2015 NAECA Standards

[Phog]

I'm just curious if anyone can help me understand the 2015 NAECA efficiency standards and what effect this is having on atmospheric vent tank heaters? I like the simplicity and reliability of a pilot light atmospheric vent heater, the fewer moving parts such as fans, igniters etc to break the better.

I presently have a 65 gallon / 65,000 BTU 9-year Kenmore unit (pretty sure it is a repackaged AO Smith) that is only a couple years old. It probably has quite a bit of life left but I am wondering what I will find available at the store when I go to replace it down the road.

By my calculation the UEF efficiency rating on this unit would have to be 0.75 (0.8012 - 65 gal x 0.00078) and obviously non-condensing units can't come close to touching that. I remember watching a blurb on Ask This Old House where the plumber guy (Richard I think?) said that on larger tanks there would be no more atmospheric vent, only power vent.

I know that any units manufactured under the old standards prior to April 2015 could still be sold until stock ran out. But now in May 2018, 3+ years later, I still see atmospheric vent tank heaters out there that are close in tank size & recovery capacity to my present unit, and which don't seem to meet the UEF rating for their capacity. For example Home Depot has Rheem XG75T06ST76U0 75 gallon unit with UEF of 0.59 for sale.

So perhaps manufacturers have found loopholes and/or creative ways to make atmospheric vent units NAECA compliant? I find it hard to believe that retailers like Home Depot are still selling off stock that was manufactured 3+ years ago... or are they? Or maybe I just don't understand the new rules very well. ;-)

 

[Michael Young]

You'll be fine. The biggest problem we see is that the slightly larger diameter is making installs in tight spacing a problem. So if you have about 3" clear space around your water heater, replacement won't be an issue. If you tank is only three years old, when you replace it in 2033, you'll likely be replacing it with a tankless heater. Tank style heaters will be a thing of the past in the next 20 years

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Phog]

For anyone who is interested, I did some research and found the answer to my question. The 2015 NAECA standards apply to storage-type gas water heaters with burners outputting BELOW 75,000 BTU ONLY. Since 2015, manufacturers have started installing slightly larger burners in their high-recovery units so that they are not subject to the 2015 regulations. For example the Rheem unit I mentioned in my initial post is rated at 75,100 BTU. The 50gal+ range of heaters with smaller burners are now all condensing / power-vent.