Looking for Heat Pump Pool Heater for 40k Gallon Pool

[ejr2001r]

Hello fellow swimmers! We are looking for a pool heater and are looking to see if there is anyone out there that has a heat pump that can heat up a 40k gallon pool. We do have the option of gas but fear the $$ factor. We live in the Aldie,Va area. Any advice on this and companies that perform the work (if you've had one installed post build) would be greatly appreciated!

 

[elwood58]

Heat pumps can all handle the volume, it is just a matter of how long it takes to reach target temperature. Covering the pool will help a lot. We have had both Pentair and Aquacal heater/chiller units. The Aquacal was the largest I could find at 135K BTU.

 

[ejr2001r]

What temperature range do you usually heat it to? Are you in the VA area or nearby? Was also wondering how much your swim season is extended by. Thanks!

 

[PCR]

Hello fellow swimmers! We are looking for a pool heater and are looking to see if there is anyone out there that has a heat pump that can heat up a 40k gallon pool. We do have the option of gas but fear the $$ factor. We live in the Aldie,Va area. Any advice on this and companies that perform the work (if you've had one installed post build) would be greatly appreciated!

I have a 40,000 gallon pool in Maryland. We don't have the option of natural gas and so we have a heat pump - a Pentair UltraTemp 120 Heat Pump. It works fine to keep the pool at temperature - which for my family is around 86 or 87 - from May through September. I just leave it set to that constantly during that time. In October when the night temps start getting cooler, the heat pump only gets the pool up to low 80s during the day typically. I still swim, but the rest of my family doesn't at that point (I grew up with an unheated pool in upstate NY!). We do NOT have a solar cover - just too much trouble to put on and take off every day. But if we did, the pool would obviously stay much warmer and we'd probably be able to achieve the high 80s even into October.

 

[ejr2001r]

I have a 40,000 gallon pool in Maryland. We don't have the option of natural gas and so we have a heat pump - a Pentair UltraTemp 120 Heat Pump. It works fine to keep the pool at temperature - which for my family is around 86 or 87 - from May through September. I just leave it set to that constantly during that time. In October when the night temps start getting cooler, the heat pump only gets the pool up to low 80s during the day typically. I still swim, but the rest of my family doesn't at that point (I grew up with an unheated pool in upstate NY!). We do NOT have a solar cover - just too much trouble to put on and take off every day. But if we did, the pool would obviously stay much warmer and we'd probably be able to achieve the high 80s even into October.

Good info to know! If you don't mind me asking, how much does it cost on average for a season? Thanks!

 

[PCR]

Good info to know! If you don't mind me asking, how much does it cost on average for a season? Thanks!

I honestly don't know. We would not use the pool nearly as much and other people wouldn't be in it nearly as much at parties if it wasn't heated, so however much it costs is completely worth it to us! If I had to make a guess, it's probably several hundred dollars across an entire pool season (beginning of May through mid-October for us) - more than 500/less than 1000. Using a solar cover and having a family that doesn't need to pool to be quite so warm would obviously cut that down quite a bit! You are also a little further south than I am so that helps too.
If I have time this weekend, I'll try to compare electric bills for the one season before we had the pool to after the pool went in. I could be a ways off either direction with my guess.

 

[PoolBrews]

The largest heat pumps on the market today are 144K - I know Hayward makes a 144K unit (I have one). For that size pool, you could look at installing dual heat pumps - faster heat times, and built-in redundancy.

 

[elwood58]

What temperature range do you usually heat it to? Are you in the VA area or nearby? Was also wondering how much your swim season is extended by. Thanks!

We are in Arizona and do not use a cover. We heat to 84°. We typically use it to kick off the swim season in late April. We have solar power, which reduces our cost. We also use it to chill the pool a few times in August. When chilling, we only run it at night.

 

[ejr2001r]

I honestly don't know. We would not use the pool nearly as much and other people wouldn't be in it nearly as much at parties if it wasn't heated, so however much it costs is completely worth it to us! If I had to make a guess, it's probably several hundred dollars across an entire pool season (beginning of May through mid-October for us) - more than 500/less than 1000. Using a solar cover and having a family that doesn't need to pool to be quite so warm would obviously cut that down quite a bit! You are also a little further south than I am so that helps too.
If I have time this weekend, I'll try to compare electric bills for the one season before we had the pool to after the pool went in. I could be a ways off either direction with my guess.

Thanks so much. That doesn't sound too bad. We are also wondering how much additional electrical work and cost in addition to the heat pump itself. How deep is your pool? Ours is 3.5ft to 9ft. I would assume the deeper the pool the longer it would take to heat up, but not sure about overall heat retention.

 

[ejr2001r]

The largest heat pumps on the market today are 144K - I know Hayward makes a 144K unit (I have one). For that size pool, you could look at installing dual heat pumps - faster heat times, and built-in redundancy.

Interesting approach! We'll have to look into that. Thanks.

 

[ejr2001r]

On another note, is there or are there any benefits or pitfalls with buying a unit online and having a contractor install it versus buying one from a pool company directly and having them install it?

 

[ajw22]

On another note, is there or are there any benefits or pitfalls with buying a unit online and having a contractor install it versus buying one from a pool company directly and having them install it?

Who provides what warranty and service on it?

Who has responsibility the correct unit and parts are ordered and if there is any damage in shipping?

 

[ejr2001r]

Who provides what warranty and service on it?

Who has responsibility the correct unit and parts are ordered and if there is any damage in shipping?

Good points. Definitely want to avoid the finger pointing blame game, that's for sure. Thanks for your input.

 

[rstrouse]

Pentair also has their hybrid ETi line that combines a gas heater with a heatpump and can run in Economode to use the heat pump when it can and use the gas heater to supplement when needed.

 

[ajw22]

Pentair also has their hybrid ETi line that combines a gas heater with a heatpump and can run in Economode to use the heat pump when it can and use the gas heater to supplement when needed.

You can do the same HP + gas heater setup with separate units. The cost of the ETi hybrid is no bargain over separate units and will be more expensive to repair or replace if either side fails.

 

[rstrouse]

Almost. IntelliCenter will prioritize the heat pump (econo-mode) over the gas heater but it will not do dual-mode or boost-mode switching.

 

[ajw22]

it will not do dual-mode or boost-mode switching.

Can you describe what the benefit is to those modes and when you would use it?

 

[rstrouse]

Dual mode switching allows both heaters to be engaged to seek the setpoint. The boost mode will come into play when the delta between the incoming water and the setpoint are outside of a set temperature. This means that when you turn on your spa for instance it can start heating with the gas heater to get it within range then use the heat pump to finish it off and keep it there.

Unfortunately, econo-mode attempts to heat the body for 1-6 hours with the heat pump and if it cannot reach temperature it will kick in the gas heater to bring it up to the setpoint. What that means is that if you want to turn on the spa you will wait quite a bit longer. My spa from 50F takes over an hour to make it to 101F with a 400K BTU heater. More than that and we would say nevermind.

 

[ajw22]

My spa from 50F takes over an hour to make it to 101F with a 400K BTU heater. More than that and we would say nevermind.

Thanks for that explanation.

So with boost mode you could get another 80K BTUs or so to heat your spa. I say that since with the spa temp around 50 the air temp is lower then the optimum 80F HP BTU output. That may give you a 20% or so boost in quicker heat time.

I understand titration spa heat time challenge although I am usually closing my pool and spa by the time the water is down around 60F.

 

[rstrouse]

Around these parts we don't close our pools. You just need enough anti-freeze and youth to jump out of the spa and into the pool. I had crazy fools in the pool at the end of December. Water temp holds steady at 50F during the winter. We heat our spa on demand and very rarely use the heater to heat the pool. Most often that is the job of the solar heater. Right now we are bouncing around 74F on the roof but in a couple of months that will be hitting 95+ and the pool will be swimmable.