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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 232 / Tuesday, December 7, 2021 / Proposed Rules
to 3 hp and higher tip speeds 5000 to 6000 fpm. AMCA, EERE2021BT
STD0011, No. 9 at p. 2 BAF
recommends that this new variety of belt-driven fans be tested according to AMCA 23015/AMCA 208. BAF, EERE2021BTSTD0011, No. 14 at p.
2. AMCA recommended separating belt-driven fans into two classeshighspeed and low-speedand to test highspeed belt-driven fans according to ANSI/AMCA Standard 23015, including the technical erratum sheet published by AMCA on May 5, 2021.
AMCA, EERE2021BTSTD0011, No. 9 at p. 4; see also BAF, EERE2021
BTSTD0011, No. 14 at p. 2
In the July 2016 Final Rule, DOE
discussed that DOE would not propose standards for belt-driven ceiling fans due to the limited number of basic models and lack of available data. 81 FR
48619, 48622. During the last rulemaking, DOEs review of the beltdriven ceiling fan market at the time suggested that these fans are used in bars and restaurants that have decorative ceilings with limited electrical boxes on the ceiling to mount multiple conventional ceiling fans. In addition, DOE noted that the observed belt-driven ceiling fans were highly customizable, in that consumers can decide on the number of fan heads and the kind of fan belts to use. At the time, because these individual fan heads could not be isolated in testing, they could not be testing according to appendix U as written and were thus exempted. See Chapter 3 of the November 2016 Energy Conservation Standards Final Rule Technical Support Document 14. While DOE did not establish a test procedure for these fans, DOE noted that it would be investigating appropriate test procedures for belt-driven ceiling fans.
81 FR 48619, 48622.
Since the last rulemaking and based on comments received, DOE has identified higher speed, belt-driven ceiling fans on the market, intended for industrial and commercial applications.
DOE conducted market research and found that these fans were typically single-head fans housed in a cage, frequently mounted to the ceiling by straps or brackets as opposed to the traditional downrod. They were marketed for a variety of industrial applications such as agriculture, warehouses, and factories. Like other belt-driven fans, the motors typically exist outside of the housing for the fan, but still located within the cage.
However, unlike other belt-driven 14 Found at: www.regulations.gov/document/
EERE-2012-BT-STD-0045-0149.

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ceiling fans, they are not customizable, and the fan head can be isolated for testing. DOE notes that, in contrast to the low-speed multiple head belt-driven ceiling fans, these designs allow singlehead belt-driven ceiling fans to be tested using current test procedures in appendix U. Therefore, DOE proposes to include these higher speed single-head belt-driven ceiling fans within the scope of the test procedure, as long as these fans meet the proposed amended ceiling fan definition.
To distinguish these high-speed beltdriven ceiling fans with one fan head from other low-speed, multiple head belt-driven ceiling fans, DOE proposes the following definition:
High-speed belt-driven HSBD ceiling fan means a small-diameter ceiling fan that is a belt-driven ceiling fan with one fan head, and has tip speeds greater than or equal to 5000 feet per minute.
DOE preliminarily concludes that 5000 fpm may be an appropriate threshold based on recommendations from the commenters. However, DOE is considering other thresholds that may be appropriate for the proposed definition.
DOE seeks comment on including within the test procedure scope HSBD
ceiling fans, the proposed term and definition, and the appropriate tip speed threshold. Furthermore, DOE requests data on blade thickness and tip speeds for these HSBD ceiling fans.
Further, DOE observed at least one belt-driven ceiling fan that has a marketed blade span greater than 7 feet.
DOE proposes to include such ceiling fans in the test procedure scope. To separate these ceiling fans from the proposed HSBD ceiling fan scope, DOE
proposes the following definition:
Large-diameter belt-driven LDBD
ceiling fan means a belt-driven ceiling fan with one fan head that has a represented value of blade span, as determined in 10 CFR 429.32a3i, greater than seven feet.
Within this definition, DOE proposes to incorporate the specification for the represented value of blade span as proposed in the September 2019 NOPR.
84 FR 51440, 51450.
DOE seeks comment on including within the test procedure scope LDBD
ceiling fans, and the proposed definition.
Alternatively, DOE may consider a combined term and definition for all belt-driven ceiling fans that meet the above scope of HSBD and LDBD ceiling fans. Specifically, DOE could remove the small-diameter part of the aforementioned HSBD definition. By removing small-diameter in the definition, the alternate HSBD

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definition should accommodate beltdriven ceiling fans with blade spans greater than seven feet. DOE
alternatively proposes that the term high-speed belt-driven ceiling fan reads as follows:
High-speed belt-driven ceiling fan HSBD means a ceiling fan that is a belt-driven ceiling fan with one fan head, and has tip speeds greater than or equal to 5000 feet per minute.
DOE seeks comment on the alternate definition for HSBD ceiling fans, and whether it would incorporate all the LDBD ceiling fans from DOEs primary proposal. Further, DOE requests comment on whether the HSBD and LDBD ceiling fan scope should be combined, i.e., what is the utility and application of the two fan categories.
In conversations with manufacturers, DOE learned that the HSBD ceiling fans and LDBD ceiling fans move significantly more air than HSSD ceiling fans and as such, these fans could be difficult to test under the small-diameter ceiling fan test procedure i.e., using sensor arm setup due to the possibility of inducing vortexes in the smaller testing room.15 Typically, HSSD fans use a fractional horsepower i.e., less than 1 horsepower direct-drive motor.
By contrast, these HSBD ceiling fans and LDBD ceiling fans use a much larger motor, often in excess of 1 horsepower HP, to spin with much higher tip speeds.
DOE received comments from two stakeholders on testing these fans to AMCA 23015. Both BAF and AMCA
also recommended testing all highspeed belt-driven fans according to appendix U corrected, i.e., ANSI/AMCA
Standard 23015. AMCA, EERE2021
BTSTD0011, No. 9 at p. 4; see also BAF, EERE2021BTSTD0011, No. 14
at p. 2 Therefore, DOE proposes to test both HSBD ceiling fans and LDBD
ceiling fans according to AMCA 23015.
DOE proposes to specify that HSBD
ceiling fans and LDBD ceiling fans be tested using the test apparatus in appendix U, section 3.4, which references AMCA 23015.16
DOE requests comment on requiring AMCA 23015 as the test procedure for 15 Vortexes in the testing room creates highly turbulent air flow that revolves around an axis and can move at differing speeds depending on the air distance from the vortex center of rotation. These swirling and turbulent air flows would make it difficult for the air velocity sensors used in the small-diameter ceiling fan test procedure to meet the stability criteria.
16 AMCA 20818 includes the calculation method for the fan energy index FEI. AMCA208
references several other test methods for calculation of fan air performance, depending on the fan type, including AMCA 23015. Both AMCA 20818 and AMCA 23015 are referenced in appendix U.

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