Yahoo Finance The Gas Stove Debacle Is Finally Over
The small changes could save Americans a collective $1.6 billion.
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In early 2023, home cooks and professional chefs united for the same cause: protecting gas stoves at all costs. It was then that Richard Trumka Jr., a U.S. Consumer Product Safety commissioner, suggested in an interview with Bloomberg that one day, gas stoves could be banned, setting off a political firestorm. “This is a hidden hazard,” Trumka Jr. said at the time. “Any option is on the table. Products that can’t be made safe can be banned.”
But now, the Biden administration has revealed its new efficiency standards and gas stove lovers can breathe a sigh of relief — at least at the federal level.
On Monday, the Department of Energy (DOE) announced new energy efficiency standards for ovens and stoves, and to the delight of many, almost all current stoves and ovens on the market already meet these standards.
“DOE’s analysis shows that 97 percent of gas stove shipments already meet the new standards,” the Appliance Standards Awareness Project (ASAP) shared in a release. “Manufacturers will have until January 31, 2028, to modify the small share of models that do not already meet the standards.” As for the easiest way to meet those standards, the DOE shared that the easiest route is to “optimize burner and grate design,” according to ASAP.
The biggest change will actually be for electric stoves, according to ASAP, as new models must use at least 30 percent less energy annually than today's lowest-performing models by 2028. The DOE also promises these new standards “will not result in the loss of any consumer-desired features in future models, such as continuous cast-iron grates, high input rate burners, and other specialty burners.”
And while the changes seem small, the Biden administration projects that these tweaks will help Americans save approximately $1.6 billion on their utility bills over 30 years. Additionally, the DOE says the changes will help decrease carbon dioxide emissions by nearly 4 million metric tons over the same timeframe. So now, the experts would like the gas stove debate put to bed.
“The gas stove debate has been a distracting sideshow,” Andrew deLaski, executive director of ASAP, shared with The Washington Post. “What’s important is that the Biden administration is updating a range of efficiency standards that collectively will deliver significant bill savings for middle-class families.”
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