VAUGHN ME-40
0.92 UEF DOE CCD · 2026-09-19Grade G: where this UEF sits among the 163 models in its class, lowest (G) to highest (A). A position, not an official label. How the grade is set
An electric tank, low draw pattern (a one- or two-person household).
If you are checking the VAUGHN ME-40, an electric tank, it uses 2,439 kWh of electricity a year at the low draw pattern, the standard daily hot-water usage DOE tests against. That equals the class median of 2,439 kWh, a difference of 0 kWh, among the 163 models in its class.
Energy use per year
2,439 kWh 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 electricity rate where you live.
That is equal to the median of 2,439 kWh for the 163 models registered in the same heater type and draw pattern; it ranks 19 of 163, lowest energy first.
Solid line: this model (2,439 kWh). Dashed line: the class median.
Min 724 kWh Median 2,439 kWh Max 2,550 kWh
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
- 0.92 DOE CCD · 2026-09-19 Compared only with other models registered as an electric tank at the low draw pattern.
- Draw Pattern the standard daily usage profile DOE tests the unit against
- Low 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
- 46 gal DOE CCD · 2026-09-19
- Rated Storage Volume the tank size in gallons
- 37 gal DOE CCD · 2026-09-19
What it costs to install
$1,605–$1,828 installed
Not a quote — a modeled range of what installers have charged for this class of unit; your price will vary with labor rates, access, and local code requirements.
Escalation indexes: equipment (BLS PPI) latest available: August 2026; labor (BLS ECI) latest available: April 2026 to June 2026.
NLR REMDB (BLS PPI/ECI escalated) · 2026-04-01Safety 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
Enter the model number off your old unit and see what is on file today, with the yearly cost difference.
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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 electric resistance tank water heaters
Electric tanks that file a UEF below 2.0 — heated by elements, not a heat pump.
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Every VAUGHN model on file
What this brand files, by heater type.
UEF 0.92 · Grade G Price it on your ZIP
The figure of 2,439 kWh for the VAUGHN ME-40 is an electricity total for an electric tank at the low draw pattern. This site computed it, not the registry. The inputs are the registry's UEF, the ratio of hot water delivered to energy used, which is 0.92 for this model, and the daily hot-water draw in the DOE test for this pattern. The source is DOE CCD, retrieved 2026-09-19. The low draw pattern describes a one- or two-person household, so the figure is a test-condition value and not a measurement of any particular home.
Against its class, the model sits at the median. The class is the 163 models registered as an electric tank at the low draw pattern, and its median is 2,439 kWh. This model's difference from that median is 0 kWh. It ranks 19th lowest in energy use of 163 models, which places it in the lowest quarter of its class. The source data does not say how models with equal energy use are ordered, so the rank is reported as given. Rated volume is 37 gallons. The first hour rating, the gallons of hot water available in the first hour from a full tank, is 46 gallons. For a different fuel, space or size, the water heater selector covers those choices.
This figure fits a reader verifying a model for the low draw pattern. It does not fit a household that draws more hot water than that pattern, because no energy figure for another draw pattern is available for ME-40. The running cost is not stated in the text, because it depends on your own utility electricity tariff. Enter your ZIP in the cost calculator to apply that rate to 2,439 kWh. The calculation method explains how the annual cost is built. The modeled installed-cost range appears in its own block on the page with its source and date. It is a range, not a quote.
DOE CCD · 2026-09-19