Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., told off the Department of Energy over the weekend for new proposed energy efficiency standards on water heaters, which he said could be costly for consumers.
“Leave us alone,” Massie wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter) in response to the Biden administration’s proposed requirement for most common-sized electric water heaters to achieve efficiency gains with heat pump technology and gas-fired water heaters to achieve efficiency gains through condensing technology.
“These products already exist in the free market. Consumers should decide whether the upfront cost of a heat-pump water heater is worth the possible long term savings. In many cases, the monthly savings never make up for the upfront cost of the equipment,” said Massie, an MIT-trained engineer who lives off-the-grid in a home powered by solar panels and a retrofitted Tesla Model S battery.
“Heat-pump water heaters can save energy, but they make less sense in northern climates,” he argued. “That’s because they extract heat from surrounding air … warm air that your furnace will have to work harder to replace. There’s ‘no free lunch’ from these water heaters in winter.”
“Heat-pump water heaters also take a long time to make a tank of hot water,” Massie wrote. “But on-demand water heaters make hot water as needed, avoiding heat losses from a big tank. Depending on personal circumstances, cheaper on-demand heaters might be more economical than mandated heaters.”
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The Department of Energy on Friday proposed to update congressionally-mandated standards on residential water heater efficiency. Water heating is responsible for roughly 13% of both annual residential energy use and consumer utility costs, the DOE said.
The standards, to take effect in 2029 if finalized, are expected to save nearly $200 billion and reduce more than 500 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions over 30 years, about equal to the combined annual emissions of 63 million homes, or approximately 50% of homes in the United States, the DOE said.
“Today’s actions — together with our industry partners and stakeholders — improve outdated efficiency standards for common household appliances, which is essential to slashing utility bills for American families and cutting harmful carbon emissions,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm.
A coalition of environmental activists and consumer advocacy groups, including the water heater maker Rheem and the Natural Resources Defense Council, released a joint statement endorsing the new standards.
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However, tankless water heater maker Rinnai, a Japanese company, said the proposed standards for its product were “technologically impossible” and would reduce consumer choice.
Reuters contributed to this report.