Items Tagged with 'furnace efficiency'

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.

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 DOE rule requires the elimination of “all non-condensing natural gas furnaces,” which could force consumers to spend thousands of dollars to be in compliance.

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.