Pool Heating in Central Texas

[hookem]

I am new to the forum, but have been lurking and reading for a few weeks. They just poured our deck and we are waiting on the koolcote, plaster and equipment. PB said just a couple of weeks left.

Now to my question, I have searched and read almost everything I can on all the types of heaters available and my wife and I are still not sure what to do. We had several solar people come out and they all told us we did not have enough room on our south facing roof for the panels and that we would need a 12x36 rack in our yard for the 9 panels they all think we need. We are not real keen on that idea and for the moment have decided not to go the solar route. That leaves us with a heat pump or propane heat. The reason we want to heat the pool is to extend the season March through say October, not so much heat the pool on those sunny December days in Texas. We are leaning towards the heat pump, but still think we might use propane.

I was wondering if those in the Texas area could chime in (again, I am sure) and let me know how you handled the heating issue. We are prepared for the upfront costs of both, but are nervous about the propane costs in the long run. I was told that our local propane runs at $2.50 per gallon. We were looking at a Pentair 400k unit for propane or the Pentair 125k heat pump.

Thanks in advance for any feedback.

 

[JamesW]

In most cases, a heat pump will be a better choice for someone who wants to maintain a consistent temperature during the normal or slightly extended season. What is your electricity cost?

 

[hookem]

Thanks for the reply.

$0.07208 per KWH is our local rate.

 

[JamesW]

That's a relatively low cost for electricity. Based on that, I think that a heat pump would be the better choice if you plan to keep the pool heated vs. only heating periodically on demand. If you were only going to heat as needed, then a gas heater would be a better choice because it's so much faster.

 

[hookem]

Thanks, that is what I was thinking as well. Since this is our first pool, I was wondering what others in Texas thought once they actually had the pool and how they ended using their heaters. It seems quite a few people end up with two sources of heat. Gas or propane to heat quickly, and then heat pump or solar to keep it going. One thing that seems to be a must is a cover, but that sure sounds like a pain, but probably worth it.

 

[JamesW]

A cover is essential if you want to heat the pool without costing a fortune. Some people do have dual heat sources, but that's not really necessary if you plan to heat and keep it heated.

The Jandy/Zodiac EE-Ti 140,000 Btu heat pump would be a good choice. It has a better efficiency than the Pentair and it has a titanium heat exchanger for better corrosion resistance.

http://www.zodiacpoolsystems.com/Produc ... EE-Ti.aspx

 

[hookem]

I will look into that. I guess since most of my equipment is Pentair, I was just leaning that way. Thank you for all you input.

 

[Lershac]

Pentair has a titanium heat exchanger as well. Additionally if you go with a heat/cool unit you can cool off the pool when it gets to be like warm spit in aug.

 

[hookem]

We decided to to with the pentair heat pump to start along with a solar cover. We will see how that does and then discuss adding a propane heater down the road. We were hoping our pool would be ready for spring break, but our PB just told us probably not. They will actually start the plaster the Monday of our spring break. We are very excited and how to post pictures of our completed pool soon.

 

[gtojohn]

I live in Austin, this year I swam daily from April until the last week of October. Of course it was a 15' agp, and they run much warmer. In the future you might consider a well positioned pool house or cabana with a good south facing roof for a couple of panels. Even if you can't fit the ideal amount of panels on your roof I'd consider as many as you can fit, basically free heat, you'll be running the pump anyway.

 

[shakenbake]

Same issue for us. Solar guy would not install because he would not stake his reputation on the results. I respect him for the call.

We went with a heat pump and a 30' x 50' 16mil solar blanket. Works amazingly well. Annoying to install a blanket on a organic shaped pool, but just takes about 5 min to remove or roll out once cut to the right shape.

In october 2011 we kept the pool at 85F and used about 700KWH to heat it with the heat pump (about $50). I could not get the family to swim in it when the ambient temps dropped, Strangely they are now wanting to swim in it as the temps get warmer outside (65F), so I'd say that we're more likely to start the season early the extend it.

 

[hookem]

Thank you for sharing the chart on your costs, very helpful. We need to decide on a cover soon. We are so close, all we have left is the kool cote and then the plaster next week.