Industry Seeks Motor Efficiency Ruling from Department of Energy

Correction: A previous version of this story said the Dept. of Energy's pool pump ruling applies to pumps less than 1 hp. It applies to pumps greater than 0.711 hydraulic horsepower, or approximately 1.3 motor horsepower.

By 2021, replacement motors for pool pumps may have to meet similar requirements as the pumps themselves.

Last year, the Department of Energy (DOE) released a ruling saying all pool pumps placed into commerce in the U.S. must meet certain energy-efficiency requirements. Under the regulation, pumps of greater than .711 hydraulic horsepower -- or approximately 1.3 total motor horsepower -- would have to fulfill performance parameters currently met only by variable-speed models.

But the current language doesn’t address motors, creating a loophole that some worry may defeat the ruling’s purpose and unfairly favor replacement motors over new energy-efficient pumps.

While the pump language was developed, public commenters said they hope to close the loophole before the ruling goes into effect in July, 2021. In response, DOE called a meeting to discuss a possible motor ruling. Since the gathering, the industry is working to devise a way to address this issue. The Association of Pool and Spa Professionals is coordinating the effort with the National Electrical Manufacturers Association.

But language from the pump ruling cannot be directly applied to motors, said Jeff Farlow, program manager of energy initiatives for Pentair Aquatic Systems in Sanford, N.C. Pumps will be tested for weighted energy factor (WEF), which combines motor speed and efficiency with the hydraulic efficiency of the wet end.

Now, stakeholders must devise a way to develop parameters for motors, such that they will combine with an unknown wet end for the appropriate WEF. They have to decide if compliance can be based solely on motor attributes such as efficiency, or whether motors must be tested with a standard wet end, or variety of wet ends. “We’re trying to make that translation: How do we take motor performance and put some parameters around it so it could dovetail with the total pump rule?” Farlow said. “It’s just not a straightforward, one-for-one conversion, so it is a challenge. But I think we can work it out.”

After the group devises an approach, it plans to work with DOE officials and other stakeholders, including energy-efficiency advocates, to develop and publish an official ruling, said Jennifer Hatfield, APSP’s director of government relations.

Industry experts remain hopeful. “They can leverage a lot of the data and process from the pump regulation, so they don’t have to invent the proverbial wheel,” said Scott Petty, global product manager for pumps at Hayward Pool Products in Elizabeth, N.J. “That is expected to make this not necessarily easier, but faster.”