I have a friend that works as a Berkeley plumber and as you can see, he knows almost everything about water heaters. He advice me not to buy these model of water heater because, even if they might save energy, they loose water and doesn't have enough power to keep it very warm neither.

This is great news and a perfect timing considering all the saving energy efforts worldwide. Is there a list of suppliers for these heaters? Obviously I am interested into having one yesterday. I'll try my luck at Whirlpool parts.

Bob, I think the main concern here is cost efficiency. Will people welcome this as a worthy investment? No, unless the government offers reimbursements in any way. People have way too much burden these days to even care about their water heaters. And then, you have the anti-green advocates with all their cynical point of views. You may be willing to invest on this but remember, not all think the same way as you/we do.

James

Finally, a good step towards more nature-friendly measures. With these new standards, I think more people will be aware of the small things that they can do for conservation. The only problem I see here is again, the people themselves. While these new water heaters may help conserve water, it'll be pointless if people continue to waste clean water. Oh well, people are people.