Identical ratings, different brand names: rating sets shared across brands

Of the certified model numbers, 88% share every certified rating with a model sold under another brand name: 1,005 of 1,138. Grouped by identical ratings, the 1,138 listings reduce to 187 distinct rating sets, and 90 of those are sold under a single brand.

What counts as one rating set

This site groups model numbers into a rating set when every certified value matches: type, subtype, draw pattern, rated volume, first-hour rating or max flow, UEF, annual energy and gas input. It does not compare cabinets, controls or warranties, which can differ between badges. What it shows is that the test results are identical.

How many names per heater

Single-brand sets are numerous but small: 90 of the 187 sets, with 133 model numbers between them. The multi-brand sets are where the model numbers pile up: the other 97 sets hold 1,005 model numbers, an average of 10.4 per set.

The biggest families

The largest set on the list is a gas tankless family, A. O. Smith ACT-199O-N 1, with 51 model numbers under 6 brand names. The set with the most brand names is a heat pump, Midea CAN3-RSJ-15/190RDVN3-L3: 17 brand names from 11 different ENERGY STAR partners.

Partners and brands

Each listing names an ENERGY STAR partner, the company that certified the model. One partner can list many brands. The A.O. Smith Corporation listings, for example, carry 13 brand names: A. O. Smith, American, Envirosense, Envirosense Enercare, Envirosense Reliance Home Comfort, GSW, Giant, John Wood, Lochinvar, Reliance, State, Takagi and U.S. Craftmaster. That is why this site’s maker pages are built around partners, not brand names, and why the makers directory shows which partner stands behind each brand.

The same ratings can also come from several partners. On the list, 13 rating sets carry model numbers from more than one partner. One example is Rheem ECOHS200IN, a gas tankless set listed by Kiturami, Navien, Inc. and Rheem Sales Company, Inc., under 8 brand names in all.

One rating, five numbering schemes

Badges usually come with their own model-number style. The residential-duty commercial set A. O. Smith GDHE-50 3 shows it well: its 5 model numbers are A. O. Smith GDHE-50 3, American VG6250T100V 3, GSW 6G50100PDVH 3, Reliance 6-50-TPDT 3 and State GP6-50-TPDT 3. Nothing in those strings tells you they share every certified value. The only way to see it is to compare the ratings, which is what a rating set does.

Families by type

Shared ratings are the rule in some types and absent in others. All 70 standard gas storage model numbers sit in multi-brand sets, as do 58 of the 64 residential-duty commercial tanks, 559 of the 609 heat pumps and 318 of the 367 tankless units. None of the 28 solar model numbers shares a rating with another brand: each solar system on the list is a single-brand listing.

Partners with the most names

Counting brand names per partner, the A.O. Smith Corporation stands apart with 13. Next come 1HVAC Energy, LLC (5), Lochinvar, LLC (5) and Ariston USA LLC (4). A long brand list under one partner usually means the same tank or tankless unit sold through several sales channels, each with a separate badge and model-number prefix.

Why this matters when you compare

• Counting listings overstates choice: a list of twenty “different” heaters may hold only a few distinct ratings.
• Ranks on this site count rating sets, so a heater sold under eight names counts once.
• Model numbers are kept in full on every type and maker page, so a search for a badge-specific model number still finds its set.

The Heater finder shows one row per rating set and lists every brand and model number inside it. Filter by a brand and the list shows every set that brand appears in, including sets it shares with other names, so you can see at a glance which badges carry the same ratings.

What the grouping cannot tell you

Identical ratings do not prove that two products are built in the same place, and a partner is not necessarily the owner of a brand. The listing records who certified each model, and that is the claim this site makes: “listed by”, never “made by”.