What the new water heater changes in 2015 mean for you.
It really is safe to state very few customers know about the new water heater changes that each manufactures have to follow beginning April, 2015. These new water heater changes are going to shake up the water heater market as we know it. I will provide you with a brief overview of the brand-new water heater changes and how you, as a property owner, might be effected.
To make it easier to understand I will break this out into categories we use a lot in Elyria and its surrounding areas:
Gas Fired Water Heater Changes:
Forty and fifty gallon gas-fired water heaters will need to increase in efficiency to a .675 energy factor. To be able to accomplish this, companies will have to increase insulating material on the tank, adding two inches to the thickness and a couple of inches to the height. You may also see spark ignition rather than standing pilots and other modern technology incorporated to meet the latest water heater changes.
- This really is one of the negligible effected categories, and yet the impact will be far hitting to consumers. The appliance will be larger, heavy, have more service components, all adding up to higher cost. A number of speculations have the cost going up as much as 25% for the new water heaters. Another concern is for small spaces, an upgraded style heater might not fit, requiring many home owners to go to smaller sized capacity water tank in an effort to squeeze into available foot print. There most certainly are ways to combat running out of hot water with a smaller water heater, but these options add more expense to an install. Another consideration is with the different heights, a lot of water heater’s plumbing will need more customization as compared to prior installs.
Electric Hot Water Heater Changes:
40 & 50 gallon electric water heaters will have to increase in efficiency to .96 EF or greater. The means of doing this will be very similar to gas-fired 40 & 50 gallon heaters, resulting in larger tanks due to increase insulation.
- Although customers in the Elyria area are going to still have the issue of size and possibility of needing to down size in small areas, I particularly think this category is the least effected. It appears the producers just have to increase insulating material, adding only a little cost. I could, however, assure the producers will not overlook an opportunity to raise prices. Consumers really should expect to spend more in this category than what they do currently, but likely much less of an increase than some other categories.
60 to 80 gallon electric-powered water heaters will have to comply with a EF of 2.057 or even greater. These types of heaters will have to be extremely efficient! They are going to achieve this by way of heat pump design water heaters, which remove heat from the surrounding air and drive it into the water, similar to a heat pump hvac system.
- Although these types of units work great in the South they really are less efficient in the North. We must remember a refrigeration system has been installed on top of the system! Regular maintenance, compressor, coils, electric components ect. all will create lower operating cost but much higher maintenance and installation cost. I foresee seeing many reducing to smaller sized heaters or twinning a couple of more compact heaters together to meet demand from customers.
Okay, there you have it! A brief description of the new water heater improvements becoming implemented April 2015 which could have an impact you.