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Gas Fitting · Pool HeatersPool Heater Installation
Pool heater installation for a gas heater is mostly a gas-supply job: at 250,000 to 400,000 BTU per hour, a pool heater is the largest gas load on a house, several times a furnace, so it needs its own correctly sized line and often an Enbridge meter upgrade. A TSSA-licensed technician sizes, runs and pressure-tests the line, sets the heater to the clearances in the code and the manual, and fires it. Each job is quoted in writing after a site visit.
Start with the meter. A house in a 1970s–90s Burlington or Oakville subdivision was given a meter and piping sized for a furnace and a tank water heater, perhaps a fireplace, and a 400,000 BTU pool heater can exceed all of that combined. We total every appliance on the meter, compare the sum with the meter's rated capacity, and if it is over, the upgrade is requested from Enbridge Gas before a trench is dug. Skipping that step is how a heater ends up starved for gas the first time it runs alongside the furnace in May.
The line is dedicated and sized for both load and distance. Equipment pads sit at the back of the lot, so the run is long, and pipe size comes from the heater's input and the total length including fittings under CSA B149.1. A buried run means utility locates before digging, pipe approved for burial with tracer wire, and a shutoff at the heater. On a very long run, a higher-pressure line with a regulator at the heater keeps the pipe small where the utility can supply it; gas line installation explains how runs are sized and tested.
Placement follows the heater's installation manual and the gas code. The exhaust needs set clearances from windows, doors, building air intakes, the gas meter's regulator and the property line, and the cabinet needs open space above and around it for combustion air and service; it sits level on a non-combustible pad, not tucked under a deck or a low overhang. On the water side the heater goes after the filter and before the chlorinator or salt cell, with a check valve between them. That order gives it clean filtered water and stops concentrated chlorine from flowing back into the heat exchanger.
Gas or heat pump comes down to season length and how you use the pool. A gas heater raises the temperature quickly whatever the weather, which suits opening in early May, swimming into October and heating on demand for weekends. A heat-pump pool heater moves heat from the air into the water: it costs far less to run through June, July and August, but it heats slowly and loses output as the air cools toward 10°C, so it does little at either end of an Ontario season. Choose gas to extend the season or heat occasionally, and a heat pump, on a dedicated 240-volt circuit installed by a licensed electrical contractor under an ESA permit, to hold a steady temperature all summer under a solar cover.
What a proper pool heater installation includes
- A total connected-load check against the gas meter, with the Enbridge upgrade arranged if it is needed
- A dedicated gas line sized for the heater's BTU input and the full length of the run
- Placement to the manufacturer's clearances from openings, air intakes and lot lines
- Water piping after the filter and ahead of the chlorinator, with a check valve between
- A pressure test of the new line, then inlet and manifold gas pressure set with the heater firing
How it works
We read the meter, total the appliances, walk the route to the equipment pad and agree the heater location against the clearance rules. A written quote follows.
Locates called, line trenched or run along the house, pressure-tested and certified; heater set on its pad and tied into the pool plumbing downstream of the filter.
Gas pressures measured at the heater with the other appliances running, flame checked, water flow and temperature rise confirmed, and the controls explained. Request a pool heater installation quote well ahead of opening weekend.
Common questions
What size pool heater do I need?
Size comes from the pool's surface area, the temperature rise you want and how fast you want it. A larger heater does not cost more to run per degree; it gets there sooner, which matters if you heat for weekends instead of holding temperature. Most residential in-ground pools take a 250,000 to 400,000 BTU gas heater, and a solar cover cuts the heat loss whatever the size.
Will my gas meter handle a pool heater?
Often not without an upgrade. The meter was sized for the appliances the house was built with, and a pool heater can double the connected load or more. We add up every appliance and compare the total with the meter's capacity. If it is over, Enbridge changes the meter, and that request goes in first because its timing is theirs, not ours.
How much does a gas line to a pool heater cost?
It is quoted per site, because the length of the run, the pipe size the load demands, whether it is buried and what it has to cross all move the price more than the heater does. The cost drivers are set out in how much gas line installation costs. You get a fixed written price before any digging.
Can a new pool heater reuse the old gas line?
Only if the existing line is sized correctly for the new heater's input. Many older lines were undersized even for the original heater, and a replacement with a higher BTU rating makes that worse. We measure gas pressure at the heater under load before reusing a line, and a gas line upgrade is quoted when the numbers fall short.
Do I need a permit for a pool heater?
The gas work is certified under the gas code by the TSSA-licensed technician who does it, not through a building permit. Electrical work for a heat-pump heater needs an ESA permit through the electrical contractor. Municipal rules on equipment location and noise near lot lines vary, so check your local zoning by-law before choosing where the pad goes.