Abstract: To investigate the energy efficiency improvement methods of stationary storage type electric water heaters for the Indian market, analyze the Indian energy efficiency standards, establish a CFD fluid-solid coupled heat transfer simulation analysis method for electric water heaters, and validate the reliability of the simulation method based on experimental results. The quantitative results showed that the impact of foam material thickness and thermal conductivity on energy consumption and proposed optimized solutions to enhance energy efficiency rating of Indian electric water heaters. The increase of the insulation thickness by 5 mm and 10 mm can effectively reduce the standing loss per 24 h by 0.057 kW·h/24 h/45°C and 0.078 kW·h/24 h/45°C, respectively. When the insulation layer is 30 mm thick, the thermal conductivity of the foam material decreases by 0.003 W/(m·K), and the standing loss per 24 h decreases by 0.035 kW·h/24 h/45°C.

Key words: Numerical simulation, Electric water heater, Standing loss per 24 h, Indian energy efficiency standards