DOE, Industry Squabble Over New Water Heater Standards

摘要

The clock is ticking. The deadline approaches. And no one — not even the honchos at the US Department of Energy (DOE) — knows how the testy debate over water heater efficiency standards will shake out. Earlier this year, DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy proposed increasing the minimum energy factors (EF) for gas and electric water heaters, which would force manufacturers to redesign many of their current models. Under these proposals, the minimum EF on a basic 40-gallon gas water heater would have to climb from 0.54 to 0.59 while the EF on a 50-gallon electric water heater would rise from 0.86 to 0.90. No efficiency changes were proposed for oil-fired water heaters, which have a baseline EF of 0.53.