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Washers, water heaters will hog less energy under new rules
Friday, April 13, 2001
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration yesterday approved standards requiring new clothes washers and water heaters to use less energy. Action was delayed on central air conditioners and heat pumps.
The standards, issued in the last two weeks of the Clinton presidency, will require new washing machines to use 35 percent less energy starting with the 2007 model year. Water heaters must use 5 percent to 9 percent less energy beginning in 2004.
The Energy Department estimates that the new requirements will raise the current $421 average price of a new washing machine to $670 by 2007. They will add $100 to the average $380 price of an electric water heater and $58 to the average $449 price of a gas-fired water heater.
But the more efficient washing machines will reduce the average homeowner's electric and water bills an average of $48 annually, covering the difference in five years for an appliance that typically lasts 14 years.
Buyers of the new water heaters will get an even better deal, with annual utility bill savings of $117 for gas-fired models and $182 a year for the electric versions.
The White House told the Energy Department to review the regulations. "Benefits to consumers, to the environment and to energy efficiency are pretty clear-cut," Energy Department spokesman Joe Davis said.
Manufacturers had complained that the standards would make the low-end models that most consumers buy too expensive.
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