Pool Heater In Your Basement?

[NullQwerty]

Hey folks,

I was over at the forums at dslreports and saw this post: http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r27227597-Pool-heater-piping-question. where it appears that his pool heater is in his basement. See attached picture.

I'm in the process of adding a natural gas heater and had never considered having it in my basement instead of outside. This could increase the life of the heater too.

Anyways, I'm currently digging two 70' long trenches. One for a gas line and one for an electrical line. But instead, I could use those ditches for two water lines. Technically at that point I could even bring my pool pump, filter, and salt water system down to the basement. Is this all common practice? Is this a big no/no? Could the pump even handle the distance? What about being below 8' below ground? Also concerned with pumping all that water through my house, although I do have a sump pump in emergency.

Thoughts?

 

[bk406]

I personally wouldnt put any pool equipment in my basement.

 

[NullQwerty]

I personally wouldnt put any pool equipment in my basement.

I had similar hesitations, but I wonder if they're warranted. I mean, we all have water lines travelling all over through the house. And while there are leaks in pool equipment, it's pretty rare that it's a major eruption that would cause the pool to empty.

The reason I'm considering it is that solves a lot of issues for me. I've been trying to come up with a plan to hide my equipment and deaden the noise. Also as a nice bonus, the cost to install the heater should drop pretty dramatically.

But maybe the risk is higher than what I'm putting it at? Or maybe the pump couldn't handle that kind of distance and being that far below ground? Maybe the heater would lose too much efficiency? Maybe code in MA doesn't allow it? Or maybe something else I'm not even thinking of?

 

[gkruske]

I could see the cost-saving benefit with being able to tap into the existing gas line at your furnace. Also could be a possibility to tie into your furnace/water heater exhaust, depending on the manufacturers.

What about heat loss?

 

[JasonLion]

Heat loss isn't a big deal. Proper venting for the heater is a significant problem that will raise the cost noticeably canceling out any savings from not running the gas line. You also run a significant risk of flooding your basement at some point. The longer pipe runs also make the whole system less efficient. Finally, any increase in equipment lifetime is minimal.

 

[bk406]

To me, the downsides outweigh any upside at all.

 

[RobbieH]

Take a risk based approach to it. What is the likelihood of having a problem? My equipment is in a room at the back of my garage, along with a 1/2 bath for bathers to use. As far as I can tell there has never been an incident with any of the equipment. The heater I took out was dated 1976, the pump and filter were installed in 1989. And this was upgraded equipment, the pool itself was built somewhere between the middle 50's and the early 60s. So take the likelihood of something happening, then compare that to the loss risk if something does happen. Hey, I enjoy the silent pool, but then if mine does have a catastrophic failure I'm only an inch or two in water since I don't have a basement.

 

[NullQwerty]

Well it was fun to ponder, but maybe it's just not worth it. It's why I posted this, to hear if general feelings were "Yeah; people do it all the time; you should definitely consider it" or "Bad idea dude...I wouldn't do it". I primarily got the latter so...

Thanks for the thoughts everyone!

 

[cramar]

I originally planned to put my pool pump/filter in my garage.
There were recommendations here against that, the electrician eventually nixed that idea unless I was prepared to upgrade all the wiring, so I left it outside...I'm glad I did. Maintenance of pump/filter ends up in water loss on the ground.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[danpik]

Probably the biggest issue would be the chimney venting. I doubt seriously that you would have enough chimney for more than 100,000 to 150,000 BTU's of heater. A poorly designed chimney is not something you want to mess with.

My other concern would be the radiant heat output going into your house during the summer months. I service one that is in a 10 x 10 shed and when it is running it is almost unbearable in there and there are vents.