Energy Conservation Program: Test Procedures for Residential and Commercial Clothes Washers

Document Headings Document headings vary by document type but may contain the following: the agency or agencies that issued and signed a document the number of the CFR title and the number of each part the document amends, proposes to amend, or is directly related to the agency docket number / agency internal file number the RIN which identifies each regulatory action listed in the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions See the Document Drafting Handbook for more details. Department of Energy 10 CFR Parts 429, 430 and 431 [EERE-2016-BT-TP-0011] RIN 1904-AD95 AGENCY: Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Department of Energy. ACTION: Final rule. SUMMARY: This final rule amends the U.S. Department of Energy's (“DOE”) test procedures for residential and commercial clothes washers to further specify test conditions, instrument specifications, and test settings; address large clothes container capacities; add product-specific enforcement provisions; delete obsolete provisions; and consolidate all test cloth-related provisions and codify additional test cloth material verification procedures used by industry. This final rule also establishes a new test procedure for residential and commercial clothes washers with additional modifications for certain test conditions, measurement of average cycle time, required test cycles, tested load sizes, semi-automatic clothes washer provisions, new performance metrics, and updated usage factors. The new test procedure will be used for the evaluation and issuance of updated efficiency standards, as well as to determine compliance with the updated standards, should such standards be established. DATES: The effective date of this rule is July 1, 2022. The amendments will be mandatory for product testing starting November 28, 2022. Manufacturers will be required to use the amended test procedure until the compliance date of any final rule establishing amended energy conservation standards bas…