Obama tightens efficiency rules for home water heaters

President Obama's push to increase energy efficiency is extending to home water heaters. The Department of Energy is requiring new ones meet stricter standards that could increase initial costs but reduce utility bills.

The Department of Energy is requiring that water heaters, beginning in 2015, meet stricter energy efficiency standards. Here's a General Electric one that carries the government's Energy Star label.

DOE, which has increased efficiency standards for more than 20 products such as washing machines in the last year, announced Thursday that large electric water heaters (55 gallons or more) will need to use 47% less energy and large gas ones, 30% less. Smaller units won't need to reduce energy use as much.

"You don't have to go out and replace your water heater," says DOE spokeswoman Jen Stutsman. The rules simply require that new conventional water heaters, beginning in 2015, be more efficient.

Energy Secretary Steven Chu said energy efficient appliances save families money, reduce pollution and "enhance our energy security for decades to come."

Environmentalists pushed for the new rules, which are stricter than ones DOE proposed late last year.

"These standards will not only boost the total national energy savings, but help create a bigger market for advanced water heater technologies that will eventually make every shower cheaper and more sustainable," Lane Burt of the Natural Resources Defense Council said in a statement.

DOE is also increasing efficiency standards, beginning in 2013, for pool heaters and direct heating equipment, such as gas fireplaces. These products, along with water heaters, account for 18% of home energy use.

Over three decades, DOE says the new rules will save a total of $10 billion and prevent up to 164 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions -- the equivalent of taking 46 million cars off the road for one year.

DOE estimates that the installed cost of a typical gas storage water heater (now $1,079) will increased $120 but will be offset by savings of $143 in average lifetime operating costs.

The department says it' also stepping up its enforcement of efficiency standards. On Monday, for example, it ordered that AeroSys, Inc. stop distributing an air conditioner and heat pump that independent testing showed were consuming more energy than allowed.

U.S. solar industry shows signs of growth

The U.S. solar industry is continuing to regain momentum in both the residential and commercial market, with a number of companies reporting gains overseas and in the domestic market.

One recent example comes from a Reuters report on Los Angeles-based Suniva, which has reportedly sold out its products through 2010 and is planning to triple its exports in the next five years.

The wire service added that the company is also expected to build a 400-megawatt plant in Saginaw County, Michigan, with an eye on generating electricity there by 2011.

Americans are going to see more and more solar energy generated in the next several years, with dozens of projects under construction or being planned throughout the Southwest. Other parts of the country that do not get as steady a supply of sunlight are also increasingly embarking on their own solar projects. Some states are even home to projects that will re-invent old landfills as solar energy plants.

Elsewhere, a number of other companies have showed that they have serious potential for long-term growth with or without the various tax credits that have been provided under the government stimulus bill.

Warm up your Pool with Solar Water Heating Systems

If you are a person that loves to swim, and if you own a swimming pool, then your family knows just how much fun they have during the warm seasons. Wouldn’t it be more fun if you could open the pool up earlier than usual, and the kids could stay in the pool a little later in the evening, or maybe you could leave the pool open a little longer in the early fall.

I found a product that can help you do so. It’s called – Solar Pool Heater, this kind is made for above ground pools, there is also another kind that is made for In-Ground pools. This one in the picture is for above ground pools and you can lay it beside the pool or mount it on a slant frame, preferable were ever it is convenient, and out of the way, but you should consider positioning it were it will lay in the sun all day. That way you will get more benefit from using the Solar Pool Heater as it will absorb the most of the sun rays against the black surface.

The Solar Pool Heater Systems for the In-Ground pool uses a different approach, with that system it is installed up on the roof, and collects the sun rays up there were it stays HOT! It installs easily in line with your exiting pump and equipment. The pool water circulates through solar channels and returns to the pool nice and warm.

Both of these Solar Water Heating Systems uses No Electricity at all, just the power of the sun. You should expect 10 to 15 degrees warmer water. That would be very pleasant instead of getting that initial shock you get when you jump in the cold water, at first getting in. Here is a chart to help you decide what size system you may need.