Propane Heater Choice

[ukchris]

I think I'm settled on adding a propane heater to my pool, I expect to go with a 400,000 btu, pool is 20x40 in New England. I figure that as the various steps in getting it installed will fall in to place, I have a quote for propane, plumbing etc.

I had initially looked at the Hayward but after posting here I have been told don't... get a Rakpak, what I don't know is why.

Is Raypak considered to be better? More reliable? More affordable? I realize Hayward are a popular name and have read good and bad things... online a Hayward 400k btu looks to be around $2,100, should I shop/buy elsewhere / other brands?

Any thoughts would be welcome, ideally I'd like to order sooner rather than later to get things rolling.

 

[PoolGate]

Raypak is considered to be more problem free than the rest. Gas heaters can and do have issues. I just lost the igniter on my 6 month old Jandy 400k btu natural gas heater (covered under warranty of course). Heed the advice of this forum! $2100 sounds like a good price for a heater. Is the installer going to supply the heater or are you doing the installation?

 

[CJadamec]

In general the reasons given for Raypak being a better heater are:

1) Simple design with less parts which means less parts to fail or break
2) Proven designs with long track record or reliable service
3) Because of #'s 1 and 2 they are very easy to troubleshoot and service if something does go wrong and parts are easy to get

Not that other branded heaters are necessarily a bad choice its just that when we are asked to recommend anything Raypak is what is recommended for those reasons.

 

[ukchris]

Thank you both, I appreciate the help. My current thinking is to buy the heater then find a plumber / pool guy to install, I've talked to my local pool places and their pricing for heaters is pretty outrageous, $3,700 vs. $2,100 based on a Hayward for example, again I'm open to advice but paying nearly double (excluding installation) seems a little too steep.

 

[PoolGate]

Thank you both, I appreciate the help. My current thinking is to buy the heater then find a plumber / pool guy to install, I've talked to my local pool places and their pricing for heaters is pretty outrageous, $3,700 vs. $2,100 based on a Hayward for example, again I'm open to advice but paying nearly double (excluding installation) seems a little too steep.

Just be cautious of warranties some are not valid without professional installation. Gas heaters don't have much of a warranty anyway but check it out.

 

[ps0303]

I wouldn't say their prices are outrageous. That price, $3,700, is very much inline with others I see being sold by pool companies that sell and install them. If that price includes removing the old one and hooking the new one up to everything, that's a fair price.

I wouldn't take a Hayward if it was offered to me for free.

BTW, don't go by the online companies heaters price to determine if the other company is being fair on their price or not. You're getting more value from the local company than the online one. What if the unit comes out of the box DOA or some other issue. You'll have to start calling to find a repair person where as the local should be able to take it back to his supplier and get you a new one. Local companies add value.

 

[ukchris]

I wouldn't say their prices are outrageous. That price, $3,700, is very much inline with others I see being sold by pool companies that sell and install them. If that price includes removing the old one and hooking the new one up to everything, that's a fair price.

$3,700 was to buy it, they wanted $400 to deliver it 4 miles away then installation on top of that. If that was "all in" then I'd snap it up in a heartbeat.

 

[ps0303]

"...they wanted $400 to deliver it 4 miles" Seriously? You must live in a high rent district. LOL

 

[PoolGate]

I'd tell them to take a hike too and do it all myself. Nothing about it is hard. I'd have the gas line installed and do the rest myself.