OF COURSE THEY ARE: Yes, they are coming for your gas furnaces too.

Granholm claims that these changes are designed to “save Americans money and deliver healthier communities.” Of course, as with almost everything coming out of the Biden administration, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Current regulations require gas furnaces to convert at least 80% of the natural gas they consume into heat. The new regulations would raise the bar to 95%.

The only furnaces that currently meet that requirement are the ones with condenser technology installed. Condensing furnaces work by incorporating a second heat exchanger that recycles the furnace’s exhaust fumes, burning the small amount of unspent fuel that would normally be released. So at least in theory, you would use a fractionally smaller volume of natural gas to heat your home to the same temperature. And an equally small amount of unspent gas would not go out the chimney.

However, high-efficiency condensing furnaces are not only far more expensive than non-condensing models, but they are physically larger due to the extra heat exchanger. That means that modifications may be required to fit the new furnace in where the old one is currently located, driving up installation costs in addition to the higher sale price. The difference for a typical 2,000-square-foot house can be as much as $8,000 dollars. And in most cases, you would be replacing a fully functional furnace that you might otherwise have gotten decades of service from. So even if you manage to drive your utility bill down by twenty or thirty dollars per month, it will be a very long time before you actually realize and sort of net savings.

Spoiler: You will not see any savings.