An estimate from the Department of Energy (DOE) says 50% of gas stoves on the market no longer comply with newly proposed safety standards.
Key Details
- The White House and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) have been deliberating since October whether to ban hookups of new gas stoves or tighten safety standards, following studies that suggest gas stoves can cause asthma in children and contribute to carbon emissions.
- A new analysis from the DOE now suggests that half of the gas stove models on the market do not comply with new efficiency regulations, cutting against previous claims by safety commissioner Richard Trumka Jr. that new stoves would only need to meet the efficiency standards equivalent to some already on the market.
- The new standards require a high-input rate burner and a continuous cast iron grate for new stoves, Energywire reports.
Why It’s Important
The clean-energy movement is very determined to lower natural gas usage in its fight to curb carbon emissions, and the DOE says that the proposal could cut CO2 emissions by 21.9 million metric tons and methane by 245 thousand tons, also limiting sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions. This could subsequently help cut children’s issues such as asthma.
However, a total ban on gas stoves isn’t off the table. The CPSC affirms it has the power to “ban consumer products that emit hazardous substances, particularly when those emissions harm children, under the Federal Hazardous Substances Act.” As Trumka says, “This is a hidden hazard. Any option is on the table. Products that can’t be made safe can be banned.”
Backing Up A Bit
As we previously reported, gas-powered stove ovens became a hot topic for partisan discussion last month following comments by federal safety commissioner Richard Trumka Jr. that they ought to be banned. The DOE responded that its new safety standards are not a ban but a mere tightening of safety standards on new stove models after 2027. Politicians like Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV), Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), and Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL) responded with legislation in defense of gas stoves.
The DOE’s analysis was not included in the original proposal but instead released several weeks after the initial political backlash cooled to clarify and offer expectations for how the proposed rule with the impact the market. As Energywire notes, stove manufacturers will likely be able to implement these features into new models before the cutoff in 2027.
Notable Quotes
“DOE’s analysis is constructed so that the proposed standard would ensure that products with at least one HIR burner and continuous grates can continue to be available on the market,” DOE spokesman Jeremy Ortiz tells Energywire.
“There’s really nothing strange or unusual about the latest proposal for gas stoves. It would simply ensure that manufacturers include readily available design changes in their gas stoves that would reduce needless gas waste,” says Appliance Standards Awareness Project director Andrew deLaski.