although clothes dryer manufacturers may optionally use Appendix D2 to demonstrate compliance with the current energy conservation standards, Appendix D1 provides the basis for the current clothes dryer energy 58 The ENERGY STAR Specification of Clothes Dryer Requirements Version 1.1 requires the use of Appendix D2 for clothes dryers to obtain ENERGY
STAR certification.

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conservation standard levels and, as noted by AHAM, is the test procedure used as the basis for certification for the majority of models on the market. In this NOPR, DOE is not proposing to change the assumed final moisture content of 4 percent in the drying energy calculation, which aligns with Appendix D1. However, DOE could reevaluate updating the assumed final moisture content in the clothes washer test procedure based on future updates to clothes dryer test procedures or standards, among other factors.
DOE requests comment on maintaining the assumed final moisture content of 4 percent in the drying energy equation, or whether it should update the assumed final moisture content to 2 percent to align with DOEs Appendix D2 clothes dryer test procedure.
b. Nominal Dryer Energy The DEF represents the nominal energy required for a clothes dryer to remove moisture from clothes. The value of 0.5 kWh/lb was first proposed in the March 23, 1995 NOPR. 60 FR
15330, 15336. DOE received no comments on this proposal and introduced this DEF value into Appendix J1 in the August 1997 Final Rule. 62 FR 45484, 45489.
In the May 2020 RFI, DOE requested information to determine whether to revise the DEF value as a result of the 2015 updates to the DOE clothes dryer test procedure and any market changes due to the most recent energy conservation standards for clothes dryers. 85 FR 31065, 31079.
AHAM proposed that DOE should lower DEF because of the existence of more efficient clothes dryers. AHAM, No. 5 at pp. 1516. AHAM did not propose an amended DEF value but commented that one would need to be determined based on the efficiency of products in the market. Id.
The CA IOUs commented that the current DEF represents a reasonable and conservative estimate for residential clothes dryers based on their analysis of current consumer clothes dryer standards and market share data from the most recent energy conservation standards rulemaking for clothes dryers.
CA IOUs, No. 8 at pp. 911
NEEA recommended that DOE retain the current DEF, or increase it slightly to what NEEA stated would be a more representative value, such as 0.66 kWh/
lb, as used by the Northwest Regional Technical Forum. NEEA, No. 12 at pp.
2526 NEEA stated that its research showed that residential clothes dryers use more energy in the field than what is predicted by the dryer test procedure.

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