Residential water heater shipments slide through May as gas hits lowest five-month total since 2012

U.S. shipments of both gas and electric residential storage water heaters from January to May fell compared to last year, AHRI data released Friday shows. 

What’s happening: Over the five months, roughly 1.79 million gas water heaters were shipped, down 5.4 percent year-over-year, marking the lowest cumulative total since 2012, when manufacturers shipped just over 1.69 million units. 

• Meanwhile, around 2.07 million electric water heaters were shipped during the period, down 6.6 percent year-over-year — the lowest total since 2021, when shipments just cleared two million units.
• (AHRI data doesn’t include tankless water heaters.)

The big picture: A divergence among product types has emerged over the past five years.

• From 2012 to 2021, gas shipments topped two million units in the January to May window three times, including 2021, while electric water heaters got there once, in 2021. 
• Since then, however, gas shipments haven’t returned to the mark, while electric water heaters have cleared it every year, including 2026. 

Of note: Full-year electric water heater shipments crossed five million units for the first time in 2024, and again in 2025 — a milestone gas has yet to reach.