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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 223 / Tuesday, November 23, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
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publication of the December 2020 NOPD
and this final determination one small business manufacturer purchased the other small business manufacturers vented heater brand. It is unclear at this time whether the combined business remains below the SBAs headcount threshold of 500 people to be considered a small business.
In the February 2019 RFI, DOE
requested comment on annual sales data for each vented heater product class from 20082018. 84 FR 6095, 6105 Feb.
26, 2019. DOE did not receive any comment or information regarding the number and classification of manufacturers presented in the February 2019 RFI and December 2020
NOPD and, therefore, considers its previous analysis of industry shipments to still be valid. DOE also did not receive any comments or data suggesting that DOEs analysis of the DHE market in the April 2016 NOPD
was inaccurate. AHRI supported DOEs tentative conclusion that if new or amended standards were proposed, DHE
manufacturers would need to undergo significant design upgrades to existing products that would not be economically supported by current sales volumes. AHRI, No. 18 at p. 1 Because the market conditions are substantially the same as when DOE considered manufacturer impacts for the April 2010
final rule and October 2016 final determination, DOE concludes that manufacturers would likely face similar impacts under more-stringent standards as those previously discussed.
C. Final Determination In response to the December 2020
NOPD, AHAM, AHRI, the Joint Gas Utilities, and Ms. Spotswood supported DOEs tentative determination not to amend standards. AHAM, No. 19 at p.
1; AHRI, No. 18 at p. 1; Joint Gas Utilities, No. 15 at p. 3; Ms. Spotswood, No. 14 at p. 1 The CA IOUs urged DOE
to set aside its tentative conclusion not to amend DHE standards, gather additional and more current technical/
market data, and conduct a thorough energy savings, market, and technical analysis before proceeding. CA IOUs, No. 17 at p. 4
After carefully considering the comments on the February 2019 RFI and the December 2020 NOPD, along with the available data and information, DOE
has determined that energy conservation standards for DHE do not need to be amended, for the reasons explained in the paragraphs immediately following.
As discussed in the preceding sections, DOEs review of the current DHE market indicates that the technology options, product cost, and energy use have not
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changed significantly since the October 2016 final determination. As such, the conclusions found in the April 2010
final rule and October 2016 final determination are still valid.
1. Unvented Heaters As discussed in sections II.B.2.a. and II.B.3.a. of this document, the efficiency inherent with unvented electric heaters provides negligible opportunity for energy savings, because any heat loss of the product is transferred to the conditioned space and not wasted.
Therefore, consistent with previous rulemakings in which it has addressed unvented electric heaters, DOE has determined that energy conservation standards for unvented electric heaters are not needed.
As discussed in section III.B.2 of this document, there may be potential for energy savings for unvented gas and oil heaters subject to potential test procedure amendments to Appendix G
that would require the measurement of standing pilot light energy use in unvented heaters that are thermostatically-controlled. As stated, further analysis is required to fully understand consumer behavior regarding actual operation of unvented heaters. In particular, the extent to which consumers turn the standing pilot light off during the non-heating season requires further investigation.
Given the lack of adequate information on consumer behavior and test procedure provisions that would capture the related energy savings, DOE
has determined not to establish energy conservation standards for unvented gas and oil heaters at this time.
2. Vented Heaters For vented heaters, DOE analyzed each product classgas wall fan type, gas wall gravity type, gas floor, and gas roomseparately in the market and evaluated: Technology assessment sections III.B.3.a. and III.B.3.b. of this document, the screening analysis section III.B.3.c. of this document, the engineering analysis section III.B.3.d. of this document, the LCC and PBP
analysis section III.B.3.f. of this document, the shipments analysis section III.B.3.g. of this document, all vented heaters together in the energy use analysis section III.B.3.e. of this document, the national energy savings analysis section III.B.3.h. of this document, and the manufacturer impact analysis section III.B.3.i. of this document when making a determination of whether amended standards are justified under EPCA.

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a. Technological Feasibility EPCA mandates that DOE consider whether amended energy conservation standards for vented heaters would be technologically feasible. 42 U.S.C.
6295m1A and 42 U.S.C.
6295n2B For gas floor vented heaters, as discussed in section III.B.3.d.
of this document, the maximum available efficiency level on the market is at the baseline efficiency level i.e., the current standard. Since there are no models available on the market above baseline and DOE is unaware of any prototype designs that have demonstrated higher efficiencies for gas floor vented heaters, DOE concludes that more stringent standards for gas floor vented heaters are not technologically feasible.
DOE has determined that there are technology options that would improve the efficiency of gas wall fan type vented heaters, gas wall gravity type vented heaters, and gas room vented heaters. These technology options are being used in commercially available gas wall fan type vented heaters, gas wall gravity type vented heaters, and gas room vented heaters and, therefore, are technologically feasible. See section III.B.3.b. of this document for further information. Hence, DOE has determined that amended energy conservation standards for gas wall fan type vented heaters, gas wall gravity type vented heaters, and gas room vented heaters are technologically feasible.
b. Cost-Effectiveness As the next step in the agencys analysis, EPCA requires DOE to then consider whether amended energy conservation standards for gas wall fan type vented heaters, gas wall gravity type vented heaters, and gas room vented heaters would be cost-effective through an evaluation of the savings in operating costs throughout the estimated average life of the covered product compared to any increase in the price of, or in the initial charges for, or maintenance expenses of the covered products which are likely to result from the amended standard. 42 U.S.C.
6295m1A, 42 U.S.C. 6295n2C, and 42 U.S.C. 6295o2BiII As discussed in sections II.B.2.b and III.B.3.f. of this document, DOE
determined that the LCC and PBP
analyses of TSL 3, the TSL immediately above the level adopted as a Federal standard and which was proposed in the October 2009 NOPR and rejected in the April 2010 final rule, as evaluated in the April 2010 final rule, indicated that initial costs to some consumers
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