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The Dependence of Water Heater Energy Factor on Deviations from Nominal Test Conditions

Published

Author(s)

William M. Healy

Abstract

An analytical study is carried out to assess the impact of corrections to nominal test conditions on the measured energy factor for residential water heaters. While test conditions are specfiied in the method of test, the difficuly in exactly achieiving these test conditions in the laboratory necessitates a computational approach to correct the results to nominal conditions. This paper examines the magnitude of those corrections for a range of water heaters of various fuel type, heating method, and size across a number of potential draw volumes removed during a 24 hour simulated use test. In making these corrections, a recovery efficiency and a standby heat loss coefficient are determined during the test; the effects of variations in those measured values on the resultant energy factor are discussed. Finally, the impact of tighter test tolerances on the variability of the energy factor is investigated to assist in evaluating the benefits of changing test conditions.
Citation
ASHRAE Transactions
Volume
123
Issue
2

Keywords

water heater, test procedure, energy efficiency

Citation

Healy, W. (2017), The Dependence of Water Heater Energy Factor on Deviations from Nominal Test Conditions, ASHRAE Transactions, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=914954 (Accessed April 24, 2024)
Created July 1, 2017, Updated October 23, 2017