What Does The Yellow EnergGuide Label Tell Me?

In the USA most household appliances including water heaters have to have a yellow EnergyGuide label attached to them. The idea is to give the consumer a quick overall guide to whether the unit is better or worse than the average for that type of home appliance. Study the example below to see what I mean and use the information in conjunction with energy factor and first hour rating information to help make the best decision on water heaters.

The important part of the label from our perspective is the middle section and lower section.

Compare The Energy Usage Information

CLICK THE IMAGE TO ENLARGE ... In the middle of the yellow EnergGuide label it says "This model uses 800 kWh per year and it also has a downward pointing arrow to show that this model is in the better than average energy efficiency range for this type of appliance (most efficient uses only 685 kWhr). In the lower section it shows that the running cost per year is $65 ... by implication and if this unit is better than average as stated there may well still be a better buy (since the unit uses 115 kWhr more than the most effciient available). So the message is clear that there are more efficient refrigerators out there.

The same logic would apply to a yellow EnergyGuide card on any heating unit

Below is a similar label ( CLICK THE IMAGE TO ENLARGE) for a tankless (described here as instananeous) Takagi natural gas water heater.

If you look carefully you'll see they claim an efficiency better than any other.

This would therefore appear to be a good buy based upon energy savings alone.

As I've said many times already there is more to choosing a water heater than the efficiency. the cost and availability of fuel, space, new or retrofit and numerous other considerations have to be taken into account. nevertheless a comparison of energy efficiency between similar models and heater types is important and easy to make using the yellow Energy-Guide label system in operation throughout the USA