Residential space and water heating accounts for over 90percent of total residential primary gas consumption in the United States. Condensing space and water heating equipment are 10-30percent more energy-efficient than conventional space and water heating. Currently, condensing gas furnaces represent 40 percent of shipments and are common in the Northern U.S. market. Meanwhile, manufacturers are planning to develop condensing gas storage water heaters to qualify for Energy Star? certification. Consumers, installers, and builders who make decisions about installing space and water heating equipment generally do not perform an analysis to assess the economic impacts of different combinations and efficiencies of space and water heating equipment. Thus, equipment is often installed without taking into consideration the potential life-cycle economic and energy savings of installing space and water heating equipment combinations. Drawing on previous and current analysis conducted for the United States Department of Energy rulemaking on amended standards for furnaces and water heaters, this paper evaluates the extent to which condensing equipment can provide life-cycle cost-effectiveness in a representative sample of single family American homes. The economic analyses indicate that significant energy savings and consumer benefits may result from large-scale introduction of condensing water heaters combined with condensing furnaces in U.S. residential single-family housing, particularly in the Northern region. The analyses also shows that important benefits may be overlooked when policy analysts evaluate the impact of space and water heating equipment separately.

This report summarizes the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory?s research to date in characterizing energy efficiency and automated demand response opportunities for wastewater treatment facilities in California. The report describes the characteristics of wastewater treatment facilities, the nature of the wastewater stream, energy use and demand, as well as details of the wastewater treatment process. It also discusses control systems and energy efficiency and automated demand response opportunities. In addition, several energy efficiency and load management case studies are provided for wastewater treatment facilities. This study shows that wastewater treatment facilities can be excellent candidates for open automated demand response and that facilities which have implemented energy efficiency measures and have centralized control systems are well-suited to shift or shed electrical loads in response to financial incentives, utility bill savings, and/or opportunities to enhance reliability of service. Control technologies installed for energy efficiency and load management purposes can often be adapted for automated demand response at little additional cost. These improved controls may prepare facilities to be more receptive to open automated demand response due to both increased confidence in the opportunities for controlling energy cost/use and access to the real-time data.

An increasing share of natural gas supplies distributed to residential appliances in the U.S. may come from liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports. The imported gas will be of a higher Wobbe number than domestic gas, and there is concern that it could produce more pollutant emissions at the point of use. This report will review recently undertaken studies, some of which have observed substantial effects on various appliances when operated on different mixtures of imported LNG. While we will summarize findings of major studies, we will not try to characterize broad effects of LNG, but describe how different components of the appliance itself will be affected by imported LNG. This paper considers how the operation of each major component of the gas appliances may be impacted by a switch to LNG, and how this local impact may affect overall safety, performance and pollutant emissions.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recently completed a rulemaking process in which it amended the existing energy efficiency standards for residential water heaters. A key factor in DOE?s consideration of new standards is the economic impacts on consumers. Determining such impacts requires a comparison of the additional first cost of energy efficiency design options with the savings in operating costs. This paper describes the method used to conduct the life-cycle cost (LCC) and payback period analysis for gas and electric storage water heaters. It presents the estimated change in LCC associated with more energy-efficient equipment, including heat pump electric water heaters and condensing gas water heaters, for a representative sample of U.S. homes. The study included a detailed accounting of installation costs for the considered design options, with a focus on approaches for accommodating the larger dimensions of more efficient water heaters. For heat pump water heaters, the study also considered airflow requirements, venting issues, and the impact of these products on the indoor environment. The results indicate that efficiency improvement relative to the baseline design reduces the LCC in the majority of homes for both gas and electric storage water heaters, and heat pump electric water heaters and condensing gas water heaters provide a lower LCC for homes with large rated volume water heaters.

New single-family home construction represents a significant and important market for the introduction of energy-efficient gas-fired space heating and water-heating equipment. In the new construction market, the choice of furnace and water-heater type is primarily driven by first cost considerations and the availability of power vent and condensing water heaters. Few analysis have been performed to assess the economic impacts of the different combinations of space and water-heating equipment. Thus, equipment is often installed without taking into consideration the potential economic and energy savings of installing space and water-heating equipment combinations. In this study, we use a life-cycle cost analysis that accounts for uncertainty and variability of the analysis inputs to assess the economic benefits of gas furnace and water-heater design combinations. This study accounts not only for the equipment cost but also for the cost of installing, maintaining, repairing, and operating the equipment over its lifetime. Overall, this study, which is focused on US single-family new construction households that install gas furnaces and storage water heaters, finds that installing a condensing or power-vent water heater together with condensing furnace is the most cost-effective option for the majority of these houses. Furthermore, the findings suggest that the new construction residential market could be a target market for the large-scale introduction of a combination of condensing or power-vent water heaters with condensing furnaces.

Residential two-stage gas furnaces account for almost a quarter of the total number of models listed in the March 2005 GAMA directory of equipment certified for sale in the United States. Two-stage furnaces are expanding their presence in the market mostly because they meet consumer expectations for improved comfort. Currently, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) test procedure serves as the method for reporting furnace total fuel and electricity consumption under laboratory conditions. In 2006, American Society of Heating Refrigeration and Air-conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) proposed an update to its test procedure which corrects some of the discrepancies found in the DOE test procedure and provides an improved methodology for calculating the energy consumption of two-stage furnaces. The objectives of this paper are to explore the differences in the methods for calculating two-stage residential gas furnace energy consumption in the DOE test procedure and in the 2006 ASHRAE test procedure and to compare test results to research results from field tests. Overall, the DOE test procedure shows a reduction in the total site energy consumption of about 3 percent for two-stage compared to single-stage furnaces at the same efficiency level. In contrast, the 2006 ASHRAE test procedure shows almost no difference in the total site energy consumption. The 2006 ASHRAE test procedure appears to provide a better methodology for calculating the energy consumption of two-stage furnaces. The results indicate that, although two-stage technology by itself does not save site energy, the combination of two-stage furnaces with BPM motors provides electricity savings, which are confirmed by field studies.

In order to have a standard for furnaces that includes electricity consumption or for the efficiency of furnace blowers to be determined, it is necessary to determine the airflow of a furnace or furnace blower. This study focused on airflow testing, in order to determine if an existing test method for measuring blower airflow could be used to measure the airflow of a furnace, under conditions seen in actual installations and to collect data and insights into the operating characteristics of various types of furnace blowers, to use in the analysis of the electricity consumption of furnaces. Results of the measured airflow on furnaces with three types of blower and motor combinations are presented in the report. These included: (1) a forward-curved blower wheel with a typical permanent split capacitor (PSC) motor, (2) a forward-curved blower wheel with an electronically-commutated motor (ECM), and (3) a prototype blower, consisting of a backward-inclined blower wheel matched to an ECM motor prototype, which is being developed as an energy-saving alternative to conventional furnace blowers. The testing provided data on power consumption, static and total pressure, and blower speed.