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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 167 / Wednesday, September 1, 2021 / Proposed Rules
savings as part of the analysis conducted during CCW energy conservation standards rulemakings, DOE uses CCW-specific usage data for factors such as annual use cycles, the proportion of gas versus electric water heating, and others. This ensures that the analysis of energy savings and national impacts as part of a CCW
standards rulemaking accurately reflects CCW usage. Any determination regarding whether to include low-power mode energy use in the energy efficiency metric for CCWs would be made as part of the ongoing energy conservation standards rulemaking for CCWs.
DOE is not proposing any changes to CCW usage factors or to the CCW energy efficiency metric in this NOPR.

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H. Clarifications In this section of the NOPR, DOE is proposing amendments to its test procedures for clothes washers at Appendix J2 that DOE has tentatively determined would not alter the measured efficiency of clothes washers.
The proposed amendments either codify guidance on the existing regulations, provide more specificity in the test procedure provisions, provide improved organization of each section, or correct formatting errors in DOEs clothes washer test procedures.
1. Water Inlet Hose Length DOE has observed an increasing trend of water inlet hoses not being included with the purchase of a new clothes washer. DOE has received questions from test laboratories asking how to install a clothes washer that does not include water inlet hoses among the installation hardware.
Multiple styles of water inlet hoses different materials, lengths, durability, etc. are commercially available from appliance and hardware retailers. While most such products intended for consumer use would be appropriate for installing a clothes washer, DOE seeks to provide additional direction to avoid the use of a hose designed for niche purposes i.e., to ensure representativeness as well as to ensure reproducible results among different laboratories. Specifically, DOE observes a wide range of hose lengths available on the market, and recognizes that using an excessively long hose could result in the water temperature or pressure at the clothes washer inlet deviating significantly from the temperature and pressure at the test fixture. Based on a review of water inlet hoses available at major retailers, the most common lengths for clothes washer hoses range from 36 feet ft. DOE is therefore
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proposing to specify the use of hoses that do not exceed 72 inches in length 6 ft in section 2.10.1 of the proposed new Appendix J.
DOE requests comment on its proposal to specify the use of hoses not to exceed 72 inches in length in the proposed new Appendix J. DOE also requests comment on the length of inlet hose typically used for testing.
DOE could also consider this change for Appendix J2, but is not proposing it in this NOPR because of the potential for this change to impact measured energy efficiency. DOE proposes to make such changes only in the proposed new Appendix J, which would be used for the evaluation and issuance of updated efficiency standards, and for determining compliance with those standards.
2. Water Fill Selection Availability Table 2.8 within section 2.8 of Appendix J2 requires that, for clothes washers with manual WFCS, each temperature selection that is part of the energy test cycle be tested using both the minimum and maximum water fill levels, using the minimum and maximum load sizes, respectively.
Section 3.2.6 of Appendix J2 describes these water fill levels as the minimum and maximum water levels available for the wash cycle under test. DOE has observed one RCW model with electronic controls in which the maximum water fill level on the unit cannot be selected with all of the temperature selections required for testing; i.e., on at least one temperature setting, the maximum water fill that can be selected is one of the intermediate fill levels on the unit. In such cases generally, the reduced maximum water fill level for a particular temperature setting may not be appropriate for use with the maximum load size required for that particular cycle under test. Using a maximum load size with a reduced maximum water fill level may not provide results that measure energy efficiency and water use during a representative average use cycle or period of use, since the unavailability of the full maximum water fill level for that particular cycle under test would suggest that the particular temperature selection is not intended to be used with a maximum load size.
The RCW model with this characteristic is no longer available on the market, and DOE is not aware of any other clothes washer models currently on the market with this characteristic.
As described further in this discussion, DOE is not proposing any amendments in this NOPR to address the potential for
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the maximum load size required by the test procedure to conflict with the maximum load size intended or able to be washed on such a cycle.
Nevertheless, DOE considered comments received from interested parties on this issue and seeks additional comment on several approaches that DOE has considered that could address this issue in the test procedure.
In the May 2020 RFI, DOE requested comment from interested parties on how the test procedure should accommodate clothes washers in which the maximum available water fill level may differ depending on the temperature selection.
85 FR 31065, 31073.
Samsung stated that it believes that because some clothes washers do not offer all water level selections for all temperature options, the current test procedure is unrepresentative of realworld use. According to Samsung, if the energy test cycle cannot be run at all temperature and water fill options, consumers may switch to a non-tested, and potentially more energy-intensive, mode in order to access the water level and temperature they intend to use.
Samsung suggested that DOE consider amending the test procedure to require testing of other cycles, in addition to the Normal cycle, for which all water level selections are available. Samsung, No.
6 at pp. 23
AHAM commented that it is not necessary to amend the test procedure to include directions for testing clothes washers with water fill levels that are only available at certain temperature settings. AHAM, No. 5 at p. 12 AHAM
commented that while consumers have options available for other needs, the Normal cycle remains the most representative of customer use, and there have not been any data to prove otherwise. AHAM emphasized that the purpose of testing is to test the most used, or representative, cycle and that the Normal cycle has been and remains that cycle. Id. Furthermore, AHAM
commented that DOE has achieved its objectives by limiting water and energy use and restrictions on options in the most commonly used cycle while also allowing for consumer choice. AHAM
stated that it may have more data on this issue at a future time. Id.
The suggestion by Samsung to require testing of other cycles for which all water level selections are available would mirror the approached used in the flowcharts in section 2.12 of Appendix J2 for determining the wash/
rinse temperatures that comprise energy test cycle. For each wash/rinse temperature selection other than Cold/
Cold, the flowcharts require deviating
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