[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 9 (Thursday, January 14, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2122-2124]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-570]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Additional Guidance Regarding Application of Current Procedures
for Testing Energy Consumption of Refrigerator-Freezers With Automatic
Ice Makers
AGENCY: Office of the General Counsel, U.S. Department of Energy.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: This notice announces the Department of Energy's (DOE)
guidance to ensure the consistent application of DOE's current test
procedure to refrigerator-freezers with French doors, bottom-mounted
freezers, and through-the-door (TTD) ice service (French door TTD
models). This Guidance was issued on December 18, 2009.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Stephanie Weiner at 202-586-9648.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Energy Policy and Conservation Act of
1975, as amended, (EPCA or the Act) requires the Department of Energy
(DOE or the Department) to prescribe standardized test procedures to
measure the energy consumption of certain consumer products. See 42
U.S.C. 6293, 6295(r). The Department's current test procedure for
residential refrigerator-freezers is set forth at 10 CFR Part 430,
Subpart B, Appendix A1, Uniform Test Method for Measuring the Energy
Consumption of Electric Refrigerators and Electric Refrigerator-
Freezers (Appendix A1). DOE issues this guidance to ensure the
consistent application of the current test procedure to refrigerator-
freezers with French doors, bottom-mounted freezers, and through-the-
door (TTD) ice service (French door TTD models).
Appendix A1 requires products to be tested in accordance with the
relevant sections of Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers (AHAM)
standard HRF-1-1979 (HRF-1). See Appendix A1, section 2.2; 47 FR 34517
(Aug. 10, 1982). HRF-1 specifies that ``automatic ice makers are to be
inoperative during the test'' (``ice maker exclusion''). See HRF-1,
section 7.4.2. HRF-1 defines ``automatic ice maker'' as ``[a] device,
connected to a water supply, which automatically produces, harvests,
and stores ice in a storage bin, with means to automatically interrupt
the harvesting operation when the bin is filled to a predetermined
amount.'' Id. at sec. 3.5.
At the time when AHAM developed and DOE adopted HRF-1,
refrigerator-freezer models equipped with automatic ice makers located
the ice maker in the freezer compartments, rather than separate ice
compartments outside the
[[Page 2123]]
freezer. Further, ice maker controls were generally electro-mechanical
(i.e. the electrical switches in the controls that turn functions on
and off are operated by mechanical action). Thus, since the test
procedure was adopted, DOE has typically applied HRF-1's ice maker
exclusion by raising the baler arm bar of an automatic ice maker into
its upright locked position, which stops ice production during normal
operation. More specifically, this action stops the harvesting
functions--the process of freeing or removing ice pieces from the ice
mold of an automatic ice maker. Preventing the removal of ice from the
ice mold, in turn, stops the subsequent activation of solenoid valves
that allow the flow of more water into the ice maker. This longstanding
test procedure renders the ice maker inoperative without affecting any
energy-using functions of the product beyond active ice making
operations. It most accurately reflects the real-world energy use of
these devices because it includes in the efficiency calculation the
energy used whenever the ice maker is powered on (as it will be most,
if not all, of the time in normal household use), while excluding from
the efficiency calculation the additional energy used when the ice
maker is operative--i.e., when it is actively making and harvesting
ice. The additional energy that is used during these periods of active
operation is excluded in recognition that these active ice making
functions occur only intermittently--when the ice maker senses that the
ice bin is not full.
Over the last few years, several manufacturers have introduced
French door refrigerator-freezer models with bottom-mounted freezers
and TTD ice service, which are designed to permit ice to be produced,
stored, and dispensed at a consumer-friendly height through the door.
The ice compartment is typically a special insulated compartment
located within the fresh food compartment or mounted on one of the
fresh food compartment doors. As these French door TTD models grew in
number, DOE became aware that design variations led to the use of ice
making components, such as the fill tube heater and ice ejection
heater, that may consume energy beyond that used when the ice maker is
actively making and harvesting ice. As a result, in some designs,
turning the ice maker and its components off results in the machine
using significantly less energy than when the ice maker is on, but not
making ice.
In January 2009, DOE posted on its Web site a short statement on
the application of this test procedure to refrigerator-freezers with
automatic ice makers. See http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=refrig.pr_refrigerators. That January statement made clear
that an ice storage bin must be maintained at a temperature to prevent
the ice from melting during testing. We also stated that under DOE's
test procedure, energy consumed by components that interact with the
ice maker, but are not involved in making ice, must be included in
calculating a product's reported total energy use.
We understand that, despite our consistent past practice and prior
efforts to be clear, some manufacturers may have misapplied our test
procedure with respect to ice making components in French door TTD
models. DOE issues this guidance to eliminate any lingering
inconsistency in the application of our procedure to these
refrigerator-freezers. Specifically, we make clear our consistent view
that, under the current test procedure, ice makers and all ice making
components--including the fill tube heater and ice ejection heater--
must be on and functioning as they would be when the icemaker is not
actively making ice. The ice maker and all ice making components--
including the fill tube heater and ice ejection heater--may be rendered
``inoperative'' by preventing the machine from making ice during the
test, such as by creating a condition in which the machine senses a
full bin of ice. Turning the ice maker and/or its components off during
the test is not permitted because it may improperly exclude energy
beyond that used during the intermittent periods when the ice maker is
operative--i.e., when it is actively making ice.
This application of the ice maker exclusion to French door TTD
models follows from the plain language and intent of our test
procedure, comports with the purpose of the Act, and is consistent with
nearly 30 years of DOE understanding and practice. As stated above,
HRF-1 specifies that ``automatic ice makers are to be inoperative
during the test.'' See HRF-1, section 7.4.2. DOE interprets
``inoperative'' by reference to the definition of an automatic ice
maker. HRF-1 defines ``automatic ice maker'' as ``[a] device, connected
to a water supply, which automatically produces, harvests, and stores
ice in a storage bin, with means to automatically interrupt the
harvesting operation when the bin is filled to a predetermined
amount.'' Id. at sec. 3.5 (emphasis added). Thus, an ice maker is
``inoperative'' when the ice maker has ``interrupt[ed] the harvesting
operation,'' such as when the unit senses that ``the bin is filled to a
predetermined amount.'' As described above, such an action prevents the
machine from making ice, by stopping the harvesting of ice, which in
turn stops the production of additional ice, without affecting the
energy consumed by other refrigerator-freezer functions.
Our application is also informed by EPCA's underlying purpose of
advancing energy efficiency. 42 U.S.C. 6201(5). In authorizing DOE to
promulgate test procedures, the Act provides that ``[a]ny test
procedures prescribed or amended under this section shall be reasonably
designed to produce test results which measure energy efficiency * * *
of a covered product during a representative average use cycle or
period of use.'' 42 U.S.C. 6293(b)(3). Guided by this provision, we
apply our test procedures, to the extent possible, to reflect the
energy consumed during representative consumer use. In our view,
keeping the ice maker and its associated components on, but preventing
them from making ice, better represents the average use of a
refrigerator-freezer, such as when the machine has a full bin of ice in
a consumer's home. Turning off either the ice maker or components
associated with the ice maker, by contrast, does not represent the
average use of a refrigerator-freezer, and may cause the machine to
consume less energy than when the ice maker is on, but not making ice.
Finally, we emphasize that--far from a change to our existing
view--this clarification of DOE's interpretation of HRF-1 is consistent
with DOE's longstanding practice with respect to the ice maker
exclusion. DOE has never interpreted the ice maker exclusion in our
current test procedure to allow manufacturers to turn the ice maker or
its components off. Rather, as described above, since this test
procedure was adopted over twenty-seven years ago, DOE has applied the
ice maker exclusion with the view that the ice maker should be on but
prevented from making ice. Indeed, the advent of French door TTD models
reinforces the importance of DOE's pre-existing approach, which ensures
that the exclusion is narrowly targeted to exempt only active ice
making energy from a product's total energy consumption.
This guidance, which reflects nearly 30 years of Department
practice, represents the Department's interpretation of the existing
test procedure. It is not intended to create or remove any rights or
duties, nor is it intended to affect any other aspect of EPCA or DOE
regulations. This guidance was originally issued on December 18, 2009,
at http://www1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/
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appliance--standards/residential/pdfs/rf--test--procedure--addl--
guidance.pdf.
Dated: January 8, 2010.
Scott Blake Harris,
General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2010-570 Filed 1-13-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P