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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 232 / Tuesday, December 7, 2021 / Proposed Rules
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would be overly burdensome to test because laboratories have trouble meeting the stability criteria.
For the September 2019 NOPR, DOE
initially developed the 30 FPM
threshold by identifying the threshold below which several common varieties of air velocity sensors could no longer meet the test procedure accuracy and stability requirements. 84 FR 51440, 51447. However, DOE had also stated in the September 2019 NOPR that ceiling fans with low speeds that produce air velocities lower than 40 FPM may have trouble meeting the stability criteria. 84
FR 51440, 51446. As noted, section 3.2
of appendix U specifies that air velocity sensors must have an accuracy within 5% of reading or 2 FPM, whichever is greater. In further reviewing these accuracy requirements, DOE notes that the 2 FPM accuracy tolerance can be determined by multiplying the 5 percent accuracy requirement with 40 FPM, indicating that an air velocity threshold of 40 FPM, rather than 30 FPM, would better align with these established stability criteria. Furthermore, for the September 2019 NOPR proposal of a 30
FPM threshold, DOE had not evaluated every sensor used by laboratories and considered the commenters proposals to use a 40 FPM threshold to be more representative based on industry experience.
For the reasons discussed, DOE
proposes to amend the low-speed definition as follows:
Low speed means the lowest available ceiling fan speed for which fewer than half or three, whichever is fewer, sensors per individual axis are measuring less than 40 feet per minute.
Alternatively, DOE is considering representing the proposed definition as a table indicating the number of sensors that must measure >40 FPM, as follows:
Low speed means the lowest available speed that meets the following criteria:
Number of sensors per individual axis as determined in section 3.2.26 of Appendix U

Number of sensors per individual axis measuring 40 feet per minute or greater
3 4
5 6
7 8
9 10
11
12

2
3 3
4 4
5 6
7 8
9

Furthermore, DOE proposes to include explicit instructions in the test procedure to start at the lowest speed and move to the next highest speed until the modified low speed criteria are met. This would ensure the
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identification of the lowest speed of the fan that meets the proposed low speed definition. DOE understands that most LSSD ceiling fans have distinct speed settings and would be able to accommodate this proposal.
DOE expects that this proposed amendment would reduce the total test time per unit for low speed tests for a subset of LSSD ceiling fans. Under the current test procedure, the low speeds in question would likely require laboratories to run tests for a long period potentially the full duration of the laboratories local operating procedures limit before achieving the necessary stability criteria requirements. The proposed alternate test method could mitigate the occurrence of these long test runs. DOE estimates that manufacturers of LSSD ceiling fans that conduct testing in-house could save approximately 60 minutes in per unit testing time due to the new low speed criteria.
DOE does not expect this amendment to require retesting or to change measured efficiency for the majority of LSSD ceiling fans. However, for the small subset of LSSD ceiling fans for which the lowest speed is at an extremely low rotation rate and provides a low airflow, retesting may be required if the lowest speed does not meet the proposed definition of low speed. In the instances under the proposal for which testing at the next highest speed were to be required, testing at the next highest speed would likely result in increased power consumption, but it would also result in increased airflow. The resulting ceiling fan efficiency is calculated by weighting the airflow and power consumption results from the high speed test which is not proposed to be amended with the low speed test, resulting in a weighted average CFM/W Equation 1, Appendix U. Because the measured efficiency is a ratio of airflow and power consumption and testing at the next highest speed would result in an increase in airflow as well as power consumption, DOE expects the low speed proposal to have insignificant effect on ceiling fan efficiency for the applicable subset of LSSD ceiling fans.
The potential cost and cost saving impacts of this proposal are discussed in section III.K.1.a. of this document.
DOE seeks comment on the proposal to update the low speed definition as follows: Low speed means the lowest available ceiling fan speed for which fewer than half or three, whichever is fewer, sensors per individual axis are measuring less than 40 feet per minute.
DOE also seeks comment on the alternate proposal to represent low
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speed as a table specifying the number of sensors per individual axis required to measure greater than 40 feet per minute.
DOE seeks comment on the proposal to require testing to start at the lowest speed and move to the next highest speed until the modified low speed criteria are met. Specifically, DOE seeks comment on whether any applicable variable speed LSSD ceiling fans without distinct speed settings would require further specificity on this proposal and if so, how it should be specified.
Hunter, ALA, BAF and AMCA further commented that if either tested fan sample per DOE sampling requirements has a lowest-speed setting that does not meet the definition of low speed under this proposal, both samples should be tested at the next highest speed. Hunter, No. 29 at p. 4; ALA, No.
34 at p. 3; BAF, No. 36 at p. 2; AMCA, No. 33 at p. 8 DOE requires that ceiling fan representation must be based on sampling requirements prescribed at 10
CFR 429.11, which specifies that the minimum number of units tested shall be no less than two. 10 CFR 429.32.
Testing of ceiling fans must be conducted according to Appendix U, which as proposed, would require determining the setting that meets the definition of low speed individually for each of the units in the sample, if applicable. As discussed previously, 40
FPM is representative of the low speed required for circulation of air. To the extent that there is any variation within the sample of fans for a basic model, determining the setting that meets the definition of low speed individually for each unit in the sample would correspond to how each unit in the sample would be operating during a representative average use cycle.
DOE requests comment on the extent to which, for DOE certification purposes, an individual unit within a sample of fans per basic model could have a different setting that meets the proposed definition of low speed than other units within the same sample. If so, DOE requests data on how the issue could affect representativeness in terms of ceiling fan efficiency of the basic model.
F. Sensor Arm Setups To record air velocity readings, Section 3.3.2 of appendix U prescribes two setups for taking airflow measurements along four perpendicular axes designated A, B, C, and D: A
single rotating sensor arm or four fixed sensor arms. If using a single rotating sensor arm, airflow readings are first measured on Axis A, followed by
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