HANGING FUEL SOURCES. Editor Bruce Radford quoted me in his editorial "Water Heater War" in the March 15, 1998 issue. I'd like to clarify a few points.
Where I'm quoted as saying the Department of Energy should consider heat pump water heaters as separate appliances, my point was that the gas industry could market its own gas-fired heat pump water heaters (not gas-fired heat pumps (em a different technology), using a gas-fired heat pump and attaching a heat exchanger.
The DOE also could add an electric heat pump with a heat exchanger to help the efficiency of the gas-fired water heater, if they really were interested in increasing the gas water heater's efficiency.
I also believe I said customers in the future may change their electricity supplier (not energy supplier) as often as they like, thereby changing fuel sources on a frequent basis.
Steve Rosenstock
Manager of Electrotechnology Policy, EEI
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