Thinking of (electric) heater for large pool.

[Give Me Sun!]

Hi Y'all.
I'm in Austin, Texas. Big pool....not sure how many gallons. I think 22,000, not sure. I use it daily from March to Oct, then I cry from Oct to March. Thinking of heating it. We're all electric here. Any suggestions on brands, costs, headaches greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Julee

 

[Jimrahbe]

Julee,

I think it would be cheaper to burn $ dollar bills under a bucket and just pour the hot water into the pool...

Kidding of course, but heating a pool with electric heat would be pretty expensive. Any heat you added would be lost at night unless the pool is covered.

Your only option would be a heat pump?

I'll let others chime in on their ideas.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[mas985]

I'm with Jim. Heat pumps are much more efficient (~50%) than a resistive heater.

 

[ajw22]

I thing @Give Me Sun! means a Heat Pump.

Look at the Aquacal HPs...

HeatWave SuperQuiet® Variable Speed SQ150VS - AquaCal Website

The NEW HeatWave SuperQuiet® SQ145 comes equipped with all standard features. The Patented ThermoLink Titanium Heat Exchanger at its core

www.aquacal.com

Whatever heat pump you get determine there is someone who will service what you get. Many folks have found they have orphan HPs with no one locally willing to service it.

 

[pjt]

A heat pump is probably what you had in mind. They are much more efficient than a resistive heater. Coefficient of performance (COP) varies according to the environmental conditions, but my HP COP normally dwells between 5 and 9.

Many HPs are reversible and can chill your water. This is a great feature that I use several times over the summer.

brands

What equipment/automation do you have? Fill out your signature when able. Having a HP the same brand as your other equipment ensures they can "talk" to each other. That said, I have an AquaCal HP, and it works just fine with Pentair IntelliCenter.

costs

HPs are expensive to buy. They consume as much electricity as an air conditioner.

headaches

Modern HPs should be very reliable. I'm sure Austin has HVAC technicians that can service a pool HP if needed.

 

[PoolGate]

You might get away with October and maybe March (shoulder months), but November - February is going to be really inefficient for a heat pump and water may simply not heat or retain any temps at all. If you are religious about covering the pool when not in use, you might not lose much temp. Running at night though I don't think it will do anything at all. During the day you might get lucky and it will maintain whatever temp you are at during the day. I would check with other pool owners in your area and see if they run their heat pumps off season and what to expect before committing to an expensive heater.