The U.S. Department of Energy has finalized a new regulation about certain pool pump motors and their energy efficiency standards. Published in the Federal Register on September 28, the regulation establishes higher energy conservation and efficiency standards for pool pump motors that manufacturers must comply with beginning September 2025.
The regulations apply to dedicatedpurpose pool pump motors, and not dedicated-purpose pool pumps, which are being addressed in a separate rule.
The regulation states that pump motors with a total horsepower of 0.5 or less must achieve a full-load efficiency of at least 69 percent, with no specified speed capability. For pump motors with a total horsepower greater than 0.5 and less than 5, variable-speed motors are required.
The DOE estimates that the regulation will cost consumers $2.6 billion over the course of its lifetime but will save consumers nearly $8 billion in operating costs. Meanwhile, the agency estimates it will also save $2 billion each in climate and health benefits. (Climate benefits result from cumulative emission reductions of carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, methane, nitrous oxide, and mercury; health benefits are estimated from reductions in fine particulate matter from sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides.)
In addition to these estimated benefits, the regulation was intended to close a loophole that was left open after the Dedicated-Purpose Pool Pump Rule went into effect on July 19, 2021.
The Pool and Hot Tub Alliance (PHTA), representing numerous pump manufacturers, said that the omission of regulating replacement motors (in the 2021 Rule) would “open an enormous loophole to drive replacement business to the lower cost, unregulated motors.” This was expected to have a significant and detrimental impact on both the pool industry and the anticipated energy savings of the rule. The association, and numerous manufacturers, therefore applauded the effort to close this loophole.
Following its September release, however, pump manufacturers are dissatisfied with the final result.
Among the biggest complaints is the DOE’s aggregation of all types of pool pumps to be included in the regulation.
Fluidra, the PHTA, and others have argued that pressure cleaner booster pumps should be considered as a separate class. (The current final rule identifies equipment classes only by total horsepower, as opposed to both total horsepower and application.)
In a September 11, 2023, comment posted to the DOE, the manufacturer wrote, “Fluidra continues to feel that the economic justification of requiring variable-speed motors for use on pressure cleaner booster pumps is unviable and will hurt the American consumer.”
Fluidra estimates the projected retail cost of a variable-speed pressure cleaner booster pump to be approximately $1,000 (compared to current average retail price of approximately $499).
They state that the DOE ignores innovations made in booster pumps, which include multi-stage booster pump technology, which radically improves their efficiency and meets the requirements of the more stringent Energy Star 3.1 without the use of variable-speed pumps.
“It does not make sense that an energy star certified product would become non-compliant with energy efficiency regulations,” Fluidra stated.
Furthermore, it isn’t necessary to run a booster pump on variable speed, Fluidra stated.
“In a typical application, a booster pump is run on a timer for 2-2.5 hours a day at a single operating speed,” Fluidra wrote. “Once the booster/ cleaner system is set, there is no effective reason to further adjust the speed of a booster pump motor like you would a filtration pump motor. A pressure cleaner booster pump is a ‘set it and forget it’ type of operation.”
Including booster pump motors in the definition of a dedicated-purpose pool pump motor does not save the consumer any money at all, given the minimum RPM necessary to operate a pressure-side cleaner and the average lifespan of the booster pump, Fluidra stated.
But it appears the DOE is going forward with the regulation as written.
“If sized correctly, a given dedicated-purpose pool pump motor could serve any of the dedicatedpurpose pool pump applications discussed in this rulemaking,” DOE stated. “Accordingly, DOE is not considering DPPP application in addition to motor THP when setting equipment classes and energy conservation standards for this final rule.”
In creating energy efficiency standards, the DOE is tasked with determining that their rulemaking is technologically feasible, that it achieves significant energy savings, and that it is economically justified.
In their final rule, the DOE has determined that the new regulation satisfies all three criteria, which they are authorized to implement under the Energy Policy and Conservation Act.
