Dumb question... How do I heat my new pool?

[Killer95Stang]

They just finished my new inground gunite pool in March. Everything has been trouble free thanks to this website! My pool currently has full automation via Easytouch 8, Intellichlor IC40, Intelliflo VS, Mastertemp 400.. etc... When the pool was completed, my PB sent over the crew who installed the plumbing and equipment to go over what all the valves do and how to go from Pool to spa, how to clean the pool and basic maintenance. What we never went over was how to heat the pool! I'll admit, I'm a bit of a cheapo, so my plan was to never use the heater to heat the pool. No real need to in my mind, since we live in a Sunny Socal. Unfortunately, I did not appease the weather gods for our first official Pool Party which will be tomorrow. The forecast says it will be 75-80 degrees tomorrow, which normally is perfect weather, but its just a little cold to heat up the pool to my target temp of 85.

So.. my plan was to heat the pool to 85 degrees, from its currently temp of 79. I'm not asking for much, just 6 degrees, but I've kinda waited until the last minute and I'm not sure exactly how to set up the automation to get this done.

For the Spa, all I have to do is set the temp to 100 degrees push the spa button and the valves actuate by themselves, the pump speeds up to high (3450rpm) and the heater fires up!!! When I turn on heat for the pool and set the heat temp to 85, the system also works, but I have to turn on the pump manually (depends on time of day) and the heater fires up. Since I only have my pump set to run at 1750rpm for filtering, the automation uses that speed to heat the pool.

What I need help with is.. How do I setup an AUX button so all I have to do is push one button, for the heater to come on and the speed to automatically go to something higher.. like 2500-3000rpm (is that the right speed to heat?)

At the same time... setting up a second bottom to to use for manually vacuuming the pool would also be helpful. Right now I put the pool into service mode and then turn on the pump from its onboard panel to a preset speed.

Thanks...

 

[harleysilo]

You probably still have a few hours left to call the manufacture and have a tech walk you through the setup, that's what i would do (and have done for my Hayward automation).

 

[Killer95Stang]

Nobody? Working on other projects at the moment.. so not much time to sit on hold while I wait for a tech.

 

[Zadd]

I believe those heaters have a pressure switch installed. So if your current pump RPM can get the minimum 40 gallons per minute to flow through the heater it should switch on in pool heat mode. Can you feel warm water running back to the pool from the return jets?

Unless I'm missing your question; are you wondering where the valves are located to divert heated water from your heater to the pool instead of the spa?

 

[lkwhisler]

I have a Pentair easy touch....if the same...this what you do on the controller. We just got a pool in April.
Menu
Heat - select
Pool - select
toggle up to temp with controls on right
Heat: it says off - toggle on
select
It should fire up
to turn off - go through same steps - i set the temp back really low...and toggle pool heat off
Hope that helps!

 

[lkwhisler]

PS - we have heated 3 times....our pool is approx 30,000 gallons...and it heats about 1 degree an hour. 400,000 BTU heater.

 

[Zadd]

So your saying that through those steps it is not firing up? Maybe your pump does need to run at the higher RPM setting to get a minimum 40 gallons flowing through the heater. Is there a manual way to switch your pump to the higher RPM mode then try your heater control steps again?

 

[sdv]

Since you have EasyTouch, the heater should turn on automatically when it is in pool mode and the water temperature is below the temperature that is set through EasyTouch (using left and right buttons).
I must have missed this in your post, but can you reply to these questions below:
1. Is your equipment in the pool (auto) mode and water flowing?
2. Is your set temperature above the water temperature?
3. Does the EasyTouch display show the HEATER label?

 

[Killer95Stang]

Since you have EasyTouch, the heater should turn on automatically when it is in pool mode and the water temperature is below the temperature that is set through EasyTouch (using left and right buttons).
I must have missed this in your post, but can you reply to these questions below:
1. Is your equipment in the pool (auto) mode and water flowing?
2. Is your set temperature above the water temperature?
3. Does the EasyTouch display show the HEATER label?

Thanks for the replies.. I was at Costco knocking some more things off my party list..

1. Pool is set to AUTO
2. I set the temp to 85... current water temp is 79
3. In the menu I see "heater" and I also have a button with the flame on it.

So.. I guess I wasn't as clear as I thought I was... I am able to heat the pool. But right now it requires that I go to the menu, turn on heat, then manually push the button to turn on the VS pump on the easy touch panel. Since I currently run my pump at 1750rpm to circulate and to filter, the when it calls for heat it runs at that same rpm. Me not knowing much about the best rpm for heating pool, I'm guessing that a higher rpm would do better than a lower one. Also, since I paid so much for this automation, I was hoping it would be a once touch thing, where I hit the heat button, and the pump would turn on at a preset RPM and the heater would automatically fire.

For tomorrow, I'll probably just manually change the circulation rpm to 2750rpm and then just turn on the heater from the panel.

 

[Zadd]

I'm not positive on this but a pentair rep told me once that heat transfers to the pool the same at the minimum 40 GPM as it does at the high end 80 GPM. He said that the only difference is that a lower GPM will return less water to the pool at a higher temp than the higher RPM setting which delivers more warm water to the pool at a lower temp. Essentially the same result in pool temp. Maybe someone else can comment on that logic.

 

[seanm]

Zadd.... not to hijack the thread, but I wondered that very thing. Does pump GPM have anything to do with the speed of heating the pool as long as the minimum GPM for the heater is achieved. interesting thought problem.