Firstly I am by no means a heat pump specialist although we do own a 13 year old Commander-E Heat pump and have no knowledge of the Titan.
The company that produced the Commander-E is now owned by Hayward with nearly exactly the same design as 13 years ago. We were easily able to purchase spare parts for it as it was so similar to the current design. That might be one primary concern, can you EASILY get spare parts at a REASONABLE price. If Titan parts are not easily found (check with you A/C professional), or not currently manufactured by one of the big boys such as Hayward, Jandy, Pentair, or Sta-Rite, etc., it might be better to wait and get one of their units.
If these issues check out, is it the correct size for your pool?
In our case the fan broke off, thermostat did not reading correctly, compressor died, and some small leaks, etc., all at different times in the 12th year. These were quite inexpensively fixed, abot $500, by a A/C professional, he believes that it should easily go another 12 years, more if you have it serviced yearly. So they are a good buy.
One other point is how noisy is it, ours has a scroll compressor versus the standard type (at least that is what the A/C person told me), the scroll is very quiet and is virtually inaudible 10 feet from the pool. If the type you are looking at does not have a scroll compressor, you might be able to switch it out, ask your a/c professional. Needless to say you might have to do some electrical work on your fuse box, here the question to ask is can your electrical carry the load.
Heat pumps are inexpensive to operate if they are used primarily to hold a constant temperature they are not terribly efficient at raising temperatures. Finally your best and least expensive investment would be a clear solar cover(s), and reel(s), to hold the temperature you have captured.
You may wish to compare the costs of raising your pool temperature, using gas heater versus a heat pump for given temperature rise. If you call the reach support persons at one of the major companies, give them the start temperature, then the finish temperature, and the cost of gas and electricity in your area, they can help you calculate the most efficient heater type. I did this some years ago and found the tech support people at two companies very helpful. Because they do this every day, you can learn a lot from them; calling them is highly recommended.
Hope this helps,
Aloha
