KEVIN Rudd is in more hot water after revelations that a country footy club was given almost as many hot water systems as it has players.

Tiny Koondrook Barham Football Club on the Murray River has been handed 17 new hot water systems - almost one for every player in the team, the Herald Sun reported.

President Rod Barrington said the club knocked back even more units.

"They wanted us to take more," he said.

Other clubs were given so many hot water units they couldn't pay the power bills.

As the Rudd Government struggles with the roof insulation scandal, the Herald Sun can reveal shocking waste of taxpayer money on unwanted hot water units.

Koondrook Barham is the worst example.

Its dressing shed - which has only four showers - now features a bank of taxpayer-funded, 315-litre hot water systems.

"It got round a lot of clubs these units were available and the contractors approached us," Mr Barrington said. "I think we wound up paying $20 per unit."

As Energy Efficiency Minister Greg Combet tried to restore confidence in the insulation program, his department scrambled to explain the latest abuse of the handouts.

Mr Combet's spokesman said the hot water rebate was only available for households, and could not explain how sporting clubs had benefited.

But Koondrook-Barham isn't the only club to be lumped with hot water units.

Catani football ground, in Gippsland, said it was given 12 units for its six showers but has turned them off because they were too expensive to run.

The Federal Government last night admitted it had become aware that some installers had been fitting multiple heat pump hot water systems, above the capacity needed by the user.

A spokeswoman said it had introduced regulations in September 2009 to prevent oversized heat pumps being installed.

For full story, see the Herald Sun.