CONTRIBUTOR
The Biden administration introduced a new proposal for water heater efficiency standards Friday, becoming the latest widely-used household appliance to be singled out by the Energy Department.
The Department of Energy (DOE) claims the new water heater standards will curb carbon dioxide emissions and save Americans billions in the long-term, according to a Friday press release. The proposed rules are the latest advancement in the Biden administration’s wider push to regulate household appliances in pursuit of its climate agenda.
The regulation would mandate higher efficiency standards for new water heaters that use heat pumps, and would require new gas heat pumps to gain efficiency by using condensing technology, according to the DOE press release. Gas water heaters are smaller and less expensive, and thus carry cheaper installation costs than alternatives, according to FOX News.
“It’s just spreading to more and more appliances. It seems that almost everything that plugs in or fires up around the house is either subject to a pending regulation or soon will be,” Ben Lieberman, senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, said of the administration’s efficiency regulations push, according to FOX News. (RELATED: Biden Admin Proposes Nearly $15 Billion In New Regulations Over Just One Week)
“Consumers aren’t going to like any of it,” Lieberman continued, according to FOX News. “These rules are almost always bad for consumers for the simple reason that they restrict consumer choice.”
The efficiency regulations would take effect in 2029 if they are finalized, according to the press release. Other appliances that the Biden administration is planning to issue updated energy standards for include dishwashers, residential laundry machines, refrigerators and boilers, according to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.
The Biden administration has also attempted to regulate gas stoves, which led the Republican-controlled House to pass a bill in June that would bar any prospective federal ban on new gas stoves if it became law.
The DOE estimates that the new rule will save American consumers $198 billion in energy costs and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 501 million metric tons over 30 years, according to the press release. The projected emissions reduction is equivalent to the combined annual amount of emissions generated by more than 60 million homes, or about half of the homes in the U.S., according to the press release.
“This proposal reinforces the trajectory of consumer savings that forms the key pillar of Bidenomics and builds on the unprecedented actions already taken by this Administration to lower energy costs for working families across the nation,” Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said Friday, according to the press release. The rule would “improve outdated efficiency standards for common household appliances, which is essential to slashing utility bills for American families and cutting harmful carbon emissions,” she added.
The DOE did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
“The regulation would mandate higher efficiency standards for new water heaters that use heat pumps, and would require new gas heat pumps to gain efficiency by using condensing technology, according to the DOE press release.”
What is “condensing technology” for a gas heat pump? Condensing usually means turning a vapor to a liquid by removing heat. What does that have to do with heating water? Does Ms. Granholm even know what this means?
Isn’t knowing, or pretending to know, a job for staff?
Nope. A vivid illustration of why congress should not be ceding any authority to these pseudo “experts” about anything.
About 23 years ago I went to an auction where a local school system was getting rid of excess or unused equipment. I bid on a brand new 60 gallon Bradford White electric water heater and got it for $40.00 and stored it.
Oct, 2001 we moved into this house. The next month I installed that Bradford White water heater to replace the old 40 gallon one that came with the house.
Last Saturday while taking a shower I started running out of hot water. In the approximately 21 years since that water heater was installed we had no trouble with it of any kind.
I pulled off the panel and hit the reset button on the thing and it arced, and sputtered but no fire. The water heater started making hot water again. Soon the emergency pop off valve started spraying water everywhere. I flipped the breaker off and turned on the hot water in the kitchen sink to depressurize it.
We went without hot water Sunday and on Monday morning I was on the phone to the plumbing company we use. My days of fooling with that kind of stuff are over. I just told them what happened and how old the water heater was and told them I was going to need a new water heater.
They came out shortly after noon and by 15:30 I had a new Bradford White 60 Gallon electric water heater installed. Total cost $1,327.00.
They told me Bradford White water heaters were the only electric water heaters they stock and offer a warranty on. They also told me that the average electric water heater goes 8 years before a heating element will fail. But heating elements can be replaced and the water heater will still be good as long as too much lime has not built up in the tank or the tank hasn’t ruptured.
But as old as mine was it was time to replace it and not fool around with new heating elements and thermostat.
It was a bad week for anyone who thought China would cooperate on emissions reduction. President Xi Jinping reiterated that his country would set its own path on the issue and not be influenced by outside factors, according to the Washington Post and Bloomberg. This contradicts Xi’s 2015 Paris Agreement pledges to reduce its carbon emissions at the latest after 2030.
Xi’s remarks came while climate envoy and former secretary of state John Kerry was visiting Beijing to reopen a dialogue. This was shortly after Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived, and just before former secretary of state Henry Kissinger, the architect of opening China to the West 50 years ago, came for a visit.
Meanwhile, the biggest dam fool is plotting to “end hot water heaters”