ENERGY STAR® certified gas condensing water heaters use similar technology as gas storage water heaters, but they condense water vapor in exhaust gasses and recover heat that would normally be lost as the exhaust is vented outside your house. By holding onto this heat, they can achieve an efficiency of 90 percent or higher. (Source: ENERGY STAR®)

High-efficiency gas condensing storage water heaters employ the same technology as standard gas storage water heaters: a glass-lined steel tank is heated by a burner located at the bottom of the tank. But a few basic changes make them operate more efficiently. Efficient models simply have better insulation, heat traps, and more efficient burners, improvements that have a modest impact on price lead to 8% less energy use.  

Some very high efficiency models use a secondary heat exchanger that extracts more heat from the combustion gas, cooling it to the point where there is condensation– hence these types of heaters are called “gas condensing.” These gas condensing water heaters, like gas condensing furnaces, require venting through a vertical PVC pipe and a condensate drain.

The Connecticut Energy Efficiency Fund allows you to install high-performance gas heating and gas condensing water heating equipment without paying a premium price. 

Pre-approval and a post-inspection from the participating utility are required if the rebate total exceeds $7,500.