ASSE International has published its sixth scald awareness white paper, "Recommended Installation Practices for Residential Tankless Water Heaters to Reduce the Danger of Scalding," which may be downloaded for free at www.asse-plumbing.org/resources. Developed by the ASSE International Scald Awareness Task Group, this new paper focuses on the recommended installation practices that plumbers, installers, and/or plumbing contractors should follow to reduce the dangers of scald injuries or thermal shock when installing any type of residential tankless water heater. This paper also addresses some of the potential problems arising from unprofessional installations and the solutions to those problems, as well as the responsibilities of the installer.

"The ASSE International Scald Awareness Task Group was formed to educate and give guidance to the general public and plumbing industry on the many ways that someone can be exposed to the potential scalding and thermal shock hazards associated with hot water at the point of use," said ASSE International Scald Awareness Task Group Chairperson Richard J. Prospal, IPP, FASSE. "This white paper focuses on recommendations for the installer to follow when installing a residential tankless water heater or replacing a residential tank water heater with a tankless water heater, and how the dangers of scalding from excessive water temperature can be reduced."

With the advent of tankless water heater technology that can control the outlet temperatures of the water heater to the same specifications as various ASSE International product performance standards for mixing valves, ASSE International developed three ANSI Approved product performance standards — ASSE 1082-2018, Performance Requirements for Water Heaters with Integral Temperature Control Devices for Hot Water Distribution Systems, ASSE 1084-2018, Performance Requirements for Water Heaters with Temperature Limiting Capacity, and ASSE 1085-2018, Performance Requirements for Water Heaters for Emergency Equipment — two of which are featured in this paper.

ASSE International strongly encourages industry professionals, associations, educators, members of the media, and those with a desire to help protect public safety to join ASSE in disseminating this latest white paper.

"Recommended Installation Practices for Residential Tankless Water Heaters to Reduce the Danger of Scalding," along with the task group's five previous scald awareness white papers — "Recommended Installation Practices for Residential Storage Type Water Heaters to Reduce the Danger of Scalds," "Scald Hazards Associated with Low-Flow Showerheads," "Understanding Potential Water Heater Scald Hazards," "Adjustment of Automatic Compensating Valves to Prevent Potential Scald Hazards," and "Guidelines for Temperature Control Devices in Domestic Hot Water Systems" — may be viewed and downloaded at www.asse-plumbing.org/resources.