The standards on residential water heater efficiency, which are required by Congress, have not been updated in 13 years. Water heating is responsible for roughly 13% of both annual residential energy use and consumer utility costs, the DOE said.

  • FishInABarrel
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    41 year ago

    Heat pump water heaters already exist, but I think they’re pretty expensive compared to gas/resistive heat.

    I wouldn’t be surprised if electric tankless water heaters are indeed infeasible under this mandate. Heat pumps generally aren’t powerful, and tankless heaters require enormous amounts of power while in use.

    • Martin
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      21 year ago

      Heat pump water heaters are pretty standard in large parts of the world. They are a bit expensive to install, but with today’s electric prices, they pay off quite fast.