§ 429.62 - Portable air conditioners.

§ 429.62 Portable air conditioners.

Cross Reference

Link to an amendment published at 89 FR 82068, Oct. 9, 2024.

(a) Sampling plan for selection of units for testing.

(1) The requirements of § 429.11 are applicable to portable air conditioners; and

(2) For each basic model of portable air conditioner, a sample of sufficient size must be randomly selected and tested to ensure that—

(i) Any represented value of energy consumption or other measure of energy consumption of a basic model for which consumers would favor lower values is greater than or equal to the higher of:

(A) The mean of the sample:

Where:

x̄ is the sample mean;

x_i is the ith sample; and

n is the number of units in the test sample.

Or,

(B) The upper 95 percent confidence limit (UCL) of the true mean divided by 1.10:

Where:

x̄ is the sample mean;

s is the sample standard deviation;

n is the number of units in the test sample; and

t_0.95 is the t statistic for a 95% one-tailed confidence interval with n-1 degrees of freedom.

And,

(ii) Any represented value of the combined energy efficiency ratio or other measure of energy consumption of a basic model for which consumers would favor higher values is less than or equal to the lower of:

(A) The mean of the sample:

Where:

x̄ is the sample mean;

x_i is the ith sample; and

n is the number of units in the test sample.

Or,

(B) The lower 95 percent confidence limit (LCL) of the true mean divided by 0.90:

Where:

x̄ is the sample mean;

s is the sample standard deviation;

n is the number of units in the test sample; and

t_0.95 is the t statistic for a 95% one-tailed confidence interval with n-1 degrees of freedom.

And,

(3) When testing in accordance with appendix CC of subpart B of part 430 of this chapter, the represented value of cooling capacity for a single-speed portable AC shall be seasonally adjusted cooling capacity (“SACC”) and the represented value of cooling capacity for a variable-speed portable AC shall be full-load seasonally adjusted cooling capacity (“SACC_Full”), as determined in appendix CC to subpart B of part 430 of this chapter. When testing in accordance with appendix CC1 to subpart B of part 430 of this chapter, the represented value of cooling capacity for both single-speed and variable-speed portable ACs shall be SACC, as determined in appendix CC1 to subpart B of part 430 of this chapter.

(4) Where SACC is used for representation, the represented value of SACC of a basic model must be the mean of the SACC for each tested unit of the basic model. Likewise, where SACC_Full is used for representation, the represented value of SACC_Full of a basic model must be the mean of the SACC_Full for each tested unit of the basic model. When using appendix CC to subpart B of part 430 of this chapter, round the mean SACC or SACC_Full value to the nearest 50, 100, 200, or 500 Btu/h, depending on the magnitude of the calculated SACC or SACC_Full, as applicable, in accordance with Table 1 of ANSI/AHAM PAC-1-2015, (incorporated by reference, see § 429.4), “Multiples for reporting Dual Duct Cooling Capacity, Single Duct Cooling Capacity, Spot Cooling Capacity, Water Cooled Condenser Capacity and Power Input Ratings”. When using appendix CC1 to subpart B of part 430 of this chapter, round SACC to the nearest 50, 100, 200, or 500 Btu/h, depending on the magnitude of the calculated SACC, in accordance with Table 1 of AHAM PAC-1-2022, (incorporated by reference, see § 429.4), “Multiples for reporting Dual Duct Cooling Capacity, Single Duct Cooling Capacity, Spot Cooling Capacity, Water Cooled Condenser Capacity and Power Input Ratings”.

(5) The represented value of combined energy efficiency ratio or annualized energy efficiency ratio of a basic model must be rounded to the nearest 0.1 Btu/Wh.

(6) Single-duct and dual-duct portable air conditioners distributed in commerce by the manufacturer with multiple duct configuration options that meet DOE's definitions for single-duct portable AC and dual-duct portable AC, must be rated and certified under both applicable duct configurations.

(b) Certification reports.

(1) The requirements of § 429.12 are applicable to single-duct and dual-duct portable air conditioners; and

(2) Pursuant to § 429.12(b)(13), a certification report shall include the following public product-specific information: The combined energy efficiency ratio (CEER in British thermal units per Watt-hour (Btu/Wh)), the seasonally adjusted cooling capacity in British thermal units per hour (Btu/h), the duct configuration (single-duct, dual-duct, or ability to operate in both configurations), presence of heating function, and primary condensate removal feature (auto-evaporation, gravity drain, removable internal collection bucket, or condensate pump).

[81 FR 35264, June 1, 2016, as amended at 85 FR 1446, Jan. 10, 2020; 88 FR 31126, May 15, 2023]