Natural gas furnaces, by far the most popular way to warm U.S. homes, should be a juicy target for new energy-efficiency standards to lower heating bills.
But a 10-year federal effort to raise the minimum standard for gas furnaces, which hasn’t changed in decades, has so far missed its target.
What went wrong? As it turns out, plenty.
Missteps, disagreements and a lawsuit have derailed the effort. It now looks as if it will take several more years to implement a new standard.
“It’s a shame,” said Andrew deLaski, executive director of the Appliance Standards Awareness Project, which supports the tougher standard. “This is going to end up taking 20 years, and that is ridiculous.”
Energy efficiency is determined by how much energy stored in a fuel is used. Under the current standard for natural gas furnaces, the appliances must turn into heat at least 78 percent of the energy in each unit of natural gas.
The proposed standard would raise that to 90 percent for new furnaces installed in northern states. The standard for southern states would remain essentially unchanged at 80 percent.
In an average residence, a furnace that is 90 percent or more efficient costs an extra $600 to $800, with installation. But it can save $50 to $100 or more a year in fuel costs. And there are sizable environmental benefits because carbon dioxide emissions that cause global warming would be cut.
But critics of the proposed standard, while acknowledging the benefits, say it is deeply flawed. The more efficient furnaces need different venting from older gas furnaces, and in some installations, the cost could outweigh the economic benefit.
Critics, which include some gas utilities and furnace installers or distributors, say another problem is the different efficiency standards for warmer and cooler climates, which would be difficult to enforce.
Efficiency standards have already been increased for a range of appliances, from refrigerators to dishwashers. The minimum efficiency standards for central air conditioners and heat pumps have jumped about 30 percent in the past several years and are supposed to go up some more.
In July, the Department of Energy boasted of new requirements for microwave ovens that slash the amount of energy they use in standby mode by 75 percent.
Gas furnaces were a tempting target because, according to the Energy Information Administration, about 40 percent of the energy delivered to a residence over a year is for heating, and more than half of that is used in gas furnaces.
