Biden moves to ban around 40% of new tankless water heaters by 2029: report

In a last-minute policy as the curtain drops on his administration, President Joe Biden has moved to ban certain natural gas water heaters as part of his climate agenda, which could spike energy prices.

According to the Washington Free Beacon, many new non-condensing, natural gas-fired water heaters will be banned from being sold beginning in 2029 due to concerns about carbon-dioxide emissions. The policy was put into place without a press release.

An estimate from the Appliance Standards Awareness Project showed that around 40 percent of the tankless water heaters currently on the market would be banned.

The new regulations were published by Biden’s Department of Energy the day after Christmas. Only condensing models have been able to meet the new energy efficiency requirements; that would effectively ban the non-condensing models, the outlet reported.

As a result of the policies, consumers would have to buy more expensive models or non-instantaneous storage tank water heaters, which are typically cheaper but usually less efficient than the models that will be banned, according to the report. The Beacon reported that Americans will pay $450 more on average for new water heaters as a result of the regulations.

Because tankless units are regularly used in smaller apartments and housing units, lower-income and elderly people are usually the consumers of the products that will be banned. Matthew Agen, the American Gas Association’s chief counsel for energy, told the outlet, “Forcing low-income and senior customers to pay far more upfront is particularly concerning. DOE’s decision to go ahead with a flawed final rule is deeply disappointing.”

President-elect Donald Trump has selected Liberty Energy CEO Chris Wright to serve as his secretary of energy when he takes office on Jan. 20 and has said he plans to reverse some of Biden’s climate change policies.