DOE unveils efficiency standards for furnace fans

Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz unveiled new energy efficiency standards for furnace fans, which are expected to curb carbon pollution by 34 million metric tons over the next 15 years.

The Energy Department announced the new standards Wednesday, the one-year anniversary of President Obama’s climate action plan.

{mosads}Furnace fans are responsible for circulated air through ductwork in residential heating and cooling systems, and consume roughly 1,000 kilowatt-hours per year, according to the Energy Department. The new rule is expected to reduce the energy usage by 46 percent.

Moniz stressed at a League of Conservation Voters event Wednesday morning that while standards on furnace fans may not “get everyone’s juices flowing” they are a “big deal.”

He said the new standards will save consumers over $9 billion in home electric bills over the next 15 years.

Adding all of the president’s climate standards together, Moniz said, the U.S. will be close to “half a trillion dollars of energy savings.”

“We have picked up the pace,” Moniz said of the administration’s climate plan.

Moniz added that the more the U.S. is able to set “ambitious goals” through the “cost reduction of low-carbon technologies” then the more the nation will see “policy shifts that will allow tiny and aggressive responses to climate risks.”