Austin Plumbing Companies Address Regulations Affecting TX Hot Water Heaters

Energy standards that govern making tank-style water heaters more energy efficient have been garnering the attention of Texas-based water heater/plumber services companies like Mr Rooter Plumbing of Austin, these businesses more recently informing local customers about how these regulations affect hot water heaters – and them, as homeowners.

“While this is not what we’d call super-exciting news, it remains necessary for homeowners to know about because it will affect their next water heater,” explains Brett Bidwell of Mr. Rooter Plumbing Austin. “While the regulations were mandated a number of years ago, there’s a reason why we’ve been bringing this up to our customer base as of late – manufacturers of water heaters have had the time to figure out how to get into compliance with the new regulations, and we believe it was designed to allow some sort of standardization so every brand selling water heaters doesn’t offer completely different shapes and sizes.”

For more information visit https://www.mrrooter.com/austin/water-heater-repair/

One report from the U.S. Department of Energy analyzed by Mr. Rooter staff indicated that it was possible for a homeowner to save as much as $365 per year because of the new requirements. According to the report, new units are basically insulated to retain heat themselves, which requires less continuous infusion of energy to heat the water.

“When it comes to how this can affect our customers as homeowners, we’re asking them to keep an eye on the unit they are currently using, because it’s up to the ‘hot water heater gods’ as to when the tank begins to leak,” adds Bidwell. “A leaky tank is the one thing homeowners can’t really opt for hot water heater repair on; the only thing to do in that case is to replace the water heater. The new ones will cost more because the regulations have increased the price to manufacture them. What’s more, new units will also be larger in height and/or diameter, which means a new one may not fit in the space a current one resides in; as such, a door frame may have to be taken apart or it may not fit through an attic space.”

According to Bidwell and Mr. Rooter senior plumbers, some manufacturers have not released specifications with regard to how big these units will be, though the law affects gas-powered and electric fueled tank style water heaters up to 55 gallons.

“There are new regulations affecting units that hold more than 55 gallons, but those units are conventional tank-style water heaters,” concludes Bidwell. “The law requires these large units to have an electric motor to force air out of the exhaust and force air in so the combustible flame burns correctly. We’ve been informing customers, in the midst of all this, that there is a dramatic cost increase between a 75-gallon tank-style water heater now and the new power vent style – we’re talking thousands of dollars more for the new compliant power vent units.”

Doing business for more than 30 years, Mr. Rooter Plumbing offers residents of Pflugerville, Tarrytown, Lakeway, West Lake Hills, Cedar Park, Georgetown and Round Rock premium residential and commercial plumbing repairs solutions including water heater services/water heater installation, general plumbing services, repairs for sewer system backups, emergency plumber services, drain cleaning, sewer camera inspections, rooter work, hydrojetting and more.

Mr. Rooter Plumbing is located at 12201 Roxie Drive in Austin and can be reached by calling (512) 593-8697. For more information visit www.MrRooter.com/Austin.

Mr. Rooter Plumbing of Austin

+1-512-298-4916
12201 Roxie Dr
Austin
TX
78729
United States