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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 188 / Friday, October 1, 2021 / Proposed Rules
notice of petition and request for public comment April 2020 Notice of Petition. 85 FR 22677, 2267722678
April 23, 2020.
To date, DOE has not proposed test procedures or energy conservation standards for fans and blowers, including ACFHs. DOE has identified a number of issues specific to potential test procedures for ACFHs that may benefit from public input.
II. Request for Information In the following sections, DOE has identified a variety of issues on which it seeks input to determine whether, and if so how, potential test procedures for fans and blowers, including ACFHs, would 1 comply with the requirements in EPCA that test procedures be reasonably designed to produce test results which reflect energy use during a representative average use cycle, and 2 not be unduly burdensome to conduct 42 U.S.C. 6314a2.
Additionally, DOE welcomes comments on any aspect related to the potential test procedures for fans and blowers, including ACFHs that may not specifically be identified in this document.
A. Fans and Blowers Although EPCA lists fans and blowers as types of industrial equipment, these terms are not defined. See 42 U.S.C.
63112Bii and Biii As noted, DOE has established a definition for fans.8 As industrial equipment, this equipment excludes ceiling fans and furnace fans, both covered products defined at 10 CFR 430.2. See 10 CFR
431.171 In the August 2021 Notice of Final Coverage Determination, DOE
determined that the definition appropriately covered fans and blowers that are industrial equipment as specified by EPCA. 86 FR 46579, 46585.
DOE is publishing this RFI to provide for additional public comment on issues specific to potential test procedures for fans and blowers, including air circulating fan heads, following the final coverage determination i.e., the August 2021 Notice of Final Coverage Determination.
8 A

fan or blower means a rotary bladed machine used to convert electrical or mechanical power to air power, with an energy output limited to 25 kilojoule kJ per kilogram kg of air. It consists of an impeller, a shaft and bearings and/
or driver to support the impeller, as well as a structure or housing. A fan or blower may include a transmission, driver, and/or motor controller. 10
CFR 431.172

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B. Scope and Definitions for ACFHs 1. Definition ACFHs that are the subject of this RFI
are designed to provide concentrated directional airflow and consist of a motor, impeller and guard for mounting on a pedestal, wall mount bracket, ceiling mount bracket, I-beam bracket or other mounting means. ACFHs are different from ceiling fans, which are designed to circulate air rather than provide concentrated directional airflow. As a result, ACFHs have lower diameter-to-maximum operating speed ratio expressed in inches per revolutions per minute in/RPM
than ceiling fans.
As previously noted, fans and blowers are defined at 10 CFR 431.172. DOE
does not currently define air circulating fans heads. The American National Standards Institute ANSI/Air Movement and Control Association International, Inc. AMCA Standard 23015, Laboratory Methods of Testing Air Circulating Fans for Rating and Certification AMCA 23015 9 is the industry test procedure for air circulating fans, which include ACFHs.10 Section 5.1 of AMCA 23015
defines an air circulating fan as a non-ducted fan used for the general circulation of air within a confined space. It further classifies ACFHs as a category of air circulating fans and is defined in Section 5.1.1 of AMCA 230
15 as follows: an assembly consisting of a motor, impeller and guard for mounting on a pedestal having a base and column, wall mount bracket, ceiling mount bracket, I-beam bracket or other commonly accepted mounting means.
ANSI/AMCA Standard 21421, Test Procedure for Calculating Fan Energy Index for Commercial and Industrial Fans and Blowers AMCA 21421 11
defines a circulating fan as a fan that is not a ceiling fan that is used to move air within a space that has no provision for connection to ducting or separation 9 AMCA 23015 was approved by ANSI on October 16, 2015.
10 In addition to ACFHs, AMCA 23015 defines four other categories of air circulating fans: 1
Ceiling fans the subject of a separate DOE
rulemaking as discussed in this document; 2
personnel coolers a fan used in shops, factories, etc. Generally supplied with wheels or casters on the housing or frame to aid in portability, and with motor and impeller enclosed in a common guard and shroud; 3 box fans a fan used in an office or residential application and having the motor and impeller enclosed in an approximately square box frame having a handle; and 4 table fans a fan intended for use on a desk, table or countertop. The fan may also be provided with the means for mounting to a wall. See Sections 5.1.2 through 5.1.5 of AMCA 23015.
11 AMCA 21421 was approved by ANSI on March 1, 2021.

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of the fan inlet from its outlet. The fan is designed to be used for the general circulation of air. See Section 3.15 of AMCA 21421 AMCA 21421 does not define ACFHs.
DOE reviewed the existing definitions of ACFHs, air circulating fan, and circulating fan, and marketing material for this equipment,12 and determined that certain ACFHs are designed for use in commercial and industrial applications and meet the definition of fans and blowers as they are rotary bladed machines that convert electrical power to air power, have an energy output limited to 25 kJ/kg and consist of an impeller, a shaft and bearings and, as well as a structure or housing. When establishing the proposed definitions to support any potential test procedure for ACFHs, DOE will consider whether existing definitions in industry standards can be used. DOE is reviewing AMCA 21421, and AMCA 23015 and is interested in collecting additional information that would help in establishing definitions.
Issue 1: DOE seeks input and comments on the definition of air circulating fan and ACFH as specified in AMCA 23015. If these definitions are not appropriate, DOE seeks input on how they should be amended and why.
Specifically, DOE seeks feedback on whether the definition of ACFH should also specify a maximum value of diameter-to-maximum operating speed ratio e.g., 0.06 in/RPM to distinguish ACFHs from ceiling fans.
Issue 2: DOE requests comments on whether it should consider limiting the definition of ACFHs based on the fans electrical input power, or any other characteristic that would allow identifying ACFHs that are to any significant extent distributed in commerce for industrial or commercial use. DOE seeks information to support any recommendation to limit the definition of ACFHs based on fan electrical input power or any other characteristics.
Issue 3: DOE requests comments on whether it should consider test procedures for additional categories of air circulating fans other than ACFHs, specifically, personnel coolers, box fans, or table fans that meet the definition of fan and blower.
2. Scope When establishing the proposed scope of any potential test procedure, DOE
12 See for example:
www.industrialfansdirect.com/collections/aircirculator-fans/air-circulator-fan-heads-andmounts; www.grainger.com/category/hvac-andrefrigeration/cooling-fans/industrial-cooling-fans/
industrial-fan-heads.

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