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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 194 / Tuesday, October 12, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
2019 to substitute an icemaking energy use adder of 0.23 kWh/cycle i.e., 84
kWh/year to demonstrate compliance with the existing energy conservation standards for refrigeration products at 10 CFR 430.32a and aa. As such, DOE
is not amending energy conservation standards in this final rule, and manufacturers will not be required to update certification and labeling of products with automatic icemakers as a result of this final rule.
H. Features Not Directly Addressed in Appendix A or Appendix B
The current test procedures in appendices A and B do not include provisions specific to products with door-in-door designs or other features that reduce the thermal load on the product by limiting the need for door openings and smart functions such as display screens and network-connected functionality.30 The following sections discuss these features.
1. Door-in-Door Designs As discussed in section III.B of this final rule, the current DOE test procedures for refrigeration products represent operation in typical room conditions with door openings by testing at an elevated ambient temperature with no door openings. 10
CFR 430.23a7 The increased thermal load from the elevated ambient temperature represents the thermal load associated with door openingsas warmer ambient air mixes with the refrigerated air inside the cabinetas well as the loading of warmer items in the cabinet. This approach is maintained in the updated industry test procedure, HRF12019, which DOE is incorporating by reference in this final rule.
As discussed in the June 2017 RFI, DOE is aware of certain products available on the market that incorporate a door-in-door design, which could reduce energy consumption during actual use by minimizing the amount of cool cabinet air escaping to the room and being replaced by warmer ambient 30 The current DOE test procedures require that consumer refrigeration products that have a communication module specifically for demandresponse functions be tested with the communication module in the as shipped configuration. Section 2.10 of appendix A and section 2.8 of appendix B. Section 5.5.2g of HRF
12008, which is incorporated by reference into the existing DOE test procedures, requires testing with customer-accessible features not required for normal operation and which are electrically powered, manually initiated, and manually terminatedwhich typically includes any connected functions other than demand response set at their lowest energy usage positions when adjustment is provided i.e., typically the off position.

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air during door openings. 82 FR 29780, 29782.
In the December 2019 NOPR, DOE
noted that door-in-door features, and other systems such as camera display systems which show the user the interior of the cabinet without needing to open the door, have some potential to reduce energy consumption associated with door openings for these products. 84 FR 70842, 7085570856.
However, DOE initially determined that there was not sufficient data regarding consumer usage patterns of these features to warrant revisions to the test procedures and did not propose amendments to address their use in the December 2019 NOPR. Id.
In response to the December 2019
NOPR, Samsung commented that more consumer use data must be collected to fully understand user behavior before considering such changes in the test procedures. Samsung recommended that separate product classes and energy conservation standard levels be considered based on additional door designs. Samsung, No. 24, p. 4 AHAM
agreed with DOEs proposed approach not to amend the test procedure to account for newly developing features such as door-in-door designs, display screens, and connected functions without national, statistically significant, field use data on consumer use. AHAM commented that these features are still developing, as are consumers use and understanding of them. AHAM, No. 18, p. 10
Specifically, AHAM indicated that it does not currently have data regarding consumer use of the door-in-door feature or corresponding energy impacts of different types of door openings; and that guesses, estimations, or unsupported assumptions are not enough to justify test procedure amendments as per the Data Quality Act.31 AHAM reiterated that it would oppose any proposed change that would alter the closed-door test, which it stated is based on data regarding ambient conditions and door openings, and because door openings are difficult to control and introduce significant variation. AHAM commented that when statistically significant consumer data from field studies are available, DOE
should evaluate possible calculation or other approaches that do not add test 31 DOE understands AHAMs reference to the Data Quality Act to refer to section 515 of the Treasury and General Government Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2001 Pub. L. 106554, 114 Stat.
2763 and the associated implementing guidelines.
DOEs implementing guidelines are available at https www.energy.gov/cio/downloads/2019-finalupdated-version-doe-information-qualityguidelines.

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burden or change the representativeness, repeatability, or reproducibility of the test. AHAM, No.
18, p. 10
AHAM and Sub Zero also stated that regulating such features now would likely stifle innovation and could in some cases prevent manufacturers from including such features. AHAM, No.
18, p. 10; Sub Zero, No. 17, p. 2 Sub Zero commented that these features may offer a consumer utility, and there is no data at present to determine if there is an appreciable energy impact. Sub Zero suggested that DOE may want to revisit this issue when data is available in the future, but HRF12019 currently provides appropriate instruction on how these features are to be tested. Sub Zero, No. 17, p. 2
DOE does not currently have consumer usage data to support amendments to the test procedures for refrigeration products with door-in-door or camera display designs, which may reduce door openings. In order to limit testing burden and avoid affecting the representativeness, repeatability, or reproducibility of the test procedure, DOE is maintaining the closed-door methodology as specified in HRF1
2019 and consistent with the approach proposed in the December 2019 NOPR.
DOE would consider whether separate product classes and energy conservation standards would be appropriate for products with special door designs as part of an energy conservation standards rulemaking.
2. Display Screens, Connected Functions, and Demand Response Refrigeration products that include user control panels or displays located on the front of the product are currently available on the market. Many products incorporating these more advanced user interfaces also include internet connections to allow for additional functions, which can control the products operation and provide additional attributes, such as television or internet access. These attributes can operate with many different control schemes, including activation by proximity sensors.
The current DOE test procedures require that refrigeration products with a communication module for demandresponse functions be tested with the communication module in the as shipped configuration. Section 2.10 of appendix A and section 2.8 of appendix B. Additionally, the current DOE test procedures, through reference to HRF
12008, require testing with customeraccessible features not required for normal operation and which are electrically powered, manually
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