What does it Mean for a Water Heater to Have a Powerered Damper?

Noah

Posted on October 19, 2021

You may have noticed some of the water heaters you’ve looked at say “power dampered”. Which initially that may sound like a bad thing, because damper means to inhibit or prevent something, and why in the world would I want to restrict my water heater from doing its job? However, it actually is an amazing thing, when we take a technical look at it.

These water heaters have a powered flue damper on the top of the water heater, which opens, and closes based upon gas-burner activity. So, when the gas-burner is actively working the damper opens as to vent, then when it is no longer being used the damper closes so that the heat remains inside the water heater, reducing standby temperature loss.

With this implementation your water heater has a much more efficient energy factor (EF). The water heater has to work far less due to being able to maintain the temperature of the water for a longer duration of time, and not needing to reheat it. This means you’ll save on your gas bill, but probably paying a little extra initially for the water heater with a power damper!