News Brief

DOE Raises the Bar for Heating Equipment

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has released new minimum energy-efficiency standards for residential water heaters, direct heating equipment, and pool heaters.

Compared to earlier proposals from late 2009, the newly released document will mandate slightly lower standards for smaller gas-fired water heaters, but significantly higher standards for larger-volume models, both gas and electric.

Notably, the standard for larger-volume electric storage water heaters is more than double that of the originally proposed standard, and will for all practical purposes require heat-pump technology, according to the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI).

The new standards are expected to be published in the Federal Register very soon and will take effect three years after publication for direct heating equipment and pool heaters; five years after publication for water heaters.

For more information:

www1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/appliance_standards/

 

Published April 5, 2010

Ward, A. (2010, April 5). DOE Raises the Bar for Heating Equipment. Retrieved from https://www.buildinggreen.com/newsbrief/doe-raises-bar-heating-equipment

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