I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 8267 
To amend the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to modify the definition 
of water heater under energy conservation standards, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 16, 2020 
Mrs. DINGELL (for herself, Mr. WALBERG, Mr. COOPER, Mr. DAVID P. ROE 
of Tennessee, Mr. KIND, and Mr. MULLIN) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To amend the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to modify 
the definition of water heater under energy conservation 
standards, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. WATER HEATERS. 
(a) DEFINITION OF WATER HEATER.—Section 321 
of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 
6291) is amended by striking paragraph (27) and insert-
ing the following: 
‘‘(27) WATER HEATER.— 
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‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘water heat-
er’ means a product that utilizes oil, gas, or 
electricity to heat potable water for use outside 
the heater on demand, including— 
‘‘(i) storage type units that heat and 
store water at a thermostatically controlled 
temperature, including— 
‘‘(I) gas storage water heaters 
with an input of 75,000 Btu per hour 
or less, including heat pump type 
units that meet the current and volt-
age limits under clause (iii); 
‘‘(II) oil storage water heaters 
with an input of 105,000 Btu per 
hour or less; and 
‘‘(III) electric storage water heat-
ers with an input of 12 kilowatts or 
less, including heat pump type units 
that meet the current and voltage lim-
its under clause (iii); 
‘‘(ii)(I) instantaneous type units that 
heat water but contain not more than 1 
gallon of water per 4,000 Btu per hour of 
input; and 
‘‘(II) in the case of— 
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‘‘(aa) gas instantaneous water 
heaters, have an input of 200,000 Btu 
per hour or less and are designed and 
marketed to provide outlet hot water 
at a thermostatically controlled tem-
perature of less than 180 degrees 
Fahrenheit; 
‘‘(bb) oil instantaneous water 
heaters, have an input of 210,000 Btu 
per hour or less; and 
‘‘(cc) electric instantaneous water 
heaters, have an input of 12 kilowatts 
or less; 
‘‘(iii) heat pump type units (including 
add-on heat pumps, integrated heat pumps 
with storage, split-system heat pumps that 
consist of a separate heat pump and stor-
age tank that are designed and marketed 
to operate together, and all ancillary equip-
ment, such as fans, storage tanks, pumps, 
electric resistance heating elements, or 
controls necessary for the device to per-
form its function) that— 
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Code promulgated by the American 
Society of Mechanical Engineers. 
‘‘(C) MULTI-INPUT
ELECTRIC
STORAGE 
WATER HEATER.—The term ‘multi-input elec-
tric storage water heater’ means a product 
that— 
‘‘(i) is not a heat pump type unit de-
scribed in subparagraph (A)(iii); and 
‘‘(ii) is designed, marketed, or shipped 
from the manufacturer with a capability of 
operating or being configured to operate at 
inputs greater than, equal to, or below 12 
kilowatts. 
‘‘(D) SOLAR THERMAL-ASSISTED ELECTRIC 
STORAGE
UNIT.—The term ‘solar thermal-as-
sisted electric storage unit’ means a unit that— 
‘‘(i) has an input of 12 kilowatts or 
less; 
‘‘(ii) has at least 2 dedicated ports in 
addition to the ports used for introduction 
and delivery of potable water for the sup-
ply and return of water or a heat transfer 
fluid heated externally by solar panels; 
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‘‘(iii) does not have electric resistance 
heating elements located in the lower half 
of the storage tank; 
‘‘(iv) has the temperature sensing de-
vice that controls the auxiliary electric heat 
source located in the upper half of the 
storage tank; and 
‘‘(v) has a ratio of less than 0.70 for 
the proportion that the certified first hour 
rating bears to the nominal volume of the 
storage tank.’’. 
(b) STANDARDS
FOR WATER HEATERS.—Section 
325(e) of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (42 
U.S.C. 6295(e)) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(7) EXEMPTED WATER HEATERS.— 
‘‘(A) DEFINITION
OF
EXEMPTED
WATER 
HEATER.—In this paragraph, the term ‘exempt-
ed water heater’ means a water heater de-
scribed in section 321(27)(B). 
‘‘(B) MONITORING OF SHIPMENTS.— 
‘‘(i) SUBMISSION OF DATA.—Not later 
than 90 days after the date of enactment 
of this paragraph, and not later than May 
1 of each year thereafter, the Secretary 
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shall require each manufacturer of water 
heaters to report to the Secretary the 
quantity of exempted water heaters, in 
each category of exempted water heaters, 
that the manufacturer shipped in the pre-
ceding calendar year. 
‘‘(ii) 
CONFIDENTIALITY
REQUIRE-
MENTS.—The Secretary shall treat ship-
ment data reported by manufacturers 
under clause (i) as confidential business in-
formation subject to appropriate confiden-
tial data safeguards. 
‘‘(iii) PUBLICATION.— 
‘‘(I) 
BASELINE
SHIPMENT 
DATA.—Not later than 120 days after 
the date of enactment of this para-
graph, the Secretary shall publish an 
analysis of the data collected under 
clause (i) for public comment, subject 
to 
applicable 
confidentiality 
safe-
guards, which shall serve as the base-
line data for the analysis described in 
subclause (II)(bb). 
‘‘(II) 
PERCENTAGE
GROWTH 
FROM
BASELINE.—Not later than 
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June 1 of each year after the year in 
which the Secretary publishes data 
under subclause (I), the Secretary 
shall publish— 
‘‘(aa) an analysis of the data 
collected under clause (i) for pub-
lic comment, subject to applicable 
confidentiality safeguards; 
‘‘(bb) the percentage growth 
in the number of shipments with-
in each category of exempted 
water heater relative to the base-
line data described in subclause 
(I); and 
‘‘(cc) the determination of 
the Secretary as to whether the 
number of shipments for any cat-
egory of exempted water heater 
have increased by more than 25 
percent compared to the baseline 
data for that category. 
‘‘(C) INCLUSION
OF
EXEMPTED
WATER 
HEATERS.— 
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary 
shall, by regulation, revise the definition of 
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water heater under section 321(27) to in-
clude an exempted water heater under sub-
paragraph (A) of that section if the Sec-
retary makes an affirmative determination 
under subparagraph (B)(iii)(II)(cc) for 
that category of exempted water heater. 
‘‘(ii) ENERGY CONSERVATION STAND-
ARDS.—Any category of exempted water 
heater included in the definition of water 
heater under clause (i) shall be required to 
meet the energy conservation standards 
applicable to an electric or gas storage type 
water heater under this part. 
‘‘(iii) EFFECTIVE
DATE.—For any 
category of exempted water heater, the 
Secretary shall carry out clause (i), and re-
quire compliance under clause (ii), not 
later than 1 year after the date on which 
the Secretary makes the affirmative deter-
mination described in clause (i) for that 
category. 
‘‘(8) STANDARDS FOR MULTI-INPUT ELECTRIC 
STORAGE WATER HEATERS.—A multi-input electric 
storage water heater shall be subject to the test pro-
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cedures, energy conservation standards, labeling (if 
applicable), and certification requirements— 
‘‘(A) for electric storage water heaters 
under this part; and 
‘‘(B) for storage water heaters under part 
C. 
‘‘(9) TECHNOLOGY-NEUTRAL
ELECTRIC
STOR-
AGE WATER HEATER STANDARDS.—Notwithstanding 
any other provision of this Act, the Secretary may 
not create separate product classes for heat pump 
water heaters and other electric storage water heat-
ers.’’. 
(c) DEFINITION OF COMMERCIAL WATER HEATER.— 
Section 340 of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act 
(42 U.S.C. 6311) is amended by striking paragraph (12) 
and inserting the following: 
‘‘(12)(A) STORAGE WATER HEATER.— 
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—The term ‘storage 
water heater’ means a water heater that— 
‘‘(I) heats and stores water within an 
appliance at a thermostatically controlled 
temperature for delivery on demand; and 
‘‘(II) is not a water heater described 
in section 321(27)(A). 
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‘‘(ii) 
EXCLUSION.—The 
term 
‘storage 
water heater’ does not include a unit with an 
input rating of 4,000 Btu per hour or more per 
gallon of stored water. 
‘‘(B) INSTANTANEOUS
WATER
HEATER.—The 
term ‘instantaneous water heater’ means a water 
heater that— 
‘‘(i) has an input rating of at least 4,000 
Btu per hour per gallon of stored water; and 
‘‘(ii) is not a water heater described in sec-
tion 321(27)(A). 
‘‘(C) UNFIRED HOT WATER STORAGE TANK.— 
The term ‘unfired hot water storage tank’ means a 
tank used to store water that is heated externally.’’. 
(d) LABELING REQUIREMENTS.—Section 344 of the 
Energy Policy and Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 6315) is 
amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(l) LABELS
FOR CERTAIN COMMERCIAL WATER 
HEATERS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 
provision of this section, water heaters described in 
section 321(27)(B) shall be required to bear a per-
manent label, applied at the point of manufacture, 
that, subject to paragraph (3), satisfies the require-
ments described in paragraph (2). 
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‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—A label required under 
paragraph (1) shall— 
‘‘(A) be made of material not adversely af-
fected by water; 
‘‘(B) be attached by means of nonwater- 
soluble adhesive; and 
‘‘(C) bear the following notice printed in 
16.5 point Arial Narrow Bold font: ‘IMPOR-
TANT INFORMATION: Exclusively intended 
for commercial installations. This model is not 
certified by the U.S. Department of Energy as 
a residential water heater. This model does not 
have a certified First Hour or UEF rating.’. 
‘‘(3) REVISION UPON PETITION.—On receipt of 
a petition by an interested party, the Secretary may 
conduct a rulemaking to revise the scope and re-
quirements of the label required under paragraph 
(1).’’. 
(e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section and the amend-
ments made by this section shall take effect 180 days after 
the date of enactment of this Act. 
Æ 
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