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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 87 / Friday, May 7, 2021 / Proposed Rules improvements relative to ceiling fans since the previous energy standards rulemaking. Additionally, DOE is interested in any changes to the technologies it evaluated in preparation for the January 2017 Final Rule that may affect whether DOE could propose a no-new-standards determination, such as an insignificant increase in the range of efficiencies and performance characteristics of these technology options. DOE also seeks comment on whether there are any other technology
options that DOE should consider in its analysis.
While DOEs request for information is not limited to the following issues, DOE is particularly interested in comment, information, and data on the following.
1. Technology Options In analyzing the feasibility of potential new or amended energy conservation standards, DOE uses information about existing and past technology options and prototype
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designs to help identify technologies that manufacturers could use to meet and/or exceed a given set of energy conservation standards under consideration. A complete list of the options considered in the January 2017
Final Rule appears in Table II.2. Table II.3 lists additional technology options that DOE may consider in a future ceiling fan energy conservation standards rulemaking that were not considered in the January 2017 Final Rule.

TABLE II.2TECHNOLOGY OPTIONS FOR CEILING FANS CONSIDERED IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE JANUARY 2017 FINAL
RULE
Technology option
Description
Fan optimization

This represents increasing the efficiency of a fan by adjusting existing fan design features. These adjustments could include changing blade pitch, fine-tuning motor RPM, and/or changing internal motor characteristics.

More Efficient Motors:
Larger direct drive singlephase induction motors.
Three-phase induction motors
Brushless DC Motor

Geared Brushless DC motor in LDCFs.
Gearless Brushless DC motor in LDCFs.
Premium AC motor in LDCFs ..

More Efficient Blades:
Curved Blades
Airfoil Blades

Twisted Blades
Blade attachments
Beveled Blades
Alternative Blade Materials
Ceiling Fan Control Sensors:
Occupancy Sensors

Wind and Temperature Sensors.

This represents increasing the mass and/or choosing steel with better energy efficiency characteristics for the stator and rotor stack, improving the lamination design, increasing the cross section and/or length of the copper wiring inside the motor.
Three-phase induction motors have lower thermal energy losses than typical single-phase motors typically found in residential line-power applications. They also have a more even torque on the rotor resulting in a more efficient rotation and less motor hum. In residential applications, an electronic drive would be necessary to convert single-phase power into three-phase.
In residential applications, brushless DC motors typically consist of a permanent magnet synchronous AC
motor that is driven by a multi-pole electronic drive system. Similar to DC motors, brushless DC motors typically achieve better efficiency that standard AC motors because they have no rotor energy losses.
Fans with brushless DC geared motors have fan blades attached to the motor via a geared mechanism.
A brushless DC motor drives the fan blades directly without the use of a geared mechanism, avoiding drive efficiency losses associated with the gearbox.
Premium AC motors are NEMA Premium motors that are highly energy efficient electric motors. A motor can be marketed as a NEMA Premium motor if it meets or exceeds a set of minimum full-load efficiency levels.6 Such NEMA motors are available in integral horsepower capacities i.e., 1 hp+.
Curved blades are blades for which the centerline of the blade cross section is cambered. Curved blades generally have uniform thickness and no significant internal volume.
Airfoil blades use curved surfaces to improve aerodynamics, but the thickness is not uniform, and the top and bottom surfaces do not follow the same path from leading edge to trailing edge. Airfoil blades typically do not operate as efficiently in reverse, potentially impacting consumer utility on models where reverse flow was an option.
Twisted blades reduce aerodynamic drag and improve efficiency by decreasing the blade pitch or twist from where the blade attaches to the motor casing to the blade tip.
Blade attachments refer to upswept blade tips or other components that can be fastened to a fan blade to potentially increase airflow or reduce drag.
Beveled blades are typically beveled at the blade edges from the motor casing to the blade tip. Beveled fan blades are more aerodynamic than traditional fan blades.
Use of alternative materials could enable more complex and efficient blade shapes plywood vs MDF vs injection molded resin, for example.
Occupancy sensors use technologies that detect the presence of people through movement, body heat, or other means. Ceiling fans with an occupancy sensor could power down if they sense that a room is unoccupied.
Wind and temperature sensors detect temperature changes in the surrounding space, or potential wind speed reductions below certain thresholds. Ceiling fans could potentially adjust fan speed based on the wind and temperature in the space the ceiling fan is located when coupled with these sensors.

6 NEMA Premium Motors Information Page:
https www.nema.org/Policy/Energy/Efficiency/
Pages/NEMA-Premium-Motors.aspx.

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