3 Main Water Heater Regulations

When the federal government decided to make energy efficiency in appliances a top priority, it looked to the National Appliance Energy Conservation Act for guidance.

As a result, the United States Department of Energy implemented the Final Rule energy efficiency standards, leading to widespread changes as to how appliances are manufactured and distributed.

Impacting both U.S. and Canadian companies, the new standards required manufacturers to use the latest energy-efficient technology to design and build modern water heaters.

With these regulations in place, the results for energy efficiency and conservation of natural resources have been extremely good.

But before purchasing a new water heater, it will be a good idea to have a better understanding of just how the new rules will impact consumers.

Small Capacity Heaters

Defined as those heaters between 20-55 gallons, small capacity heaters will notice significant impacts when it comes to energy efficiency. Applying to electric and gas heaters, the Final Rule standards will allow these heaters to see increases ranging between 5-35 percent.

The biggest increase will come with tankless heaters, which many manufacturers feel will result in a surge in demand for these heaters that are much smaller but more efficient.

Along with this, 50 gallon electric heaters will also see increases in efficiency. This will show results much quicker, since that is the most popular size used in Naperville homes today.

Large Capacity Heaters

While Naperville homes will notice impacts on small capacity heaters, so will those homes and businesses using large capacity water heaters. Both gas and electric water heaters in this group will become much more efficient, with 75 gallon gas heaters and 120 gallon electric heaters showing the most improvement.

75 gallon gas water heaters will have their EF go from .53 to .74, while 120 gallon electric heaters will have their EF rise from the current .81 to a whopping 1.92.

Manufacturing Regulations

The biggest impact the regulations will have on water heater manufacturers involves the technology that will be required on newer models of heaters. Both gas condensation and electric heat pump technology will be required on all new models, leading to greater increases in water conservation and energy efficiency.

If all goes as planned, the new technology will eventually lead all heaters to see reductions in price, due to the increased savings companies will be able to have as the technology is perfected in both small and large capacity models.

Any hold ups regarding your Naperville, IL water heater? Call Jim Wagner at (630) 577-9341 today for any of your repair or maintenance requests.