If I turn on my pool heater when the water is very cold (like less than 40 deg), I see a LOT of white smoke or steam coming from the heater. I have only let it run for a few minutes, out of fear that I am damaging my equipment. I assume what I am seeing is steam from condensation, due to attempting to heat very cold water. Will this damage my heater? Should I wait until the pool water naturally rises above a certain temperature before turning on the heater?
Is pool heater condensation harmful to equipment?
- Thread starter msm stl
- Start date
If this happens once, or once a year, it is no big deal and there shouldn't be any significant damage. But if you do this regularly, for example daily for weeks or months at a time, it will significantly shorten the life of the heater.
As Jason indicated, one in a while should be no problem. If you are familiar with High efficiency house furnaces (90+) then you will understand what is happening. Effectively you are cooling the exhaust gas below the condensation temp of 135-140 deg. When this happens the water vapor in the exhaust forms water droplets and runs down inside the unit. You do not want this to happen too often as the condensed water is slightly acidic and will start to corrode the sheet metal parts inside the unit. The water also contains carbon which will start to build up on the heat exchanger and plug it up. 90+ furnaces are designed with stainless components and drains to combat this issue. Pool heaters are not.