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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 58 / Monday, March 29, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
Table 1 of appendix F and the annual energy consumption in inactive mode or off mode, to reflect a realistic measure of energy use and operating costs in a representative average use cycle.
Additionally, as proposed in the June 2020 NOPR, DOE is defining the electrical power input reported for variable-speed room ACs for purposes of certification in 10 CFR 429.15b2 to be the value measured at the 95 F rating condition, to maintain consistency with the cooling capacity measured at the same condition, and to provide consumers with the cooling capacity and power input expected at full load conditions.
D. Definitions In the June 2020 NOPR, DOE
proposed adding a number of definitions to appendix F to accompany the amendments made in this final rule.
None of these definitions modified the scope of covered products. 85 FR 35700, 35713 Jun. 11, 2020. The following section describes each definition in detail.
1. Key Terms In the June 2020 NOPR, DOE
proposed definitions for three key terms that appeared in appendix F but have no definitions: Cooling mode, cooling capacity, and combined energy efficiency ratio. 85 FR 35700, 35713
Jun. 11, 2020. Although room ACs may sometimes operate in other modes as discussed further in section III.E of this final rule, the room AC CEER metric determined in appendix F was based primarily on performance in cooling mode, and several of the amendments also reference cooling mode.
Therefore, DOE proposed the following definitions for cooling mode, cooling capacity, and combined energy efficiency ratio in appendix F:
Cooling mode means an active mode in which a room air conditioner has activated the main cooling function according to the thermostat or temperature sensor signal or switch including remote control.
Cooling capacity means the amount of cooling, in Btu/h, provided to an indoor conditioned space, determined in Section 4.1 of appendix F.
Combined energy efficiency ratio means the energy efficiency of a room air conditioner as measured in Btu/Wh and determined in Section 5.2.2 of appendix F for single-speed room air conditioners and Section 5.3.12 of appendix F for variable-speed room air conditioners. Id.
To support the amendments pertaining to variable-speed basic models, in the June 2020 NOPR, DOE

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proposed defining single-speed and variable-speed room ACs as follows:
Single-speed room air conditioner means a type of room air conditioner that cannot automatically adjust the compressor speed based on detected conditions.
Variable-speed room air conditioner means a type of room air conditioner that can automatically adjust compressor speed based on detected conditions. 85 FR 35700, 35714
Jun. 11, 2020.
AHAM supported DOEs proposal to add these new definitions in appendix F. AHAM, No. 13 at p. 6
For the reasons discussed in the June 2020 NOPR, DOE is adopting these new definitions in appendix F.
2. Compressor Speeds In the June 2020 NOPR, DOE also proposed defining the three compressor speeds required for variable-speed testing. 85 FR 35700, 35714 Jun. 11, 2020. DOE referred to these compressor speeds as full, intermediate, and low based on the test procedure terminology of AHRI Standard 210/240, and were proposed as follows:
Full compressor speed full means the compressor speed at which the unit operates at full load test conditions, achieved by following the instructions certified by the manufacturer.
Intermediate compressor speed intermediate means a compressor speed higher than the low compressor speed by one third of the difference between low compressor speed and full compressor speed with a tolerance of plus 5 percent designs with nondiscrete speed stages or the next highest inverter frequency step designs with discrete speed steps, achieved by following the instructions certified by the manufacturer.
Low compressor speed low means the compressor speed at which the unit operates at low load test conditions, achieved by following the instructions certified by the manufacturer, such that Capacity4, the measured cooling capacity at test condition 4 in Table 1
of appendix F, is not less than 47
percent and not greater than 57 percent of Capacity1, the measured cooling capacity with the full compressor speed at test condition 1 in Table 1 of appendix F.33 Id.
AHAM generally agreed with the waivers, which included the proposed 10-percent range and 57-percent cooling 33 Further information about the acceptable range of delivered cooling at the low compressor speed and lowest test condition, and how they were derived, can be found in the June 2020 TP NOPR.
85 FR 35700, 35714.

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load as its upper bound above. AHAM, No. 13 at p. 6
The Joint Commenters, NEAA, and the California IOUs urged DOE to ensure that the proposed fixed compressor speeds are representative of real-world operation. The Joint Commenters, NEAA, and the California IOUs expressed concern that the proposed definition for low compressor speed could lead to measured efficiency values that are not representative.
NEAA and the California IOUs pointed to the potential that energy values can subsequently be better than the unit can actually produce in the real world under conditions of less than 95 F, allowing manufacturers to game efficiency ratings as a unit may run differently if its full-load speed does not match how the unit runs in the real world under 95 F outdoor conditions. Thus, NEAA
and the California IOUs suggested that DOE perform additional investigative testing under the 95 F test condition under native controls and reference variable refrigerant flow air conditioning test procedures regarding whether speed represents use. NEAA, Public Meeting Transcript, No. 12 at pp.
3742; California IOUs, Public Meeting Transcript, No. 12 at pp. 3033;
California IOUs, No. 14 at p. 4
Similarly, the Joint Commenters asserted that, under DOEs proposal, manufacturers may have an incentive to test at the 82 F condition at the compressor speed that provides a cooling capacity as close as possible to 47 percent of the full-load capacity since efficiency typically increases at lower compressor speeds. The Joint Commenters stated that providing 47
percent of the full-load cooling capacity would not meet the cooling load at 82
F, and that a low compressor speed lower than the operating speed in the field could also result in the intermediate compressor speed being artificially low. The Joint Commenters noted that a variable-speed unit that cannot provide 57 percent of the fullload cooling capacity cannot in fact match the representative cooling load at the 82 F condition. The Joint Commenters stated the test procedure should reflect the potential efficiency gains of variable-speed units that can vary their speed continuously or in smaller discrete steps relative to units with compressors with larger discrete steps. Joint Commenters, No. 15 at pp.
12
As discussed in section III.D of the June 2020 NOPR, the 10-percent range allows for discrete variable-speed compressor stages while maintaining the representativeness of the test procedure. While a variable-speed room
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