The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recently published new energy conservation standards for residential furnace fans, which it says will help reduce carbon pollution by up to 34 million metric tons and save Americans more than $9 billion in home electricity bills through 2030. Critics of the rule argue the DOE is placing an undue burden on the HVAC industry by regulating components of appliances that already meet energy-efficiency guidelines, and that consumers will be harmed by the higher cost of the new furnaces.
Manufacturers will initially bear the brunt of this change, as they will need to redesign their furnace lines in order to comply with the new standard, which takes effect in 2019. While it is still too early to tell how much that will cost, it will likely be significant, noted Francis Dietz, vice president of public affairs, Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI). “We believe that regulating individual components is a step in the wrong direction. Instead, we should be moving in the other direction — considering the overall efficiency of systems rather than components.”