DOE takes first step in increasing furnace efficiency regulations

Yesterday the Department of Energy released a pre-publication draft of a Notice of Proposed Interpretive Rule-making to roll back a rule created during the Trump Administration to protect “non-condensing” furnaces as a class of products. The Trump-era rule would have declared “non-condensing technology (and associated venting)” a feature of furnace and water heater technology. Features cannot be eliminated by future energy efficiency regulations, therefore DOE must roll back the feature ruling in order to create a new energy efficiency standard for non-weatherized residential furnaces.