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APGA Requests Comment Deadline Extensions in Two Appliance Test Procedure RFIs

By Renée Lani posted 05-07-2020 11:03 AM

  
On May 1, APGA sent a letter to the Department of Energy (DOE) formally requesting an additional 60 days in the comment period for the agency’s request for information (RFI) pertaining to test procedures for consumer water heaters and residential-duty commercial water heaters. The current comment period deadline is June 1.

Similarly, on May 6, APGA sent a letter to DOE requesting that the comment period for the RFI pertaining to test procedures for commercial warm air furnaces also be extended by an additional 60 days. The current comment period deadline is June 4.

The RFIs for both sets of test procedures pose a number of complex questions, ranging from current market and technology trends to an engineering analysis of the current products and potential advances in energy efficiency. To ensure all stakeholders have sufficient time to develop meaningful responses, a longer comment period is required.
Although not appliance manufacturers, APGA members do provide the energy needed to fuel the appliances in question; consequently, public natural gas utilities are a critical stakeholder in this work. The Air-Conditioning, Heating, & Refrigeration Institute (AHRI), who APGA is coordinating with in responding to this rulemaking, also submitted requests for extensions in both the comment periods.

A copy of APGA’s requests to DOE for extension in the comment period for the consumer water heaters and residential-duty commercial water heaters is available here; and, the commercial warm air furnaces is available here.

For questions on this article or APGA’s efforts to respond to DOE’s appliance test procedure RFIs, please contact Renée Lani of APGA staff by phone at 202-464-0836 or by email at rlani@apga.org.

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