Consumer Water Heaters
As defined in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), “consumer water heater” means a product which utilizes oil, gas, or electricity to heat potable water for use outside the heater upon demand, including—(1) Storage type units which heat and store water at a thermostatically controlled temperature, including gas storage water heaters with an input of 75,000 Btu per hour or less, oil storage water heaters with an input of 105,000 Btu per hour or less, and electric storage water heaters with an input of 12 kilowatts or less;(2) Instantaneous type units which heat water but contain no more than one gallon of water per 4,000 Btu per hour of input, including gas instantaneous water heaters with an input of 200,000 Btu per hour or less, oil instantaneous water heaters with an input of 210,000 Btu per hour or less, and electric instantaneous water heaters with an input of 12 kilowatts or less; and(3) Heat pump type units, with a maximum current rating of 24 amperes at a voltage no greater than 250 volts, which are products designed to transfer thermal energy from one temperature level to a higher temperature level for the purpose of heating water, including all ancillary equipment such as fans, storage tanks, pumps, or controls necessary for the device to perform its function. 10 CFR 430.2 Manufacturers have been required to comply with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) energy conservation standards for consumer water heaters since 1990.
Current Standard | Current Test Procedure |
Ongoing Rulemaking for Standards | Ongoing Rulemaking for Test Procedure |
Helpful Links
Recent and Ongoing Activities
DOE has published a Federal Register notice of proposed rulemaking (NOPR) pertaining to energy conservation standards for consumer water heaters. The Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA), requires DOE to periodically determine whether more-stringent standards would be technologically feasible and economically justified, and would result in significant energy savings. In this NOPR, DOE proposes amended standards for consumer water heaters, and also announces a public meeting to receive comments on these proposed standards and associated analyses and results.
- DOE will accept comments, data, and information regarding this NOPR until September 26, 2023.
- Interested persons may submit comments identified by docket number EERE–2017–BT–STD-0019, by email (ConsumerWaterHeaters2017STD0019@ee.doe.gov), Federal eRulemaking portal (http://www.regulations.gov).
- DOE will hold a webinar on Wednesday, September 13, 2023 from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
- Click here to register for the webinar.
- Foreign Nationals interested in participating in this webinar, must be screened by DOE Headquarters Security prior to being granted access. Please email Regina.Washington@ee.doe.gov to complete the necessary documentation at least two weeks prior to scheduled meeting date.
- Additional webinar registration information, participant instructions, and information about the capabilities available to webinar participants will be published on DOE’s website: https://energy.gov/eere/buildings/public-meetings-and-comment-deadlines
DOE has published a Federal Register final rule incorporating by reference the latest version of the industry testing standard for consumer water heaters and residential-duty commercial water heaters and adopts relevant portions of those standards into the Federal test procedure. In this final rule, DOE is also expanding the scope of coverage of the test procedure to apply to certain consumer water heater designs (including circulating water heaters and low-temperature water heaters), adding definitions for certain specialty water heaters, updating test conditions and tolerance requirements to reduce burden, clarifying test set-up and installation methods, addressing the test conduct for products which can store water at temperatures above the delivery setpoint, establishing an effective volume calculation, and extending untested provisions to electric instantaneous water heaters.
- The effective date of this rule is July 21, 2023.
- The final rule changes will be mandatory for consumer water heater testing starting December 18, 2023 and for residential-duty commercial water heater testing June 17, 2024.
- The incorporation by reference of certain publications listed in the rule is approved by the Director of the Federal Register on July 21, 2023.
For the latest information on the planned timing of future DOE regulatory milestones, see the current Office of Management and Budget Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions. All planned dates are preliminary and subject to change.
Standards
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
|
|
Comment Extension Notice
Notification of Availability of Preliminary Technical Support Document
|
|
Request for Information
|
|
The consumer water heater energy conservation standard rulemaking docket EERE-2006-BT-STD-0129 contains all notices, public comments, public meeting transcripts, and supporting documents pertaining to this rulemaking.
DOE is currently undertaking a rulemaking to consider amending its definitions pertaining to consumer water heaters and to clarify the applicability of energy conservation standards for consumer water heaters that are utilized as a secondary back-up heat source in solar-thermal heating systems. The “solar-assisted fossil-fuel storage water heater” and “solar-assisted electric storage water heater” energy conservation standard rulemaking docket EERE-2014-BT-STD-0045 contains all notices, public comments, public meeting transcripts, and supporting documents pertaining to this rulemaking.
Public Meeting Information:
There is no public meeting scheduled at this time.
Submitting Public Comments
Test Procedure
Final Rule |
|
Supplemental Notice of Proposed Rulemaking |
|
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
|
- Federal Register, 87FR1554 (January 11, 2022)
|
Request for Information; Reopening of the Comment Period
Request for Information
|
|
Final rule
|
|
Supplemental Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
|
|
The consumer water heater test procedure rulemaking docket EERE-2011-BT-TP-0042 contains all notices, public comments, public meeting transcripts, and supporting documents pertaining to this rulemaking.
Public Meeting Information
There is no public meeting scheduled at this time.
Submitting Public Comments
Current Standard
Consumer water heaters manufactured and distributed in commerce, as defined by 42 U.S.C. 6291(16), must meet the energy conservation standards specified in the Code of Federal Regulations at 10 CFR 430.32(d).
Helpful Links
Compliance
DOE has established regulations on certification, compliance, and enforcement in the CFR at 10 CFR Part 429. These regulations cover statistical sampling plans, certified ratings, certification reports, record retention, and enforcement. More information on these regulations is available here.
Waivers
For information on current test procedure waivers, see DOE’s Waivers webpage.
For information about obtaining test procedure waivers, see 10 CFR 430.27.
Exceptions
DOE's Office of Hearings and Appeals has not authorized exception relief for consumer water heaters.
For information about obtaining exception relief, see 10 CFR part 1003.
Guidance and Frequently Asked Questions
For information on further guidance and answers to Frequently Asked Questions on all covered products, see DOE’s Further Guidance database.
State Exemptions to Federal Pre-emption
DOE has not exempted any state from this energy conservation standard. States may petition DOE to exempt a state regulation from preemption by the Federal energy conservation standard. States may also petition DOE to withdraw such exemptions. For details, see 10 CFR part 430, subpart D.
Small Business Exemptions
Any manufacturer of a covered product with annual gross revenues that do not exceed $8,000,000 from all its operations and meets certain other conditions may apply for an exemption to the energy conservation standard. For details, see 10 CFR part 430, subpart E.
ENERGY STAR®
DOE supports the testing and verification of ENERGY STAR® products in close collaboration with the Environmental Protection Agency.
Find tips and guidance for making your home, workplace, or vehicle more energy efficient visit EnergySavers.gov.
For more information related to this product, please email:
ApplianceStandardsQuestions@ee.doe.gov
True
|