RELIANCE WATER HEATERS GCBL-40 4**
0.57 UEF DOE CCD · 2026-09-19Grade G: where this UEF sits among the 288 models in its class, lowest (G) to highest (A). A position, not an official label. How the grade is set
A gas tank, medium draw pattern (a typical three- or four-person household, about 55 gallons on a busy morning).
Checking this model? RELIANCE WATER HEATERS GCBL-40 4** uses 194 therms of natural gas a year. That figure is for the medium draw pattern, the standard daily hot-water usage DOE tests against. It is 9 therms above the class median of 185 therms among 288 gas tank models.
Energy use per year
194 therms a year
Computed by this site from the registry's UEF and the federal test's daily hot-water draw for this draw pattern. What it costs depends on the natural gas rate where you live.
That is above the median of 185 therms for the 288 models registered in the same heater type and draw pattern; it ranks 278 of 288, lowest energy first.
Solid line: this model (194 therms). Dashed line: the class median.
Min 148 therms Median 185 therms Max 194 therms
What it costs to run where you live
What the registry files
- UEF (Uniform Energy Factor) how much hot water you get for each unit of energy the heater uses
- 0.57 DOE CCD · 2026-09-19 Compared only with other models registered as a gas tank at the medium draw pattern.
- Draw Pattern the standard daily usage profile DOE tests the unit against
- Medium DOE CCD · 2026-09-19
- First Hour Rating how many gallons of hot water the unit can deliver in one hour, starting from a full tank
- 68 gal DOE CCD · 2026-09-19
- Rated Storage Volume the tank size in gallons
- 38 gal DOE CCD · 2026-09-19
What it costs to install
Not published: Installed cost range
This model's UEF lies outside the range NLR REMDB's cost model was fitted on, and the range is not stretched past it.
The annual energy figure on this page does not depend on this range and is unaffected.
Safety record
No CPSC recall names this model.
Checked against the CPSC recall database. CPSC does not publish a model-level match for this product category, so this list is curated by hand from the manufacturer's recall filings.
CPSC · 2026-09-24What these figures mean
How this compares
The closest models in the same class — same fuel, type and draw pattern.
Keep going
How every figure on this page is calculated
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Find what replaces your water heater
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Find a water heater that fits
Three questions — fuel, hot water need, install space — narrow every model on file to the ones that fit.
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What a water heater costs to run
Prices a unit's efficiency against your own utility's filed tariff for your ZIP code.
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Is a 40-gallon water heater enough?
Answered from what models in this size actually file.
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Water heaters
Every model on file with the Department of Energy, by heater type.
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All gas tank water heaters
Gas-fired storage tanks, every size and draw pattern on file.
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Every RELIANCE WATER HEATERS model on file
What this brand files, by heater type.
UEF 0.57 · Grade G Price it on your ZIP
The registry lists a UEF, the ratio of hot water delivered to energy used, of 0.57 for this model. This site computed the annual figure, not the registry, from that UEF and the DOE test's daily hot-water draw for the medium draw pattern. Ranked from lowest energy use, the model is 278th of 288. That places it in the highest quarter of its class for energy use. The 9 therms gap to the class median of 185 therms applies only at that test draw and only to natural gas. The source is the DOE CCD, retrieved 2026-09-19. The figure does not describe a home whose hot-water use differs from the test.
The first hour rating, the gallons of hot water available in the first hour from a full tank, is 68 gallons for this model. The rated volume is 38 gallons. Both describe capacity, not energy use. The 194 therms figure describes a household whose demand matches the medium draw pattern, a typical family household. A household with much higher or lower demand should not read that figure as its own use. Someone who needs the lowest energy use in the class will find this model ranked 278th of 288. The registry data does not show how the unit performs in any particular home.
Running cost depends on your state's average residential gas price, so this text states no cost amount. The cost calculator applies the price for your ZIP to the 194 therms figure. At any one rate and the medium draw pattern, a model at the class median of 185 therms would use 9 therms less than this one. The method for the annual cost is documented separately. An installed price range is not published for this model. Its ratings lie outside the range the cost database's model was fitted on, and the range is not stretched past it. To compare a same-class unit, find a replacement by model number.
DOE CCD · 2026-09-19