By Marcelle Dibrell
California’s largest pool and spa lobbying organization is fighting to save gas-fired pool heaters.
In a meeting held on July 18th, the California Pool and Spa Association (CPSA) spoke with the California Air Resources Board (CARB), a state agency that is considering a regulation requiring the replacement of gas pool heaters with electric alternatives in new construction by 2028 and in existing homes on replacement by 2031.
According to the CPSA, it’s an alarming but not unexpected proposal currently under consideration that was put forward without consulting the pool and spa industry.
John Norwood, CPSA’s lobbyist, said that state agencies developing such regulations have an obligation to identify and conduct outreach with key stakeholder groups to determine the effects of such regulations on small businesses. CARB had already held four informal workshops but had not reached out to CPSA for input.
“This is the same mistake made by the South Coast Air Quality Control Board when they announced their decision to ban natural gas heaters on June 6th,” Norwood said. “The work with CARB is a real chance for a do over.”
In CPSA’s July newsletter, Chairman Scott Cohen said that CARB members had erroneously believed that it was feasible to replace a single gas heater with an electric unit.
Thus, in its crucial first meeting with the board, CPSA members and participants pointed out the following facts, of which CARB members apparently were unaware:
• Electric heat pumps produce a maximum of only 130,000 Btu.
• Heat pumps cost 20 percent more than gas heaters to purchase.
• It would take three or more heat pumps to replace the heating capacity of one 400,000-Btu gas heater.
• Residential pool equipment slabs don’t have space for three additional units.
• Heat pumps function best at 80 º
Fahrenheit and 80 percent humidity. They start losing effectiveness at lower temperatures.
• One heat pump requires 50 amps of electricity, while most pool equipment sets have a maximum 50-amp breaker.
• Installing just two heat pumps would require 125 amps of electrical service, requiring more wire than existing conduits can accommodate.
• On commercial projects, maintaining pool temperatures with heat pumps would be impossible.
Furthermore, CPSA argued that today’s gas heaters are 96-percent efficient, and the cost and impracticality of heat pumps outweigh the minor carbon emission savings.
The CPSA is fighting this battle on two fronts. Concurrent with CARB’s proposals, the South Coast Air Quality Control Board (a different entity from CARB) has also proposed phasing out gas heaters within its four-county area — which includes most of Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, and Riverside Counties — for new construction by January 1, 2028, and for replacements by January 1, 2031.
Norwood is hopeful that CPSA will be able to change minds.
“We had a first good call,” Norwood said. “The staff seemed responsive, and we are following up by submitting detailed comments.”
While the proposed regulations would initially affect only California, these types of gas bans could have broader influence throughout the country.
“When California enacts such laws, the rest of the country tends to follow,” Norwood said.
