The U.S. Department of Energy on Friday proposed energy efficiency standards on water heaters it said would save consumers $11.4 billion on energy and water bills annually.
The standards on residential water heater efficiency, which are required by Congress, have not been updated in 13 years. Water heating is responsible for roughly 13% of both annual residential energy use and consumer utility costs, the DOE said.
98% is a horribly inefficient water heater. The high efficiency ones with heat pumps can be up to 400% efficient.
Oh yeah it is, but the article also mentions gas heaters.
Even then most americans use tanked ones and those are way more inefficient. Even now most NEW tank water heaters sold in the US are only 60% efficient.
My point is there is improvement to be made without breaking the bank.