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The Biden administration is banning certain natural gas water heaters from the market as part of its climate change agenda, a move critics say will increase energy costs for low-income households and the elderly.
The move, in the final days of the administration, will remove non-condensing natural gas water heaters from the shelves by 2029 in an attempt to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, which climate change proponents and President Biden say they cause global warming.
The new rules will require new tankless gas water heaters to use about 13% less energy than today’s least efficient tankless models.
The Biden administration is banning certain natural gas water heaters from the market as part of its climate change agenda, a move critics say will increase energy costs for low-income households and the elderly. (Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images, left, Hearst Newspapers via Getty Images, right. / Getty Images)
The rules apply to both non-condensing and condensing gas water heaters, but the rules raise efficiency requirements to a threshold that only condensing models can meet, effectively banning cheaper but less efficient non-condensing models, according to The Washington Free Beacon. Condensation technology loses less heat.
Consumers will be forced to buy more expensive models or cheaper non-instantaneous water heaters, which are less efficient than the models banned by DOE.
Tankless technology is often used when space is limited, such as in apartment buildings and smaller homes, Diana Furchtgott-Ruth, director of the Center for Energy, Climate and Environment, wrote for The Daily Signal.
For example, Rinnai America is the only company that manufactures tankless water heaters in the United States. His tankless natural gas water heater sells for about $1,000 Home Depotcompared to $1800 for a 75 gallon condensing tank.
The new rules were announced by the Department of Energy (DOE) the day after Christmas, although the agency did not make a public announcement. Fox Business has reached out to the DOE for comment.
President Biden delivers remarks on July 27, 2023 extreme heat conditions. (Reuters/Jonathan Ernst/File Photo/Reuters Photos)
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Matthew Agen, general counsel of the American Gas and Energy Association, condemned the move, calling it “deeply troubling and irresponsible.”
“The final rule is a violation of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA), which prohibits DOE from promulgating a standard that makes a product with special performance characteristics unavailable,” Agen said in a statement before the rules were officially released.
To make matters worse, Agen said, DOE’s own analysis claims that the average life-cycle cost savings would be barely $112 over the entire 20-year average life of the product. He said that the rule is unjustified from a legal and practical point of view.
“Forcing low-income and senior customers to pay far more up front is of particular concern. DOE’s decision to move forward with the flawed final rule is deeply disappointing.”
Rinnai recently built a $70 million, 360,000-square-foot plant in Georgia to manufacture non-condensing gas water heaters for the U.S. market, according to The Washington Free Beacon.
Frank Windsor, president of Rinnai America, told the outlet the move was a “bad deal.”
He said the company began construction in 2020 following President Trump’s efforts to boost American manufacturing, and employs hundreds.
“When the rule goes into effect, all that manufacturing will be effectively irrelevant,” Windsor said. “A lot of the major equipment that we’ve invested in will actually have to be scrapped.”
People with signs and posters during the global strike for climate change. (iStock / iStock)
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However, the nonprofit Appliance Standards Awareness Project (ASAP) welcomed the move, saying it would eliminate 32 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions from water heaters sold over 30 years.
A group that supports energy reduction and water consumption in appliances, says he advocates DOE efficiency standards.
“This is a sensible step that will reduce overall household costs while reducing global warming emissions,” said Andrew deLaski, executive director of ASAP.
“These long-awaited standards will provide savings to more families with proven energy-efficient technology already in use in most tankless units.”
