Who has a heat pump?

Shelley N · Nov 19, 2008

I am thinking of rolling up the solar panels for good and replacing them with a heat pump. I got hooked up with Marcus Miller at Poolheatpumps.com from the forum and he has sent me a ton of really great information, but what I want to know is: Who has one? Do they like it? Does it cost a fortune to operate?

I live in Lakewood Colorado so I need a little heat all but 2 weeks of the year. I prefer 84 degree water and usually have to wait till the afternoon on most days to get there.

no-mas · Nov 19, 2008

I have one - I'm in Florida. They are very common here. I can't compare it to solar, but can tell you that I heat the pool March through May, then late Sept until October. I use a solar blanket in March, part of April, and October, and it seems to run about $50/month, or less, to operate. On those occasions in the winter that I heat the pool, because of a warm snap or a bday party, running it continually for 2 or 3 days will do the trick.

My understanding is that once the air temperature is below 50 degrees or so, they are not so good at heating. When the air is that cold, I don't want to be in the pool anyway... :shock:

pooladdict · Nov 20, 2008

Do not roll up the solar, use heat pump as an addition.
Anyone who tells you to take down solar is wrong wrong wrong.

I have solar now, and will be putting in a heat pump next spring to take me thru to fall months, in the spring, I have no heat problem at all with Solar, I easily get up to 88, but in the fall, the sun's intensity is less.

spishex · Nov 21, 2008

Heat pumps are an excellent solution if you are in the pool frequently and want to maintain a temperature on a daily basis. The customers of mine that have them love them because they don't have to think twice about them. No huge gas bills and generally trouble free.

If you don't already have one, I'd suggest using a solar blanket if you want to maintain 84, and as was said already there's no reason to ditch the solar altogether unless you hold some sort of a grudge against it. :-D

Shelley N · Nov 21, 2008

We use a good solar blanket religeously. The problem is, on a 100 degree day, night time temps often go into the 60s here. That and the fact that I have 4 3.5 x 9 solar panels with 2 connections each that mostly leak and take up a ton of room. I would so much rather have a nice neat little box that does it it all and use the space allocated to the panels for a nice garden. Now does a heat pump actually pump the water for the pool, or do you still need one of those?

no-mas · Nov 21, 2008

A heat pump pumps heat from the air to the water. You still need a pool pump to move water through it.

It is not unusual to have solar with a heat pump. If it isn't too expensive to fix leaks, a heat pump would be a great supplement to it. If you want it out because it is an eyesore, it's a call only you can make.

spishex · Nov 21, 2008

Shelley N said:
We use a good solar blanket religeously. The problem is, on a 100 degree day, night time temps often go into the 60s here. That and the fact that I have 4 3.5 x 9 solar panels with 2 connections each that mostly leak and take up a ton of room. I would so much rather have a nice neat little box that does it it all and use the space allocated to the panels for a nice garden. Now does a heat pump actually pump the water for the pool, or do you still need one of those?

Well I won't get between you and whatever cold, calculated designs you have for your panels... :lol:

A heat pump will hook in to your existing system just like a gas heater, only it compresses gas to heat the water instead of burning it.

chrisa · Dec 21, 2008

we got a jandy from marcus...and it worked great for us here in ohio.

chris

MarkC · Dec 30, 2008

I have a Heat Siphon and live in PA. I love the Heat pump and it runs me about $100/month to get the water in the mid eighties during the normal swimming months we have in PA. When the temp outside is below 50 it doesn't put out very much heat but if your solar is still functioning it may be able to fill in. I have mine timed so that the main pump runs during the warm part of the day 10:00 am-10:00 pm in the summer, that way the heat pump is more efficient. Mine is 5 years old and never had a problem with it.