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The Energy Policy and Conservation Act, as amended, (EPCA) prescribes energy conservation standards for various consumer products and certain commercial and industrial equipment, including the residential furnaces which are the subject of this rulemaking. (42 U.S.C. 6292(a)(5)) EPCA also requires the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to determine whether more-stringent amended standards would be technologically feasible and economically justified and would save a significant amount of energy (42 U.S.C. 6295(o)(2)(A) and (3)(B)). EPCA specifically provides that DOE must conduct two rounds of energy conservation standards rulemakings for the residential furnaces at issue (42 U.S.C. 6295(f)(4)(B) and (C)), and the statute also requires that not later than six years after issuance of any final rule establishing or amending a standard, DOE must publish either a notice of determination that standards for the product does not need to be amended, or a notice of proposed rulemaking (NOPR) including new proposed energy conservation standards (42 U.S.C. 6295(m)(1)). This rulemaking is being undertaken pursuant to the statutorily-required second round of rulemaking for non-weatherized gas furnaces (NWGFs) and mobile home gas furnaces (MHGFs), and once completed, it will also satisfy the statutorily-required six-year-lookback review.

In the July 7, 2022 NOPR, DOE proposed amended and new energy conservation standards for NWGFs and MHGFs pursuant to a court-ordered remand of DOE's 2011 rulemaking for these products and other statutory requirements. 87 FR 40590. Specifically, the NOPR proposed amended active mode annual fuel utilization efficiency (AFUE) standards at 95 percent for both NWGFs and MHGFs. It also proposed amended standby mode and off mode standards (in watts) at 8.5 watts for both NWGFs and MHGFs. If finalized, the proposed standards would apply to all NWGFs and MHGFs manufactured in, or imported into, the United States starting on the date five years after the publication of the final rule for this rulemaking.

In the final rule, DOE adopts the amended energy conservation standards for both NWGFs and MHGFs. DOE has determined that the amended energy conservation standards for the subject products would result in significant conservation of energy, and are technologically feasible and economically justified.

In the final rule, DOE adopted the amended energy conservation standards for consumer furnaces, specifically nonweatherized gas furnaces and mobile home gas furnaces. The Department has determined that the amended energy conservation standards for the subject products would result in significant conservation of energy, and are technologically feasible and economically justified.