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The National Appliance Energy Conservation Act (NAECA) will require higher Efficiency Factor ratings on all storage tank-type water heater units, increasing space requirements and raising the cost for homeowners.
Replacing your current tank-type water heater may soon bring bigger installation headaches—and higher costs—than in the past, thanks to pending federally mandated energy-efficiency requirements.
As a part of the National Appliance Energy Conservation Act (NAECA) from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), a new update will require a higher Energy Factor (EF) rating on almost all tank-type, residential gas, electric, oil and water heaters. The new regulations will become effective on April 16, 2015,
These standards will play a major role in efforts to save energy nationwide, helping people save money and reduce carbon pollution, ensuring that we are working towards an energy-stable future. But the changes will bring certain challenges for installers of storage-tank water heaters and their customers.
What does this mean?
Under these new energy efficiency regulations, tank-type water heaters will be significantly larger and will therefore take up more space in areas of the home in which space is already limited; e.g., basement mechanical areas, garages, attics, utility closets, etc. For example, gas water heaters under 55 gallons will be an additional 2 inches taller and 2 inches wider in diameter.
Homes that use a closet to house a water heater, as well as apartment and condo applications, are especially vulnerable to these dimensional changes.
In a water heater-replacement scenario where space is a concern, sticking with the tank-type water heater route may result in having to use a model with a smaller storage capacity, or one with both less capacity and a larger physical size than the unit that is currently in place. In either case, the homeowner will have less hot water for daily cleaning and washing activities.
The perfect solution…
The bottom line is that energy efficiency is becoming increasingly important in all aspects of our daily lives, and we need to consider what we can do to live greener. If you think you’ll need to replace your water heater soon, tankless is the perfect solution.
Space for a water heater may be limited in your home, whether it’s in your closet, garage or basement. The great thing about tankless technology is that it already incorporates the demands of the new NAECA guidelines. The average EF of most tankless water heaters is already 20 to 30 points above that of a standard, tank-type water heater, and the units are wall-hung, meaning that they will readily fit into tight spaces that cannot accommodate the new and larger tank water heaters.
Doing a tankless-for-tank change-out can present its own special complications, of course. But Noritz recently unveiled a much easier and more cost-effective way to make such a change-out.
The new Noritz EZTR40 Residential Tankless Water Heater is engineered to replace any 40-Gal. tank-type water heater, handling the hot-water needs of the entire household.
With new features that make the tank-replacement job more intuitive and straightforward, homeowners get the benefits of time savings and installation ease with all the energy- and space-saving advantages of tankless.
For more information on tankless water with the EZTR40, please visit www.noritz.com.