Items Tagged with 'furnace standards'

Colorado’s 2026 clean air law, while reducing pollution, inadvertently sidelines propane water heater users, sparking urgent calls for legislative relief.

Heating, Air-conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International, the Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors–National Association, and the Natural Gas Association of Georgia argue that the efficiency standards would undermine statutory protections of consumer choice and access to affordable, reliable heating options.

Non-condensing furnaces, which make up approximately 55% of the market for natural gas furnaces in the United States, cannot be replaced by other furnace types, and their removal from the market would saddle families with costly renovations or eliminate gas as a home heating option all together. 

A federal court has upheld the Department of Energy’s furnace efficiency rule, requiring all new residential furnaces manufactured after 2028 to be 15% more efficient than today’s models. The DOE says the move will save consumers an average of $350 over the life of their equipment while cutting emissions equivalent to shutting down two dozen gas power plants.

The American Gas Association, along with other trade organizations and a manufacturer, are challenging the U.S. Department of Energy rule that would ban the sale of noncondensing natural-gas furnaces beginning in December of 2028.

The rule will effectively ban the sale of non-condensing gas furnaces and, according to the American Gas Association (AGA), will affect 55% of U.S. households.

The final rule from the U.S. Department of Energy, issued recently, requires newly manufactured indoor residential gas furnaces to be at least 95% efficient starting in December 2028, meaning furnaces made after then will have to be condensing models.