On June 10, 2026, Codibly and A. O. Smith sat down to make the case for one of the grid’s most overlooked flexible resources: the residential water heater. The second-largest electric load in many American homes is, in effect, a thermal battery — and the conversation explored how connected water heaters can be turned into demand response assets at scale.

Roch Naleway, Market Development Manager for Utilities at A. O. Smith, joined Spencer Borison, US President at Codibly, for a practitioner’s view of what it takes to make water heating grid-interactive.

Webinar highlights

1. The water heater is a battery hiding in plain sight
Geographically dispersed, always present, and able to store energy as heat, water heaters are one of the most underused demand response resources on the grid.

2. Standardized connectivity is the enabler
Pathways such as the CTA-2045 “EcoPort” and manufacturer connectivity allow heaters to receive and act on grid signals without bespoke wiring.

3. The 2029 efficiency rule changes the math
Upcoming US federal efficiency requirements push electric storage water heaters toward heat-pump technology, sharply expanding the installed base of grid-connectable units.

4. Economics demand a lean delivery chain
A single water heater offers a smaller per-unit grid benefit than HVAC, so every layer — device, cloud, aggregator — has to be inexpensive for programs to pencil out.

5. OEM and integrator should plan together
The most effective programs treat grid flexibility as a joint design problem between the manufacturer and the integration partner, not a bolt-on after the fact.

6. From compliance to platform
Codibly’s role spans appliance control, cloud, OpenADR, and aggregator pathways — turning a compliant heater into an asset that can actually participate in utility programs.

Watch the full webinar below:

Looking ahead

As the 2029 rule reshapes the water-heater market, connected, grid-ready units will shift from a niche to the default. Utilities that stand up water-heater demand response programs now — and OEMs that move from compliance to active aggregator partnerships — will be positioned to capture the flexibility value as the fleet matures.