Residential Water Heater Changes - Be Prepared!

Posted by Contributing Editor on Tue, Aug 20, 2013

In January of 2010, PowerMate® Dolly was there to help contractors to minimize the costs and labor impact with the introduction of the new SEER rated air conditioning units. While the new more energy efficient units had their obvious benefits to users and the environment, the larger, heavier units required a solution to make moving them easier for the installer and mostly, a one person job. The PowerMate® Model LE-1 was there to help keep labor costs to a minimum and eliminate one area of concern making moving and installing the new A/C units a virtual non-issue!

Amended Standards for residential water heaters have been announced by the U.S. Department of Energy (D.O.E.) to take effect April 16th, 2015. Similar to the SEER rated air conditioning units, residential water heaters will now be required under the new Final Rule to perform to a higher energy factor (EF) rating. This Rule will apply to nearly all residential gas, electric, oil and tankless gas water heaters. The general consensus is: these changes will have the impact of increasing costs associated with the manufacture, distribution and installation of these new water heaters.

Today, installers are most often concerned with the removal of the old residential water heaters. The old ones are almost always heavier than the new ones going in, the result of years of residue build-up and water in the old tanks. It is not uncommon for the old water heaters being removed to weigh double or more than the new ones replacing them.

The new residential water heaters will be larger and heavier than in the past to achieve the desired EF rating, especially for units over 55 gallons.  The increase in size and weight has been identified as a concern for contractors and installers alike. PowerMate® Dolly is already there to help with the delivery and removal of water heaters and will be there to help ease the impact of the installation of the new heavier units.

Once again, PowerMate® Dolly is here to provide an extremely viable solution to help keep your costs down and margins up! Keep current on all the changes, keep you and your people well-versed on this and similar product changes. Now is the time to get your new PowerMate® and start preparing today!

Visit our Water Heater Tank Solutions Blog for up-to-date information!

Tags: lifting dolly, residential water heater, powermate, safety moving system