Manufacturers and customers are ticked the Biden administration wants to force energy-efficient washing machines on everyone.
It sounds nice, but the machines would use less water, which means longer washing times and probably stinkier clothes.
Also, if you use less water and have to redo the wash, doesn’t that mean you use the same amount of water you would have used in the first place?
The proposal came out in February. The Energy Department wants machines to use less water to “confront the global climate crisis.”
Manufacturers claim the new regulations would “reduce cleaning performance to ensure their machines comply, leading industry giants such as Whirlpool said in public comments on the rule.” The washing machines and detergent would become more expensive while clothes are not so clean.
The Energy Department argued the manufacturers won’t have to sacrifice “stain removal and other performance standards.” Common sense says otherwise:
For the Heritage Foundation’s Travis Fisher, however, manufacturer concerns over the proposal are justified.”When you’re squeezing all you can out of the efficiency in terms of electricity use and water … you by definition either make the appliance worse or slower,” said Fisher, who serves as a senior research fellow at the foundation’s Center for Energy, Climate, and Environment. “Why are we so focused on the energy output, as opposed to if it’s helping me wash my clothes? That standard has kind of gone off the rails.”Beyond the performance standard debate, the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers argued that the Energy Department’s washing machine regulations “would have a disproportionate, negative impact on low-income households” by eliminating cheaper appliances from the market. The Energy Department estimates that manufacturers will incur nearly $700 million in conversion costs to transition to the new machines.
American Enterprise Institute Senior Fellow James Coleman told Fox News Digital: “Like many efficiency standards, the government claims that although these standards will raise the cost of appliances, they are justified because they will reduce consumer spending on energy & water even more. Of course, if that were true, consumers would likely buy more efficient appliances anyway, given that studies show consumers consider energy and water costs. If consumers do fully consider what they will pay on energy in their individual circumstances, then the standards would, on-net, harm consumers.”
The Energy Department didn’t refute the higher costs affecting lower-income households.
But that’s okay because, in the end, it would save those households money “through lower energy and water bills.”
Except that “good news” would only reach “roughly a quarter of whom ‘would experience a net cost’ thanks to the efficiency rule, according to the Energy Department’s proposal.”
I bought a high efficiency machine in 2014. A wash usually takes an hour, and I haven’t noticed stinky clothes.
But that doesn’t matter. It’s about choice. If someone doesn’t want these machines, they shouldn’t have to buy one.
But Big Brother knows best! We must listen to our betters.
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