Residential Water Heaters Specification Version 1.0
The ENERGY STAR specification for Water Heaters Version 1.0 was finalized on April 1, 2008 and was effective January 1, 2009. If you have questions or concerns, please direct them to Richard Karney at richard.karney@ee.doe.gov.
Final Criteria
Final Criteria Announcement from Richard Karney, ENERGY STAR Program Manager (PDF, 90 KB)
Final ENERGY STAR Criteria for Residential Water Heaters (PDF, 85 KB)
ENERGY STAR Residential Water Heaters: Final Criteria Analysis (PDF, 99 KB)
Preliminary - October 26, 2007
ENERGY STAR Residential Water Heaters: Second Draft Criteria Analysis and Proposal (PDF, 315 KB)
Preliminary - May 2, 2007
Announcement Letter and Development Schedule from Richard Karney, ENERGY STAR Program Manager (PDF, 79 KB)
ENERGY STAR Residential Water Heaters: Draft Criteria Analysis (PDF, 127 KB)
Third Round Comments
American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (PDF, 103 KB)
American Gas Association (PDF, 88 KB)
American Hometec, Inc. (PDF, 374 KB)
A.O. Smith (PDF, 142 KB)
Applied Energy Technology (PDF, 101 KB)
Bock Water Heaters (PDF, 55 KB)
Bosch (PDF, 718 KB)
Bradford White (PDF, 239 KB)
California Energy Commission (PDF, 49 KB)
Updated Presentation (PDF, 171 KB)
Capital Sun Group (PDF, 48 KB)
Consortium for Energy Efficiency (PDF, 65 KB)
Edison Electric Institute (PDF, 4.4 MB)
Eemax (PDF, 72 KB)
Electric Power Research Institute (PDF, 54 KB)
EnergyWise Technologies (PDF, 53 KB)
Environmental Protection Agency (PDF, 397 KB)
First Energy (PDF, 286 KB)
Florida Power & Light Company (PDF, 80 KB)
Florida Solar Energy Research and Education Foundation, and Florida Solar Energy Industries Association (PDF, 166 KB)
Gas Appliance Manufacturers Association: Part 1 (PDF, 22 KB)
Gas Appliance Manufacturers Association: Part 2 (PDF, 47 KB)
GE Consumer & Industrial (PDF, 60 KB)
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (PDF, 68 KB)
Microtherm (PDF, 874 KB)
Natural Resources Canada (PDF, 72 KB)
Nyle Corporation (PDF, 47 KB)
Portland General Electric Company (PDF, 112 KB)
Rheem Water Heating (PDF, 218 KB)
Rinnai (PDF, 48 KB)
San Antonio Water System (PDF, 82 KB)
Solar Energy Industries Association, and Solar Rating & Certification Corporation (PDF, 49 KB)
Southern Company Services (PDF, 14 KB)
Takagi (PDF, 51 KB)
Tennessee Valley Authority (PDF, 92 KB)
Second Round Comments
Alliance to Save Energy (PDF, 468 KB)
American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (PDF, 68 KB)
American Gas Association (PDF, 212 KB)
A.O. Smith (PDF, 34 KB)
Bradford White (PDF, 139 KB)
Capital Sun Group (PDF, 41 KB)
Consortium for Energy Efficiency (PDF, 62 KB)
Davis Energy Group (PDF, 53 KB)
Eemax (PDF, 19 KB)
Effikal (PDF, 62 KB)
Environmental Protection Agency (PDF, 33 KB)
GE Consumer & Industrial (PDF, 65 KB)
Natural Resources Canada (PDF, 32 KB)
Natural Resources Defense Council (PDF, 31 KB)
Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (PDF, 14 KB)
Noritz America (PDF, 14 KB)
Rheem Water Heating (PDF, 68 KB)
Rinnai (PDF, 12 KB)
Southern Company Services (PDF, 13 KB)
Stakeholder Meeting - June 5, 2007
Meeting Notes (PDF, 60 KB)
Agenda (PDF, 12 KB)
Attendee List (EXCEL, 28 KB)
Presentation by Richard Karney, ENERGY STAR Products Manager, U.S. Department of Energy (PDF, 289 KB)
Presentation by Phillip Wallace, Microtherm (PDF, 233 KB)
Presentation by Aaron Siegel, Seisco (PDF, 18 KB)
Presentation by Gary Klein, California Energy Commission (PDF, 28 KB)
Presentation by Bill Hoover, A.O. Smith (PDF, 463 KB)
Presentation by Les Nelson, Solar Rating and Certification Corporation (PDF, 309 KB)
Summary of Verbal Comments by Ted Williams, American Gas Association (PDF, 128 KB)
First Round Comments
Adjuvant Consulting (PDF, 23 KB)
American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (PDF, 67 KB)
American Gas Association (PDF, 100 KB)
A.O. Smith (PDF, 45 KB)
Applied Energy Recovery Systems (PDF, 17 KB)
Association of Energy Services Professionals - Water Heating Working Group (PDF, 14 KB)
Bosch (PDF, 136 KB)
California Solar Energy Industries Association (PDF, 91 KB)
Capital Sun Group (PDF, 14 KB)
Consortium for Energy Efficiency (PDF, 196 KB)
Edison Electric Institute (PDF, 114 KB)
Eemax (PDF, 24 KB)
Attachment: Savings Chart (EXCEL, 18 KB)
Environmental Protection Agency (PDF, 50 KB)
Florida Solar Energy Center (PDF, 11 KB)
Attachment: Towards Development of An Algorithm for Mains Water Temperature (PDF, 197 KB)
Attachment: Electric Tankless Water Heating: Competitive Assessment (PDF, 200 KB)
Florida Solar Energy Research and Education Foundation (PDF, 48 KB)
Gas Appliance Manufacturers Association (PDF, 94 KB)
GE Consumer & Industrial (PDF, 327 KB)
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (PDF, 19 KB)
Lowe’s (PDF, 11 KB)
Microtherm (PDF, 124 KB)
National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (PDF, 12 KB)
Natural Resources Canada (PDF, 32 KB)
Noritz America (PDF, 11 KB)
Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (PDF, 41 KB)
Rheem Water Heating (PDF, 149 KB)
Rinnai (PDF, 12 KB)
Solar Energy Industries Association and Solar Rating & Certification Corporation (PDF, 37 KB)
Solene (PDF, 11 KB)
Southern California Gas Company and San Diego Gas & Electric (PDF, 20 KB)
Southern Company Services (PDF, 16 KB)
Attachment: Georgia Power Company 2004 Residential Saturation Survey (PDF, 42 KB)
Takagi (PDF, 75 KB)
Criteria Development History
DOE last reviewed water heaters in 2003. After analyzing the market, the potential energy savings and economics of the various technologies, and considering feedback from stakeholders, DOE decided not to establish an ENERGY STAR criteria for domestic water heaters at that time. A letter (143KB) from Richard Karney, the Department’s ENERGY STAR Program Manager explains the rationale for this decision.
For more information on buying an energy efficient water heater we recommend visiting DOE’s Water Heating
Tax Credits on Water Heaters
Tax credits are available on new water heaters in 2006 and 2007 under the Energy Bill. For more information, see Federal Tax Credits for Residential Energy Efficiency.
Applicable Specifications:
Heating & Cooling: Water Heater, Gas Condensing (PDF, 85 KB)