DOE Issues New Energy Conservation Standards for Cooking Appliances

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) issued a final rule this week that adopts new and amended energy conservation standards for consumer conventional cooking products — both electric and gas. The final rule, which will go into effect on Jan. 31, 2028, will require modest improvements in a small portion of models and are projected to save Americans approximately $1.6 billion on their utility bills over 30 years.

DOE projects approximately 97% of gas stove models and 77% of smooth electric stove models on the market already meet these standards — a significant change from the initial rule proposed last year, which would have impacted half of the models on the market. Changes include allowing stoves that use 1.77 million British Thermal Units (BTUs) of energy per year, up from 1.204 million BTUs in the initial proposal.

The final rule addresses concerns expressed to DOE by NAHB and reflects joint recommendations from a wide range of stakeholders — including the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers, Consumer Federation of America and energy efficiency advocates — to reduce costs for families and cut greenhouse gas emissions while allowing home appliance manufacturers to continue to deliver highly efficient products with the features that consumers want and expect. Similar standards have been released or are expected for refrigerators and freezers, wine chillers and similar products, clothes washers, clothes dryers and dishwashers.

NAHB has been actively advocating against efforts to limit the availability and use of gas stoves, and will continue to support efforts to maintain a variety of home appliance options for consumers to help improve housing affordability.