For Immediate Release
For More Info: Tom Collins 518-862-1090 x 3250
Utica, Oct. 16–ECR International and the New York State Energy
Research and Development Authority today announced a joint program
to promote the Watter$aver heat pump water heater to upstate residents.
NYSERDA is offering $300 incentives to customers who purchase and
have the unit installed by qualified contractors. NYSERDA is also
offer training to contractors to ensure correct product installation.
The Watter$aver is an award-winning water heater developed by ECR,
with NYSERDA assistance, and can cut residential electric resistance
water heater costs by up to 60%. The unit is so efficient, it can
pay for itself in savings in about three years.
"Governor Pataki has recognized ECR as an outstanding New York
company and NYSERDA partner," NYSERDA President William M. Flynn
noted. "NYSERDA is especially proud of the Watter$aver and now,
we want the public to know its benefits. It can cut electric hot water
heater costs in half, and NYSERDA is paying a $300 incentive to customers
who buy this unit from a qualified contractor," Flynn said.
The Watter$aver has been in the market for more than a year, and
has been promoted by NYSERDA and ECR in the New York City suburban
area, especially where electric hot water service predominates. The
newest effort, aimed at the Mohawk Valley and eastward to New York's
Capital District, seeks to increase the number of qualified installers
and put more units into homes.
The unit's design is based on the adaptation of proven heat pump
technology to heat water. It can be installed on the exact footprint
of a resistance hot water heater and begin to show immediate savings.
The design takes advantage of a standard refrigeration coil and compressor,
and packages them in such a way that the unit is significantly simpler
than existing heat pump designs. Because of its heat pump characteristics,
the unit may be installed by either plumbers or HVAC technicians and
NYSERDA's Home Performance with ENERGY
STAR® contractors. NYSERDA is offering
regional training sessions and incentives to these business segments
to introduce the product. A Utica area workshop is scheduled for mid-November.
"Combining NYSERDA's $300 incentive with electric savings of
$300 per year, the Watter$aver's payback is under three years. There
are very few energy efficiency measures that offer that kind of dramatic
payback, and then continue to save customers more than half of their
previous hot water bills, every year, over the life of the unit,"
said Tim Reed, President of ECR International.
State Sen. Raymond A. Meier urged residents who use electricity to
heat their water to consider this new technology: "This is a
breakthrough in water heating that can cut costs in half. The NYSERDA
$300 incentive lowers costs even further and makes this ECR unit,
made right here, a great choice for home use."
Assemblyman David R. Townsend, Jr. noted the local impact. "These
units are manufactured by employees of ECR. I think it's great that
we, in the Mohawk Valley build these machines, and can help spread
the word about this new product, while helping ourselves to electric
savings."
The Watter$aver was developed under a NYSERDA research and development
program contract and is now being promoted through a New York Energy
$martSM deployment program. The effort trains installers
across several service fields, and offers them incentives to promote
the unit. The $300 consumer incentive is offered directly to the purchaser
upon completion of a qualified contractor installation and a simple
application form available from NYSERDA.
Since 1999 NYSERDA has cost-shared the "Watter$aver" project
with more than $709,500 in funding. The U.S. Department of Energy
contributed to the development of the unit through Arthur D. Little,
Inc., and tested the unit at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The Watter$aver
is manufactured by ECR in Oneida County and is distributed through
its EMI, Utica and Dunkirk Brands.
Across Oneida County, since 1998, NYSERDA has invested more than $4.81
million in programs with a total cost-shared value of over $12 million.
Beside the ECR funding, principal among these is the electric and
specialty vehicle development projects at Baker Equipment in Rome.
NYSERDA is a public benefit authority created by law in 1975. Its
R&D program and the New York Energy $martSM
programs are designed to lower electricity costs by encouraging energy
efficiency as the State's electric utilities move to competition.
The programs are funded by and available to all electric distribution
customers (residential, commercial, institutional, and industrial)
of Central Hudson, Con Edison, NYSEG, Niagara Mohawk, Orange and Rockland,
and Rochester Gas and Electric. NYSERDA administers the System Benefits
Charge (SBC) programs under an agreement with the Public Service Commission.
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