(ConservativeSense.com) – The Biden administration is to tighten efficiency standards on home water heaters as part of its crackdown on domestic appliances. The rules, which will take effect in 2029, will require new buildings to install electric heaters powered by heat pumps. Officials say the move will cut billions of dollars from home energy bills and reduce carbon emissions.
Johanna Neumann of the Environment America Research and Policy Center said the initial cost of the new heaters will be higher, but consumers will recoup this through lower energy bills. “Appliance standards are an unsung hero in our work to address climate change and transition to wiser energy use, and this rule is the king of them all,” she said.
Water heaters are the latest household appliances targeted for red tape regulations by the Democrats. In February, gas stoves were the focus as rules were proposed that would force millions of homes to “modify” their stove or replace it with a more expensive electric model. Geraldine Richmond, the Under Secretary of Energy for Science and Innovation, who is responsible for the new guidelines on stoves, told Republicans in Congress that she has no idea how an electric stove is installed or how much it would cost.
The government has also announced policies regulating washing machines and light bulbs. Whirlpool, a major manufacturer of home appliances, said sticking to the washing machine rules would force it to make its machines less efficient and reduce their cleaning performance. Furthermore, a wash will take longer, and the detergent will likely be more expensive.
In April, the White House announced it will ban incandescent light bulbs later this year. Only LED lights will be permitted soon, and research finds that large percentages of high-income homes already use them, so the new regulations will once again have a disproportionate impact on lower-income families. A consumer group wrote to the government stating that LED lights are more expensive and “inferior for certain functions such as dimming.”
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