The CEE Gas Committee has been discussing the development of a residential gas water heating initiative that would include both gas storage and gas tankless water heaters. Assuming that the initiative development process progresses smoothly, the committee is hopeful for Board authorization of an initiative in time for incorporation into 2008 programs.

CEE June Program Meeting
At the June Program Meeting, discussion focused in large part on what to include in a proposed water heater initiative. Members discussed potential specification levels for both tank-type and tankless water heaters as well as potential program approaches. To support an informed committee decision, CEE is researching market and cost-effectiveness components.

The goal is to have a draft initiative available for discussion at CEE’s Industry Partners Meeting September 25 and 26 in St. Louis, Mo. The water heater breakout session topics will seek to develop the aspects of the CEE initiative that focus on outreach to members of industry, building useful training sessions for plumbing contractors that include high-efficiency water heaters, and methods for reaching out to consumers. “We’ve set a very aggressive timeline for the Gas Committee,” says Kara Rodgers, Senior Program Manager for Natural Gas at CEE, “but there’s a clear need for programs to support efficient water heaters due to increased interest at all levels.”

Related water heating developments
CEE attended the DOE ENERGY STAR Water Heater Stakeholder Meeting on June. DOE has released draft criteria for ENERGY STAR water heaters, and CEE has submitted comments on behalf of the committee. CEE’s comments support an ENERGY STAR program for water heaters, but with limits to protect brand integrity.

Over the last few months the CEE Tankless Water Heating Subcommittee has been designing a voluntary Tankless Water Heater Field Testing Protocol for members. The protocol enables standardized comparison of performance, in-field efficiencies, and usage behavior differences of residential tank-type and tankless gas-fired water heaters. It will act as a guideline and common reference point for member program administrators who field test residential customers. Demographic and behavioral information will be captured with pre- and post-field testing homeowner surveys. A testing procedure for in-field monitoring of energy usage and performance for both the tank-type and tankless water heaters also is being developed with support from the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Technical Engineers (ASHRAE) Technical Committee 6.6. CEE is proposing to have the protocol available by October to allow members to begin field testing in 2008. Data from these field tests will ultimately help utility program administrators determine how best to support gas-fired tankless water heaters in their programs.

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