Residential Water Heaters Partner Page

for Partners

(Are you a consumer? For Consumers )

Includes eligibility criteria and partner commitments, which are required in order for your product to qualify for the ENERGY STAR label.

Water Heaters Program Requirements Version 3.2

Provided below is a reference to historical DOE test methods for the water heater efficiency metrics Energy Factor, Thermal Efficiency, and Standby Loss.

Historical Water Heaters Test Method

View documents, data, and correspondence related to the version in development.
Water Heaters Version 4.0 Specification is in development

For information regarding optional connected criteria in upcoming specification:
View the Connected Criteria for ENERGY STAR Products development process.

View documents, data, and correspondence related to this version.

Residential Water Heaters Specification Version 3.0

Residential Water Heaters Specification Version 2.0

Residentail Water Heaters Specification Version 1.0

Water Heaters Program Requirements Version 1.1 (PDF, 63KB)

Final Criteria Announcement from Richard Karney, ENERGY STAR Program Manager (PDF, 96KB)

Final Criteria Analysis (PDF, 88KB)

Guidelines for New and Existing Water Heater Partners (PDF, 44KB)

More Resources for Water Heater Partners

Historical List: On April 16, 2015, the ENERGY STAR residential water heater specification changed.

View the last list of residential water heaters that were qualified prior to the specification change. (EXCEL, 1.0 MB)

Historical List: On July 1, 2013, the ENERGY STAR residential water heater specification changed. View the last list of residential water heaters that were qualified prior to the specification change. Excel icon

Applying for the ENERGY STAR

If your product meets our criteria, then apply for an ENERGY STAR label.

To qualify a new product, contact an EPA-recognized Certification Body (CB) to have the product's performance certified. A list of EPA-recognized CBs, as well as an overview of EPA's third-party certification procedures, is available at www.energystar.gov/3rdpartycert.

ENERGY STAR and Connected Water Heaters

EPA is evaluating the market benefit of connected water heaters and whether it would be useful to include optional connected criteria in the Residential Water Heaters specification in the near future. Click here to learn more about a stakeholder discussion that EPA hosted in conjunction with the 2018 ACEEE Hot Water Forum.