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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 167 / Wednesday, September 1, 2021 / Proposed Rules pre-conditioning requirement for waterheating clothes washers, which requires water-heating units to be preconditioned if they had not been in the test room at ambient conditions for 8
hours. 62 FR 45484, 45002, 45009, 45010.
DOE is concerned that the energy use of non-water-heating clothes washers could also be affected by the starting temperature of the clothes washer, particularly those that implement temperature control by measuring internal water temperatures during the wash cycle. For example, if the ambient temperature prior to testing is relatively hot, causing the internal components of the clothes washer to be at a higher temperature than the specified ambient temperature range, less hot water may be consumed during the test than otherwise would be if the starting temperature of the clothes washer is within the specified ambient temperature range. Noting that thirdparty test laboratories cannot necessarily identify whether a unit is a water-heating clothes washer or not, DOE is proposing to require the same pre-conditioning procedure for both water-heating and non-water-heating clothes washers, which would minimize the influence of ambient temperature on energy use and alleviate the need for third-party test laboratories to determine whether a clothes washer is waterheating or not. If adopted, this proposed change may impact the measured energy use of non-water-heating clothes washers that implement temperature control by measuring internal water temperatures during the wash cycle.
Due to the potential impact on the measured energy use, DOE is proposing this change only for the proposed new Appendix J, which would be used for the evaluation and issuance of updated efficiency standards, and to determine compliance with those standards. DOE
is therefore proposing that use of the proposed new Appendix J, if finalized, would not be required until the compliance date of any updated standards.
In addition, the proposed amendments to the pre-conditioning requirements would eliminate the differentiation between water-heating clothes washer and non-water heating clothes washer, which are defined terms in the test procedure. Therefore, DOE is also proposing to remove the definitions of water-heating clothes washer and non-water-heating clothes washer from section 1 of the proposed new Appendix J.
DOE requests comment on its proposal to specify the same preconditioning requirements for all
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clothes washers and to remove the water-heating clothes washer and non-water-heating clothes washer definitions in the proposed new Appendix J. DOE also requests information regarding whether test laboratories typically pre-condition water-heating and non-water-heating clothes washers using the same procedure.
D. Cycle Selection and Test Conduct 1. Tested Load Sizes Table 5.1 of Appendix J2 provides the minimum, average, and maximum load sizes to be used for testing based on the measured capacity of the clothes washer. The table defines capacity bins in 0.1 ft3 increments. The load sizes for each capacity bin are determined as follows:
b Minimum load is 3 pounds lb for all capacity bins;
b Maximum load in lb is equal to 4.1 times the mean clothes washer capacity of each capacity bin in ft3;
and b Average load is the arithmetic mean of the minimum load and maximum load.
These three load sizes are used for testing clothes washers with automatic WFCS. Clothes washers with manual WFCS are tested with only the minimum and maximum load sizes.
a. Expanding the Load Size Table DOE originally introduced the load size table in Appendix J11997, which accommodated clothes container capacities up to 3.8 ft3. 62 FR 45484, 45513. In the March 2012 Final Rule, DOE expanded Table 5.1 in both Appendix J1 and Appendix J2 to accommodate clothes container capacities up to 6.0 ft3. 77 FR 13887, 13910. DOE extrapolated the load sizes to 6.0 ft3 using the same equations to define the maximum and average load sizes as described above.
On May 2, 2016 and April 10, 2017, DOE granted waivers to Whirlpool and Samsung, respectively, for testing RCWs 25 with capacities between 6.0
and 8.0 ft3, by further extrapolating Table 5.1 using the same equations to define the maximum and average load sizes as described. 81 FR 26215; 82 FR
17229. DOEs regulations in 10 CFR
430.27 contain provisions allowing any interested person to seek a waiver from the test procedure requirements if certain conditions are met. A waiver allows manufacturers to use an alternate 25 As noted, CCWs are limited under the statutory definition to a maximum capacity of 3.5 cubic feet for horizontal-axis CCWs and 4.0 cubic feet for vertical-axis CCWs. 42 U.S.C. 631121

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test procedure in situations where the DOE test procedure cannot be used to test the product or equipment, or where use of the DOE test procedure would generate unrepresentative results. 10
CFR 430.27a1 DOEs regulations at 10
CFR 430.27l require that as soon as practicable after the granting of any waiver, DOE will publish in the Federal Register a NOPR to amend its regulations so as to eliminate any need for the continuation of such waiver. As soon thereafter as practicable, DOE will publish in the Federal Register a final rule. 10 CFR 430.27l.
In the May 2020 RFI, DOE requested comment on whether to extrapolate Table 5.1 of Appendix J2 to accommodate RCW capacities up to 8.0
ft3, and if so, appropriate methods for extrapolation. 85 FR 31065, 31077. DOE
received comments from multiple interested parties regarding the definition of load sizes more generally, which DOE addresses in section III.D.1.b of this document. DOE received no comments regarding the expansion of the load size table itself.
In this NOPR, DOE is proposing to expand Table 5.1 in both Appendix J2
and the proposed new Appendix J to accommodate clothes washers with capacities up to 8.0 ft3. In Appendix J2, DOE proposes to expand Table 5.1 using the same equations as the current table, as described above, and consistent with the load size tables provided in the two granted waivers. For the proposed new Appendix J, DOE proposes a revised methodology for defining the load sizes in each capacity bin in Table 5.1, as further discussed in section III.D.1.b of this document.
DOE requests comment on its proposal to expand the load size table in both Appendix J2 and the proposed new Appendix J to accommodate RCWs with capacities up to 8.0 ft3.
b. Defining New Load Sizes As discussed in the previous section, Appendix J2 currently defines three load sizes for automatic clothes washers minimum, average, and maximum for each capacity bin in Table 5.1 of the appendix. In this NOPR, DOE is proposing for the proposed new Appendix J to define two load sizes for automatic clothes washers small and large for each capacity bin, which are intended to represent the same load size distribution underlying the existing three load sizes. DOE has tentatively concluded that this would substantially reduce test burden while maintaining or improving representativeness. The following paragraphs describe the development of the current load size definitions to provide context and
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