US President Joe Biden’s administration has decided it will appeal to its fan base by making ceiling fans the next target of its green agenda. .Fox Business reported Friday the Department of Energy (DOE) is proposing a rule which would require ceiling fans to be more energy efficient — a move Biden's opponents might not be a fan of. .A DOE analysis indicated the new rules would save households $39 over the lifespan of an energy-efficient fan upon being fanned out. However, it said manufacturers might hit the ceiling with the increased equipment costing them a total $86.6 million per year. .Republicans representatives on the House of Representatives Committee on Small Business fanned the flames of anger by saying if the rules go into effect, it could put small manufacturers out of business. .“This rule would require numerous small business fan manufacturers to redesign their products and may put between 10% and 30% of small business ceiling fan manufacturers out of business,” said the Republican representatives. .“It appears that the DOE may not have properly considered small entities during this rulemaking process.”.The DOE decided to break the glass ceiling by imposing more stringent regulations on household appliances for the past several months, proposing new standards on other essential items as part of its mission to advance energy efficiency and conservation..Biden did a fan dance by signing an executive order in 2021 to require the department to make major revisions to current appliance regulation standards set by former US president Donald Trump’s administration..It went along like a breeze one month later by listing many energy-efficiency rules impacting appliances that it would review. .A former senior DOE official said this philosophy is “energy efficiency at all costs or energy efficiency no matter the cost.”.“That means we are going to see, as a result of their efficiency standards, higher-priced appliances,” said the official. .“It's that simple.”.Republicans and fossil fuel supporters rallied behind gas stoves in January as a flash point in the United States’ ongoing culture wars and a source of conservative resistance to Biden’s environmental agenda..The controversy was ignited when United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) Commissioner Richard L. Trumka Jr. said he would not rule out a ban on the appliances, prompting the agency to pivot two days after and say he did not intend to act on it. .Trumka’s comment prompted loud complaints from Republicans, who accused the CPSC of trying to snatch the stoves from the 40 million homes relying on them..The 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 on July 21. .READ MORE: BIDENOMICS: Americans to get colder showers under new rules targeting water heaters.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 — the equivalent to about half of all houses in the US..Water heating is responsible for about 13% of 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.
