Water heaters consume 13 percent of residential and 6 percent of all commercial energy in the U.S., explains ‘Solar & Efficient Water Heating: A Technology Roadmap’ developed by the industry and funded by the Department of Energy’s Solar Energy Technologies Program. The country consumes 100 billion kWh of electricity each year to heat water in homes and apartments, 1 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, 900 million gallons of oil and 500 million gallons of LPG.
"This energy comes at a significant cost," the report notes. The average home spends $207 per year to heat water, the third-largest household energy expense behind space heating and space cooling. Electric and gas water heaters dominate the residential market, accounting for 99 percent of units sold and 93 percent of the energy consumed by water heaters.
The use of solar water heaters, geothermal heat pump water heaters, tankless electric, high-efficiency natural gas, and gas-fired tankless systems account for a very small share of the national market, and these technologies offer significant energy (and water) savings and reduced greenhouse gas emissions that "will not be realized unless they are developed and brought to market in a sustained and orderly manner."
"Given the environmental, energy security and economic attributes of advanced water heaters, the contribution of these technologies in the U.S. is woefully inadequate considering their potential," the report states. "Despite their current struggle in the market, the companies manufacturing solar and advanced high-performance water heaters could realize futures of innovation and profitability and make major contributions to U.S. energy goals."
The goal of the roadmap is to reduce primary fossil fuel use for water heating by 25 percent by 2020, and accomplishing that goal will require "integrated and focussed technology and market transformation activities." Also require development of "efficient, user-friendly products that can compete in the market on the basis of price, performance, and value-added attributes such as environmental protection, insurance against supply interruptions, and the ability to meet multiple residential/commercial needs."
"This document is part of a continuing effort to enable solar and advanced water heating to reach their full market and technological potentials, and thus for the nation to realize the significant energy and water savings and emissions reductions offered by the technologies," explains the introduction. The process started at the 2003 conference of the American Solar Energy Society which was followed in 2004 by DOE’s ‘Solar and High-Performance Water Heating Roadmap’ workshop in Baltimore.
"Solar water heating and, to some extent, high-performance water heaters, have had disappointing market penetration for many of the same reasons: higher upfront costs; lack of familiarity with buyers and the building trades; and lack of product support," it notes. "For both solar and high-performance water heaters, the plumbing trades are of key importance and efforts made to educate and encourage them to investigate and adopt solar and advanced methods of heating water are critically important."
