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.

  • kitonthenet
    6•1 year ago

    Tankless water heater maker Rinnai

    were “technologically impossible”

    impossible for a tankless heater maybe, but Jesus the amount of power those things draw

    • @tinkeringidiot
      8•1 year ago

      When it’s on. When you aren’t using it, it draws zero. I’ve had a tankless electric for 8 years, and my power usage hasn’t changed much either up or down.

        • @tinkeringidiot
          1•1 year ago

          I doubt the energy savings would cover the cost difference in my case, and even if it did it’s worth a little extra to never run out of hot water.

          I’ll stick with the tankless.

          • kitonthenet
            1•1 year ago

            its somewhere like 3x more efficient, and for environmental standards, I’m sorry but your personal preference shouldn’t really matter. 3x is 3x

            • @schroedingershat
              2•1 year ago

              Storage water heaters can also capture off peak or curtailed energy (acting as 6-12kWh of diurnal storage), so they are more than 3x better in terms of emissions.