Green Gadgets | June 22, 2009 |
GE Water Heater Cuts Energy Use in Half
Technology developed through a collaboration between Oak Ridge National Laboratory and General Electric meets new a tough new Energy Star water heater program criteria. GE is set to be the first company to meet the new energy saving standard, and will also be creating hundreds of jobs in Louisville, Kentucky. GE announced the heater the day after the new Energy Star heat pump hot water heater criteria was released, which required future heaters to be twice as efficient as an electric storage water heater. The new water heater criteria are expected to save American households approximately $780 million, per the DOE.
GE has targeted increasing concerns over utility costs as water heating "accounts for 12 percent of U.S. home energy consumption" making it one of the top contributors to household demand.The GE Hybrid Electric Water Heater is designed to produce equivalent performance to standard water heaters, except at half the operating cost, requiring 2300 kWh of electricity per year compared with 4800 kwH/year. The hybrid technology saves energy by absorbing heat in ambient air and transferring it into the water, which requires much less energy than it does to generate heat.
"It'll give you as much hot water, it'll have the same recovery time so you won't run out of hot water, but it will use half the energy to do so," said Patrick Hughes of ORNL. "Typical family of four would save about $250 to $300 per year and the device will qualify for the personal tax credits, it will pay for itself in about three years."
The tax credits Hughes refers to are the Federal Tax Credits for Energy Efficiency, which can cover 30 percent of the cost for non-solar water heaters (up to $1,500). GE also manufactures solar water heaters, which are a small but growing market in the U.S., and energy-efficient tankless water heaters, which heat water on demand.
If current water heaters (44 million) were switched to GE's heat pump water heater, annual energy savings could equate to the electric output of 176 coal-fired power plants per year and 12 million tons of carbon emissions reduction, per the 2007 Buildings Energy Data Book.
The Louisville plant is set to start producing water heaters in 2011. The planned manufacturing facility also has a potential to create 1,600 incremental green jobs over time.
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Comments By Readers
I never have understood why both the government and industry don't push "on-demand" water heaters, i.e., those that use NO energy at ALL -- except when they're actually in use, whether to do laundry, bathe, wash dishes, whatever. I'm American, but I've lived in Asia 22 of the past 24 years, and where hot water is needed (which it isn't in Bangkok, where I currently live, for most household purposes), this sort of heater is ubiquitous. They're pretty cheap to buy, too; I gave one to a friend for a Christmas present Christmas-before-last -- she wanted one -- and paid the4 equivalent of about US$40 for it. And it worked just fine for her purpose, i.e., hot water with which to shower. Further, these come in two types, one powered by electricity, the other by gas. As the unit costs for solar power continue to drop, I suspect (but don't know for sure) that solar-powered water heaters could be a LOT cheaper than any other existing alternative, except natural hot springs -- but how many of us have one of those in our front yard???
The 30% tax credit, up to $1500? Doesn't that expire at the end of 2010? and these units don't go into production until 2011?
We'll see!
The 30% tax credit, up to $1500? Doesn't that expire at the end of 2010? and these units don't go into production until 2011?
We'll see!
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