New Water Heater Rules 2015

The USA Federal Government has decided it needs to make residential water heaters more efficient and has put new water heater rules in force as of April 16, 2015. After you discover how it's going to impact your bank account, you may have to take an extra blood pressure pill. This message was so important, it was mentioned in the opens in a new windowFebruary 27, 2015 and the  opens in a new windowMarch 1, 2015 AsktheBuilder Sunday News.

I reached out to the PR team for A. O. Smith and they connected me with Ralph Perez, Director of Residential Product Management. I asked them to produce a great FAQ for you about these sweeping changes.

The BOTTOM LINE is you may want to get a new replacement heater that's made to the OLD STANDARDS before you're FORCED to buy a new heater that's far more complex and is going to be bigger.

A new water heater MAY NOT FIT in the space you have now for your water heater.

If your heater is newer, then go purchase some extra anode rods for it so you can extend the life of your heater indefinitely.

opens in a new windowCLICK HERE NOW to purchase anode rods for your water heater!

Water heaters FAIL because the sacrificial anode rods disappear and the small electric current in the heater starts to attack the tank. Eventually a hole develops and you're toast - wet toast. If you put in a new anode rod every five years or so, your heater can last and last.

Here's Ralph's fantastic answers to important questions:

1. For those readers not familiar with the upcoming update to the NAECA water heater standard, can you briefly describe what it is and what it means for our industry?

NAECA stands for the National Appliance Energy Conservation Act, and it’s the law that establishes minimum energy-efficiency requirements for residential water heaters. Across the industry, every manufacturer’s entire residential product line will have to meet more rigorous efficiency standards starting April 16, 2015.  While all of A. O. Smith’s high efficiency products already surpass the standards, for our standard products, the new rules mean that we will be making changes to improve energy efficiency that should result in lower energy costs for homeowners.

2. How do you see the NAECA standard affecting contractors? Homeowners? Engineers and designers?

For starters, the biggest change is that most standard residential water heaters will be larger. Electric water heaters over 55 gallons in capacity must use heat pump water heating technology and certain gas water heaters over 55 gallons in capacity will have to be high efficiency condensing technology.

Once the 2015 efficiency standards are in effect, homeowners and contractors will need to pay close attention to the type and size of water heaters during replacements because, in some cases, similar units will be physically larger, both in height and diameter. Contractors may need to recommend a technology different from the existing unit to fit tighter spaces.

Contractors who do new construction work should start discussing these changes with their clients now.  If everyone is thinking about their future projects and designs, accommodating the 2015 products should be no problem.

Homeowners may have to work with their contractor to select the best water heating option if space constraints are an issue.  A. O. Smith has one of the most diverse line of efficient water heater to choose from, so finding a replacement option that meets the needs of a family or business should be no issue.  As a bonus, many homeowners will be pleasantly surprised by the improved performance and lower operating costs of their new water heater.

For engineers and designers, building plans should accommodate two extra inches in diameter and several inches in height. They may need to plan for heat pump electric or power vented high efficiency gas water heaters.

The overall message is to be prepared, but not to lose sleep over the changes.  In most cases the equipment choices are easy decisions and only minor adjustments, if any, will be required to the layout and design of future projects.  In new construction it is much easier and cost effective to design for different equipment.

And for those who need a crash course on NAECA, A. O. Smith has an army of talented contractor partners, who are fully up to speed on the new standards and will be able to walk homeowners through the changes and recommend high-efficiency products to fit all their hot water needs.

We think the new standards will also shine a favorable light on our top tier energy-efficient options, including our Voltex, Vertex and tankless product lines.

3. What have water heater manufacturers done to prepare for the standard taking effect in April?

A. O. Smith has invested heavily to prepare ourselves for these industry changes. The most noticeable change is the amount of insulation required for standard heaters to meet the new requirements.  Gas water heaters will have twice as much insulation and electric water heaters will have about a third more insulation.  We’ve essentially retooled much of  water heater production process to accommodate the required changes.  Many of our suppliers have had to make similar investments because the thicker foam requires most of the components and packaging to change matching the new insulation thicknesses.

We started the development process for the new NAECA updates back in early 2011, and our goal was to be finished with product updates by the end of this year so that we would be ready by early 2015.

Our high efficiency ENERGY STAR^® products already far exceed the new NAECA efficiency standards, but we’re also introducing several new products that will be NAECA compliant as well.

In some cases, the standards are only catching up to what A. O. Smith has been doing over the last few years.

Our heat pump products and power vented units are already industry leaders. It’s clear to us that the market is moving toward higher efficiency products, and we’ll continue to be a leader in bringing innovative solutions and new technologies to the market.

4. How have or will water heater manufacturers help their customers prepare for these changes? What's been done so far?

A. O. Smith started educating our contractors and wholesalers months ago, and we’re communicating updates on a regular basis. We’ve produced a variety of informational pieces as well: a dedicated webpage on HotWater.com, presentations, flyers and videos.

We’re also educating local architects, plus the trade associations have done a fair bit, too.

5. What advice do you have for industry pros and end users to prepare for this change?

Take the time to familiarize yourself with the new products. Contact our sales people and log on to our website, we’ve got a lot of information online. Be prepared ahead of the deadline to understand which product options change as of April 2015.

Contracting professionals know which current products are most popular, so now is a good time make yourself familiar with alternative, NAECA-compliant products.

We want our contractors and designers to be able to recommend the right product for any application, especially those new construction and replacement cases where a homeowners’ water heater unit size may change.

6. Anything else?

We’re doing all we can to educate folks now because we don’t want anybody on a jobsite in April saying they didn’t know the product specifications and, in some cases, the installation requirements had changed.  Be assured that A. O. Smith will be providing additional information and product selection tools in the coming months to help our partners successfully navigate the changes.

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