PB installed heat pump without any type of bypass for it... is that normal? Seems like a major disadvantage to me.
No Valve to bypass Heater?
- Thread starter zethacat
- Start date
Yes, that is very common. A heater bypass is nice to have sometimes, but only if you are familiar with how and why you would want to use it, which most people are not.
Many heaters have internal automatic bypass setups. While the typical internal bypass is not as energy efficient as an external bypass, it does help a fair bit.
Many heaters have internal automatic bypass setups. While the typical internal bypass is not as energy efficient as an external bypass, it does help a fair bit.
At the very least I imagine that if I were to go on vacation I would want to bypass it in case the pump fails while I am gone for some reason and the pool does not get enough chlorine (from liquidator). If the chemicals are unbalanced it could damage the heating elements even if the heater is off, correct?
There is no real possibility of the kind of risk you are talking about. Most heat pumps have titanium heat exchangers, in which case chemistry essentially makes no difference to the heater at all. And even if it doesn't have titanium, the only significant risk is from very low PH (which is quite unlikely to happen in the scenario you describe).
The only significant advantage of a bypass is improving energy efficiency when the heater is not in use, and being able to do a no drain acid wash (which doesn't come up very often and isn't ever needed if you maintain the chemistry correctly to begin with).
The only significant advantage of a bypass is improving energy efficiency when the heater is not in use, and being able to do a no drain acid wash (which doesn't come up very often and isn't ever needed if you maintain the chemistry correctly to begin with).