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Residential Water Heaters

This page describes rulemaking activities and regulations regarding energy efficiency for residential water heaters.

Statutory Authority

Title III of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) (42 U.S.C. 6291, et seq.) established the Energy Conservation Program for Consumer Products Other than Automobiles, covering major household appliances including water heaters and home heating equipment. Subsequent amendments expanded title III of EPCA to include additional consumer products and certain commercial and industrial equipment, including residential pool heaters. (42 U.S.C. 6291, et seq.) Furthermore, the National Appliance Energy Conservation Act of 1987 (NAECA) amended EPCA by establishing energy conservation standards for residential water heaters, "direct heating equipment" (replacing the term "home heating equipment" previously used in EPCA), and pool heaters (collectively referred to as residential heating products), as well as requirements for determining whether these standards should be amended. (42 U.S.C. 6295(e)(1) through (4))
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is now initiating the second rulemaking to review and amend energy conservation standards for residential water heaters under section 325(e)(4)(B) of EPCA. Information on that rulemaking can be found below, under "Rulemakings Under Development." Documentation and materials associated with the prior rulemaking can also be found below.

Some of the following documents are available as Adobe Acrobat PDFs. Download Adobe Reader.

Rulemakings Under Development

Previous Federal Register Notices and Documents

  • Energy Conservation Program for Consumer Products: Energy Conservation Standards for Water Heaters, Final Rule, Federal Register, 66 FR 4474, January 17, 2001 (PDF 554 KB)
  • Energy Conservation Program for Consumer Products: Energy Conservation Standards for Water Heaters, Technical Support Document, January 17, 2001
  • Energy Conservation Program for Consumer Products: Energy Conservation Standards for Water Heaters, Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, Federal Register, 65 FR 25042, April 28, 2000 (PDF 454 KB)
  • Energy Conservation Program for Consumer Products: Test Procedure for Water Heaters, Final Rule, Federal Register, 63 FR 25996, May 11, 1998 (PDF 220 KB)

Contact Information

Mohammed Khan
Project Manager for Heating Products
(202) 586-7892