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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 193 / Friday, October 8, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
verification and enforcement testing would address the requirement that a second test run must meet the required FMC. They suggested that the existing test procedure variation could be enough to cause false findings of noncompliance and may result in a large number of test procedure waiver requests. Whirlpool stated that this requirement would lead manufacturers to conservatively over-dry loads to well below 2-percent FMC, which wastes energy, instead of using the 2-percent FMC as a design target rather than an enforceable performance measure.
Whirlpool also suggested that the CEF
in the test run with highest dryness level be used regardless of FMC, as Whirlpool asserted that market forces would ensure manufacturers do not intentionally design clothes dryers with unreasonably high FMC. AHAM
suggested raising the FMC for all test runs to accommodate concerns regarding non-compliance and test procedure variation. AHAM, Public Meeting Transcript, No. 23 at pp. 3839;
AHAM, No. 33 at pp. 56; Whirlpool, No. 32 at p. 2
GEA suggested that there should be no FMC requirement for a second run test under the appendix D2 procedure.
GEA noted that the second test run is already performed at the maximum dryness setting, and the clothes dryer is, therefore, subject to a higher performance condition and corresponding increased energy usage.
GEA suggested that using the highest dryness setting for the second run ensures appropriate energy usage by a compliant clothes dryer regardless of the FMC, as the clothes dryer is unable to use any more energy for the selected cycle given that the highest dryness setting was selected. GEA further commented that any remaining moisture in clothing after a cycle is complete on the highest dryness setting is a performance concern, and not an energy efficiency concern, and is therefore outside the scope of the appliance standards program as established under EPCA. GEA, No. 37 at pp. 23
As discussed, the 2-percent FMC
requirement was developed through collaboration with, and consideration of data submitted by, interested parties as part of the August 2013 Final Rule. 78
FR 49608, 49614 Aug. 14, 2013
Interested parties have not presented any data or information since then that would suggest changes in consumer expectations of dryness levels.
Therefore, DOE continues to agree with the conclusion from the August 2013
Final Rule that an FMC of 2 percent using the DOE test cloth is representative of the consumer-accepted
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dryness level after completion of a drying cycle. Thus, a test that does not produce an FMC of 2 percent or less would not be reflective of representative energy use, in that FMC values at or below this threshold represent consumer-accepted dryness.
DOE notes that clothes dryer models are certified to DOE and available on the market representing the entire range of venting configurations vented and ventless, capacity categories standard and compact, product configurations stand-alone clothes dryer and combination washer/dryer, energy sources 120V electric, 240V electric, and gas, and drying technologies electric resistance, water-cooled condensing, air-cooled condensing, and electric heat pump from multiple manufacturers within each product attribute. The range of available product offerings indicates the ability to achieve a 2-percent FMC across the entire spectrum of clothes dryer design characteristics currently available on the market. Furthermore, DOE has not received any waiver requests, either before or after publishing the 2017
Guidance, regarding an inability to achieve an FMC value of 2 percent or less.
DOE further notes that 2-percent FMC
is not a design target, but rather a maximum threshold. Any FMC value of 2 percent or less i.e., 02 percent would represent a valid test. DOE has observed in its testing FMC values spanning the full range of 02 percent.
Table III.4 shows the range in FMC
values from DOEs testing of 30 different consumer clothes dryers under appendix D2 at a normal dryness setting. These units spanned multiple manufacturers, product classes, capacities, and drying technologies.

available on the market. For these reasons, as supported by the preceding discussion, DOE is amending appendix D2 as proposed to specify that the 2percent FMC requirement applies to all appendix D2 test runs i.e., including the second test run conducted using the highest dryness level setting, if required. If the basic model under test fails to achieve an FMC of 2 percent or less when tested at the highest dryness level setting, the measured energy consumption of the clothes dryer would not reflect a representative average use cycle, since it would not have dried the clothing to a consumer-accepted dryness level. Such test results may not be used for certification of compliance with energy conservation standards.
Finally, in the July 2019 NOPR, DOE
also proposed to amend the nomenclature of section 4.1 through section 4.4 of appendix D2 to clarify that the measured energy consumption values represented by Ece, Ege, Egg, and Ecg, respectively, reflect the energy required to achieve an FMC of 2 percent or less. 84 FR 35484, 3549635497 July 23, 2019.
Given that there were no comments or concerns with the nomenclature proposed in the July 2019 NOPR, in this final rule DOE is amending the nomenclature of section 4.1 through section 4.4 of appendix D2 as proposed in the July 2019 NOPR.

f. Annual Drying Cycles and Hours Per Year Section 4.5 of appendix D1 and appendix D2 assigns the representative average use for clothes dryers at 283
drying cycles per year. This estimate was developed based on data provided by the 2005 Energy Information Administrations Residential Energy Consumption Survey RECS. 76 FR
972, 1010 Jan. 6, 2011. In the 2019 TP
TABLE III.4FMC RANGES FROM
NOPR, DOE did not propose an updated DOE TESTING
value for the annual drying cycles and hours per year, declining to make FMC range Number of changes based on a limited field study %
units conducted by NEEA. 84 FR 35484, 00.5
3 35492 July 23, 2019. DOE noted that 0.51.0
8 its current estimate was developed 1.01.5
10 based on data from the most recent 1.52.0
9 version of RECS at the time the cyclesper-year value was established. 84 FR
In summary, drying to an FMC of 2
35484, 35491 July 23, 2019. DOE
percent or less using the DOE test cloth stated that it was continuing to seek is representative of the consumerdata regarding the cycles per year. 84 FR
accepted dryness level of a clothing load 35484, 35492, 35504 July 23, 2019.
after completion of a drying cycle. The AHAM commented that the 2015
prevalence of certified consumer clothes version of RECS indicates that 238
dryer models spanning the entire clothes dryer cycles per year would be spectrum of design characteristics more appropriate, as it is based on more indicates no inherent inability to recent and nationally representative achieve an FMC of 2 percent or less for data. AHAM commented that a any clothes dryer type currently reduction in number of annual clothes
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