WASHINGTON -- The Department of Energy has issued rules related to the testing of energy consumption by refrigerated beverage vending machines, according to a bulletin from the National Automatic Merchandising Association.
The new rules include a provision that applies to low-volume or built-to-order equipment. Such equipment includes automatic commercial icemakers, commercial refrigeration equipment and refrigerated bottled or canned vending machines. Under the new rules, the initial sample size of these units matches that of high-volume consumer and commercial equipment, which is four units.
DOE has also included a provision that provides for testing of fewer than four units, if they are unavailable at the time the test notice is received. While DOE proposed these provisions in September 2010, the agency has attempted to clarify them to aid manufacturers in determining the exact sample size required for enforcement testing depending on product or equipment type.
Finally, DOE has included a general provision applicable to all covered products and covered equipment, which allows the agency to use its discretion in determining the sample size when covered products and covered equipment are generally unavailable.
DOE said it will use many of the considerations that interested parties noted in their comments, including the availability of units and the availability of third-party testing facilities, to run its test procedure.
The full document, with requirements including annual certification, can be found here.
