Land of the free, home of the inefficient: appliance standards as culture war target
Land of the free, home of the inefficient: appliance standards as culture war target
From ceiling fans to refrigerators, the Department of Energy is updating appliance efficiency standards that would affect millions of consumers.
The Biden administration's goal is to reduce climate-warming greenhouse gasses and save Americans billions of dollars a year in utility costs. But the administration is facing pushback from the natural gas industry, because some new standards would affect gas appliances. Conservative politicians and media have taken notice of the measures, too, and they've now made unsexy, technical appliance standards a flashpoint in the country's culture war.
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As someone that is in the process of buying a new home and looking for efficient appliances for the specific purpose of lowering utility bills, I really appreciate the DoE's energy standards. I especially appreciate that energy start certified appliances are consolidated here for browsing. It has so far helped me choose a washer and dryer. Similarly, the EPA's WaterSense program is helpful because I live in the southwest, which is a desert. Water rationing is inevitable, and I'd like to get ahead of the game.
So, it's funny to me that efficiency standards are a culture war target. Consumers opposing these standards are basically arguing for their own exploitation by utility and gas companies.
Consumers opposing these standards are basically arguing for their own exploitation by utility and gas companies.
Not necessarily. The modern washing machines, dryers, and dishwashers that I've used are really slow. They take several times longer than what I'm accustomed to. I don't think the money saved on electricity and water justifies that much extra time, especially since the cost of running these appliances was already relatively low. It's bad enough IMO that if I were getting these appliances, I would prefer used, older ones to new ones.
The modern washing machines, dryers, and dishwashers that I’ve used are really slow.
You must be more attentive to your appliances than me. I forget about them all the time. So the increased time will barely be noticeable to me.
Note that this isn't a small increase - the new machines take two or three times as long to run as the old ones do. I suppose it won't be an issue for you if you always do these chores in advance, but I often end up doing more than one load of laundry or running the dishwasher because I need clean dishes right away.
I don't think I've seen those huge increases except on appliances with greatly increased capacity as compared with the old ones. I don't think it's a big deal either; you set up a washing machine or a dishwasher, and then you go do something else. Almost nobody sits around babysitting their washing machine or dishwasher.
I'll also note that the appliances also have a 'speed' cycle which runs fast for those rare occasions when you need it.
When we replaced our dishwasher a couple of years ago, the "normal" cycle's run time went from 45 min to 2.5 hours. The shortest cycle on the new washer is 1.5 hours. Previously, we also never had to clean out any kind of filter at the bottom of the washer, but on the new one we do because most brands no longer come with any kind of grinder built in. On the other hand, our new washer uses half the water and half the electricity and is silent, like if it wasn't for the light it shines on the floor, i would have to open it to make sure it is running versus our old washer that drowned out the tv. But, most importantly, our new washer gets the dishes incredibly clean in one cycle, vs the old one that would often require 2 cycles or that you pre-rinse the dishes.