First it was natural gas stoves. Now the Biden administration is moving to ban gas powered water heaters..Late Friday, the Department of Energy (DOE) announced new energy efficiency standards to require the most common gas-fired and electric water heaters to achieve efficiency gains with heat pumps and condensing technology. .These standards, which would take effect in 2029, are expected to save Americans US$198 billion and reduce 501 million metric tonnes of emissions over 30 years — which the DOE said is roughly equivalent to the emissions of 63 million homes, or approximately half of all houses in the US..Water heating is responsible for roughly 13% of both annual residential energy use and consumer utility costs. Separate standards would raise the minimum efficiency levels for gas-fired storage water heaters and oil-fired storage water heaters based on technology improvements for those products..Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) also aims to heavily subsidize heat pump water heaters through tax credits, rebates and other incentives..In addition to water heaters, the Biden administration has targetted the aforementioned gas stoves along with washing machines, clothes dryers, refrigerators and and air conditioners..Biden is further moving ahead with rules impacting furnaces, pool pumps, battery chargers, ceiling fans and dehumidifiers..Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm called it a “key pillar of Bidenomics.” .“This proposal…builds on the unprecedented actions already taken by this Administration to lower energy costs for working families across the nation,” she said..But critics said it merely reduces consumer choice and forces them to buy costlier appliances.."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, a senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, told Fox News.."Consumers aren't going to like any of it," he added. "These rules are almost always bad for consumers for the simple reason that they restrict consumer choice." .In a similar interview, West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin — who is also chair of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee — said Biden’s war on household appliances is reckless and dangerous in terms of the stability of the nation’s energy grid.."With all the movement and demand for more electric appliances that would take the place of gas whether it be a stove or furnace. It absolutely makes no sense and is not in check with reality. Absolutely not," he told Fox.
