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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 247 / Wednesday, December 29, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
technologies would be inhibited by safety and building codes, providing, as an example, building types and jurisdictions in which side wall vents necessary for condensing units are prohibited or not feasible. Id. AHRI
claimed that if a consumer cannot install a piece of equipment due to venting constraints, there will be no consumer access to heated air or water.
Id. Furthermore, AHRI stated that upgrading to condensing equipment, upgrading electrical panels for heat pump use, and modifications for the safe use of an orphaned water heater come at a price that disproportionally affects underserved households and small businesses. Id. at p. 4
As discussed previously, installation costs are addressed in the LCC and PBP
analyses, as well as in consumer subgroup-specific analyses. These analyses account for the cost of difficult i.e., unusually costly installations, including those subgroups of the population that may be differentially impacted by DOEs consideration of amended energy conservation standards. In the September 2016
Furnace SNOPR, DOEs analysis assumed that when replacing a noncondensing gas furnace with a condensing gas furnace in replacement applications, additional costs could include adding a new polyvinyl chloride PVC flue venting, PVC
combustion air venting, concealing vent pipes, addressing an orphaned water heater by updating flue vent connectors, vent resizing, or chimney relining, and condensate removal.
Additionally, in the installation costs in new construction installations, DOEs cost estimates for condensing gas furnaces included appropriate flue vents, combustion air venting for direct vent installations, accounting for commonly-vented water heaters, and condensate removal. 81 FR 65720, 6577665783 Sept. 23, 2016. In that rulemaking, DOE estimated that a certain percentage of all installation scenarios would incur extra costs to replace a non-condensing furnace with a condensing furnace and ascribed additional installation costs to address a number of installation scenarios, including scenarios in which venting is replaced.16 Similarly, venting cost estimates for condensing commercial water heaters accounted for the type of installation new construction or retrofit, draft type atmospheric venting or power venting, water heater fuel
type, building vintage, number of stories, and presence of a chimney. 81
FR 34440, 34484 May 31, 2016. The materials and diameters of venting analyzed depended on the type of installation. A fixed percentage of buildings were estimated to have masonry chimneys that would require relining. Id. In applying the interpretation adopted in this document to future energy conservation standards for residential furnaces, commercial water heaters, and similarly-situated products/equipment, DOE expects to employ similar analytical methods.
With respect to concerns raised regarding the safety of the venting technologies evaluated by ORNL, DOE
reiterates that the evaluated technologies are discussed in the August 2021 NOPIR only as examples of potential solutions that could emerge to mitigate installation issues related to venting, ones whose development could be hampered by the interpretation provided in the January 2021 Final Interpretive Rule. DOE notes that the EntrainVent evaluated by ORNL was a proof-of-concept designed to demonstrate key functionality, rather than a commercially-available product, and as such, it had not incorporated additional safety-related features e.g., controls and sensors that would not impact ordinary operation. DOE did not consider this technology solution in its analysis of furnace standards for the September 2016 Furnaces SNOPR. DOE
did analyze the DuraVent product as part of an alternative case.17
DOE would point out that the DuraVent FasNSeal 80/90 is a commercially-available product intended for a similar purpose i.e., to allow condensing products to be concentrically vented with a noncondensing, atmospheric product venting through an existing vent and which is listed to the applicable Underwriters Laboratories safety standards, indicating that it can be used safely when installed as intended. DOE
also notes other commenters stated that replacement of non-condensing units with condensing units is possible in all cases, indicating that there are not building code prohibitions on such replacements. See NEEA, No. 137 at p.
2; A.O. Smith, No. 133 at p. 9
As stated, DOE acknowledges that installation of condensing products/
equipment requires modifications to the installed space in some applications and that such modifications may impact the
installation cost and/or complexity. As illustrated by the analyses conducted in the prior rulemakings for residential furnaces and commercial water heaters, such costs and complexities can be and have been addressed as part of DOEs evaluation under EPCAs factors for determining whether new or amended standards would be economically justified. To the extent that commenters raised concern regarding the practicability and safety of certain developing technologies that address the orphaned water heater issue, DOE
notes that its analysis for the prior residential furnaces rulemaking accounted for the potential of separate venting, limiting consideration of such developing technology to a sensitivity analysis.18
Installation costs may influence consumer decisions regarding fuel choice, and, at any time, a segment of consumers may choose replacement products that rely on a different fuel source than that of the unit being replaced. In a limited number of cases, a consumer facing a difficult installation situation may decide it to be impracticable due to cost or other considerations, including local safety and building codes as suggested by Bradford White and AHRI to replace a product with another that relies on the same fuel source. In such cases, the consumer may choose to replace the existing appliance with one utilizing a different fuel type as another viable solution. However, the mere potential for fuel switching does not serve as the basis for establishment of a performance-related feature under EPCA.
As discussed in the August 2021
NOPIR, a consumer may replace a gasfired furnace or water heater with an electric heat pump or water heater, thereby obviating the need for extensive changes to existing venting. 86 FR
48049, 4805548056 August 27, 2021.
Consumers routinely make such choices, where they deem it appropriate, which reflects economic decision-making. Installation of an electric heat pump or water heater would provide the consumer with heated air or hot water, respectively, without the loss of usable space or aesthetics because it would obviate the need to make significant changes to the residential or commercial space. An electric heat pump or water heater would also be an option to provide the consumer with heated air or hot water,
16 See Table 8D.2.19 in Appendix 8D of the TSD
for the September 2016 Furnace SNOPR Available at: regulations.gov at Docket No. EERE2014BT
STD00310217.

17 See Appendix 8L of the TSD for the September 2016 Furnaces SNOPR Available at:
regulations.gov at Docket No. EERE2014BTSTD
00310217.

18 See Appendix 8D of the TSD for the September 2016 Furnaces SNOPR Available at:
www.regulations.gov at Docket No. EERE2014BT
STD00310217.

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