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.
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.
gas stove lobby !
get an induction plate people!
I have an induction hotplate and for anything other than boiling water - which it's great at - I don't like it.
There are probably other ones but the fact that I can't test drive stoves before I drop a couple grand on it makes me leery of them. I don't want to burn every pot of rice on my new stove.