Hey guys. First, I just want to say that its really great that all of you with so much experience help those of us without much experience on your on time. It's really appreciated. Second, our pool heater died an undignified death last year (2 heaters in under 10 years). This is after we have had so many problems with heater malfunctions and a multitude of repairs. We're looking to replace the heater and our installer recommended Rheem. What I am looking for is the most rock solid and energy efficient heater I can buy. I don't need anything fancy, but it does need to work with my Aqualink. From my reading, Rheem and Raypak are essentially the same company and the same heaters. I asked my installer why I should go with Rheem over Raypak (or even another brand for that matter) and he said that the enclosure had a much better design and build on the Rheem model. According to the pictures on the Internet, both units look identical. Also, unfortunately, our pool guy seems to hire some really incompetent guys to do a lot of the menial tasks and as a result, our pool chemistry has been all over the place at times resulting in green pools that need to be shocked. Given this, I thought it might be prudent to invest a little more in the heater and get the copper nickel version. So, my questions are:
1) Is there a difference in the Rheem vs. Raypack heaters and is that difference worth choosing the Rheem over the Raypack?
2) Are there other benefits to the Rheem vs. Raypack or vice versa? Should I be looking at an entirely different manufacturer?
3) Does the extra investment in the copper nickel version make sense?
Once again, thank you for taking the time to help me out with this.
1) Is there a difference in the Rheem vs. Raypack heaters and is that difference worth choosing the Rheem over the Raypack?
2) Are there other benefits to the Rheem vs. Raypack or vice versa? Should I be looking at an entirely different manufacturer?
3) Does the extra investment in the copper nickel version make sense?
Once again, thank you for taking the time to help me out with this.
