Solar or Heat pump in Michigan

[mtw826]

Hello, forgive me if this has been discussed, I cannot find a good answer anywhere.

So, we had our new pool installed last fall at our new house. I decided to take the winter to decide what i wanted to use to heat the pool. I was adamant that I wanted a heat pump because we only have propane option where we live and I installed a 100 amp service in the pool house to accomodate the heat pump. The pool contractor is offering the Aquacal Tropical T135 Heat pump for a little over $4k.

I recently started to research Solar out of curiosity and because I have a south facing roof 14'x32' on the pool house that I feel would be perfect for solar. What I have been eyeballing is the swimjoy system which appears to be very similar to Heliocol. For the solar diy kit with manual control it is about $3,700.

My question is whether or not the solar is worth the effort? It would be nice to just have the heat pump installed in an afternoon and be done with it (I am willing to pay an extra $100/month for the heat pump on my electric bill). If I go solar I will be doing it myself and I'm guessing it would take a weekend. I can't really find any info about solar in Michigan and whether or not people that have it are happy with it. I realize that you are only going to get the most benefit on sunny days. Based on my research the solar would be very similar to a heat pump (slow to heat, mostly beneficial during the day) but without the increased electric bill. I also plan to have a solar cover on the pool to keep the heat in at night.

In discussions with my wife she said why don't more people do it in Michigan, I couldn't really answer that, but I felt like it was a good point. My goal is to start swimming in May and end in September, basically adding a month at the beginning and end of season.

Please throw any and all thoughts at me, Thanks in advance.

 

[mas985]

$100/mo is probably not very realistic. It is likely to be much more than that in May and September. However, solar will also have less heat gain during those months.

What part of MI are you in (i.e. closest city)?

What do you pay for electricity?

How many and what size are the panels?

What is roof pitch?

 

[PoolGate]

Really neither of those options is going to extend your season on either end. But for sure solar won't. I'd go with the heat pump it'll keep your pool at 90+ all swimming season. I don't think solar heat does much more than a degree per day (if that) in your latitude. Also heat pumps work just fine at night. They are "real" heaters. The more humid, the better they work. They lose efficiency quicky below around 70 though.

 

[ajw22]

Run your information though the Pentair or Raypak calculators.

Pentair has a Heat Pump Calculator to determine the appropriate size Heat Pump for your location. Pentair seems to do honest calculations based on the physics and efficiencies of each type of pump and energy source.

Raypak also has a Heat Pump Heater Sizing App.

To get the most accurate cost comparison you should change the default electric kwh, natural gas price, and propane price to actual prices in your area.

 

[mtw826]

Thank you all for the responses, these are pretty much what I expected-that solar is not ideal in Michigan.

I am just south of Lansing, rate is $0.17/kwh. I was planning to do 6-4x12 panels on a south facing roof with an 8/12 pitch.

Also thanks for the info on the heat pump calculators, I will check that out.

So my only real option is a heat pump unless i want to get a propane heater which my buddy has and he uses the same amount of propane in the summer that he uses in the winter. I also feel like the heat pump is going to last longer than a gas fired unit?

Thank you.

 

[ajw22]

Heat pumps fail for different reasons then a gas heater. Both have random life spans. Sitting unused is not good for the life of either of them.

 

[PoolGate]

So much goes into calculating useful life of a heater. But "generally", heat pumps last twice as long as gas heaters.

 

[mtw826]

After looking at the calculators, the utility costs of the heat pump are reasonable. According to Raypaks i would be looking at $600 for a 5 month season(85 degrees). That is reasonable to me, the first and last months are high but the middle months are not bad. So what are your thoughts on the Aquacal Tropical that the pool company is recommending?