NY and CA Allow Unvented Gas Appliances

New York and California have recently passed legislation allowing the use of unvented gas appliances, according to the November 1997 issue of

Energy Design Update (EDU). The legislation in both states has been signed by the governors, but will not go into effect until after review by the state health agencies. New York passed similar legislation in 1996, but it was vetoed by Governor Pataki, who asked the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) to study the issue. Dr. Brian Leaderer of the Yale University School of Medicine was hired to conduct the research. His findings were released in the report “Critique of Guidelines on Use of Unvented Gas Space Heaters,” which expresses serious concerns about the safety of these heaters. According to

EDU, observers both inside the state government and outside are perplexed that the legislature passed the law anyway. Apparently, there was strong lobbying pressure from industry organizations. Only a handful of states regulate unvented gas appliances, and only Massachusetts and Alaska have outright prohibitions on their use. For more on unvented gas appliances see

EBN

Vol. 5, No. 3, page 4.