GE's New Water Heater Could Kill 30 Coal Plants

[debs]

Finally water heaters have come under EPA regulation, and we're about to see huge improvements in efficiency. This means lower heating bills, less energy use, and less greenhouse gases.

GE First to Announce Water Heaters That Will Meet New DOE ENERGY STAR(R) Standards

[forfismum]

Or you could try cold water.It is very bracing to have a cold dip,tightens skin and scrotums .

[LMagic007]

More to the point, its encouraging to see a mainstream manufacturer like GE take a more proactive role in helping make our hot water system technologies more energy efficient, even if there is a commercial motivation to it. Note the purported savings GE Hybrid Water Heaters looks to be worth while.

Use less than half of that energy – or about 2300 kWh per year – a savings of approximately 2500 kWh per year.

Save approximately $250 per year, and $2,500 savings in energy costs over a 10 year period based on 10 cents per kWh.

I suspect cold bath and shower tank systems will never capture the mainstream market and thus it would largely be a waste of time them building them and I doubt manufacturers would even bother discussing them.

[sparky]

I think to be fair lots of technologies are making good strides with energy efficiency, but many don't get publicity. Great to see nonetheless.

[LMagic007]

Yes of course that's true. I guess the point I was making is that it's not unusual to see mainstream market dominators dragging their feet, simply because they have the market clout and thus can set the market pace to suit themselves.

Often it's the lesser known players that pioneer the way forward and then once they become competitive in the mainstream market, others like GE tend to follow suit. Being green really does look to be moving more into the mainstream now and that's great news.

[mellow_hendrix]

Instantaneous water heaters aren't new (though perhaps they are to GE). But the "hybrid" heater sounds like an excellent idea.

[forfismum]

Originally Posted by mellow_hendrix

Instantaneous water heaters aren't new (though perhaps they are to GE).

Lordy,the number of folks who brained themselves on those darned over-sink over-bath thingies over the years...........ubiquitous in bed-sits since the '50's. Good for a quick suicide too,you just had to make sure that you put 5 or 6 Shillings in the meter

[brianidaho]

The hybrid system sounds interesting, though perhaps not practical in many cases. It says it takes takes ambient heat out of the air, I'm assuming it's basically a heat pump. So, if the heat exchanger was mounted inside the home, you'd get A/C in the summer for free. But, it defeats the purpose in the winter, when you are adding heat anyway. Not sure what their plan is, would the H/E be mounted outside? In either case it sounds like something much more expensive than a traditional system.

[LMagic007]

I would be surprised if any manufacturer would design the system so that had a detrimental impact on energy consumption and overall energy efficiency. Yes it would seem rather silly to be stealing heat from the inside air in winter. If they wanted to have it for dual use they could simply duct the heat flow over an exchanger as required. I mean really these things have been built for years and I doubt they have not already thought of these issues. It's their bread and butter and nowadays energy efficiency certification regulations are becoming more stringent.

[brianidaho]

I suspect you're right, it could just be a matter of ducting between an outside source and interior air. It's also not clear if this is aimed at home use or more commercial applications?

I wish the article was a little more informational. Most reporters can't cover anything remotely technical at all well...