The withdrawn tankless gas water heater rule
Withdrawn May 20, 2025 (Congressional Review Act disapproval).
DOE published amended standards for gas-fired instantaneous (tankless) water heaters on December 26, 2024, with compliance from December 26, 2029. The effective date was delayed twice in early 2025, and on May 20, 2025 DOE withdrew the rule because Congress disapproved it under the Congressional Review Act. There is no new tankless standard on file from that rulemaking.
Timeline
December 26, 2024: final rule adopting amended standards for gas-fired instantaneous water heaters, effective March 11, 2025, compliance from December 26, 2029.
February 20, 2025: DOE delayed the effective date to March 21, 2025 and asked for comment on further delay.
March 20, 2025: DOE delayed the effective date again, to May 20, 2025.
May 20, 2025: DOE withdrew the rule. The notice says it "withdraws a disapproved final rule" under the Congressional Review Act.
What it means at home
Gas tankless water heaters remain subject to the standards that applied before the December 2024 rule. A rule disapproved under the CRA generally cannot be reissued in substantially the same form without new authority from Congress.
What to do now
- Descale a tankless heater on the maker’s schedule, more often with hard water; scale is the most common cause of error codes.
- Keep the model and serial in My Home so recall alerts can find a possible match.
Federal Register documents
- 2024-12-26FR Doc. 2024-30369 · Final rule: amended standards for gas-fired instantaneous water heaters.
- 2025-02-20FR Doc. 2025-02852 · Delay of effective date to March 21, 2025.
- 2025-03-20FR Doc. 2025-04475 · Further delay of effective date to May 20, 2025.
- 2025-05-20FR Doc. 2025-09030 · Withdrawal of the disapproved final rule (Congressional Review Act).
A plain-language summary of public documents, not legal or tax advice. Rules in this area have changed several times since 2024; the dates above are the record. Report a change we missed.