Best way to go automated?

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The OmniPL has Wifi and an app as standard. For the Prologic it would be an add on box.

You can't add a pH sensor to monitor your pH level.

Hayward has a Sense and Dispense system but I am not a fan of it...

Sense and Dispense | Automation | In Ground Pool Automation - Hayward Pool Products

Sense & Dispense monitors residential pools to maintain balanced water, without the hassle. A continuous sensing module for pH and sanitization (ORP) levels with the ability to dispense chlorine when paired with a chlorination system.
www.hayward-pool.com www.hayward-pool.com
 
Sorry I meant chlorine. Are you able to monitor chlorine and adjust the SWG automatically? We take long trips and this would be golden (last time I got home and found out I'd set it way too high).

ajw22 said:
The OmniPL has Wifi and an app as standard. For the Prologic it would be an add on box.

You can't add a pH sensor to monitor your pH level.

Hayward has a Sense and Dispense system but I am not a fan of it...

Sense and Dispense | Automation | In Ground Pool Automation - Hayward Pool Products

Sense & Dispense monitors residential pools to maintain balanced water, without the hassle. A continuous sensing module for pH and sanitization (ORP) levels with the ability to dispense chlorine when paired with a chlorination system.
www.hayward-pool.com www.hayward-pool.com
Click to expand...
 
There is no chlorine sensor to give you a display of actual values.

You can adjust the SWG % remotely using the app.

Having the chlorine run high while you are away is the preferred situation. There is no problem with high chlorine in the pool.
 
OmniPL is installed and working nicely. It was not cheap but I'm really glad we went that route. I'll probably add some actuators down the road. Thanks for the help everyone!

ajw22 said:
There is no chlorine sensor to give you a display of actual values.

You can adjust the SWG % remotely using the app.

Having the chlorine run high while you are away is the preferred situation. There is no problem with high chlorine in the pool.
Click to expand...
 
andrewanderson7 said:
OmniPL is installed and working nicely. It was not cheap but I'm really glad we went that route. I'll probably add some actuators down the road. Thanks for the help everyone!
Click to expand...
That was quick.

You have your electrician rewire everything through the OmniPL Load Center?
 
Just got everything set up to run through the OmniLogic app. So far so good. Question: is there anyway to see how much my heater is running? It's not built in; is there anything aftermarket or a plug-in from a third party that can measure my daily/total heater run time? We're pretty conscious of the energy we use and this data would help optimize our heating schedule and temps.
 
Yes. It was the first time he had wired one and I feel like we paid for his education. But he also came out right away to do it which is nearly unheard of in my area and ultimately did a really nice job.

The only issues so far are: 1) the Hayward control panel kind of sucks. There's definitely hot and cold spots on it; it took me a little to figure out exactly where to touch it to register inputs and I still typically have to touch it multiple times. At one point I resorted to sweet talking it but that didn't seem to go anywhere. I thought the unit was defective but looked online and it seems common. 2) I have an older Pentair light. The sequencing is different from the ColorLogic for colors/shows. Not a big deal though I'm living with it.
 
andrewanderson7 said:
Just got everything set up to run through the OmniLogic app. So far so good. Question: is there anyway to see how much my heater is running? It's not built in; is there anything aftermarket or a plug-in from a third party that can measure my daily/total heater run time? We're pretty conscious of the energy we use and this data would help optimize our heating schedule and temps.
Click to expand...

No, that has been asked before.

Tracking gas heater runtime?

Is there a simple way to track the runtime of our gas pool heater? Our gas bills spiked recently, and I suspect our pool heater is the culprit, so I'd like to track its usage going forward. We use the heater during the winter exclusively to heat the spa. I suspect that when we're done...
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com

How would that information help you optimize your heater runtime?

With a Heat Pump either you let it run when the pump is running to maintain a given pool temperature or you use it as an on-demand heater and only enable it when you want to raise the pool temperature.

Do you have a cover on your pool to retain the heat you paid for?

Using the HP as an on-demand heater will be more efficient if you can wait for the pool to heat. Continuously running the HP just replaces heat lost into the air which is inefficient but convenient as the pool is always at the desired temperature.
 
We do have a cover. I'd like to see the cost/benefit of keeping a minimum pool temp over time. I'd also like to know how long the HP needs to run to hit a desired temp.

We've been operating on-demand. I basically start running the HP at least 24 hours before we plan on doing a pool day. There have times when I've heated the pool and then our plans changed and times we wished we could use the pool but it was too cold. I know there are a number of variables involved but I still don't really know how long it takes to heat to a desired temp.

Is there any way with the OmniLogic to set the HP and pool pump to run in tandem until it hits a desired temp then switch everything off?

ajw22 said:
No, that has been asked before.

Tracking gas heater runtime?

Is there a simple way to track the runtime of our gas pool heater? Our gas bills spiked recently, and I suspect our pool heater is the culprit, so I'd like to track its usage going forward. We use the heater during the winter exclusively to heat the spa. I suspect that when we're done...
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com

How would that information help you optimize your heater runtime?

With a Heat Pump either you let it run when the pump is running to maintain a given pool temperature or you use it as an on-demand heater and only enable it when you want to raise the pool temperature.

Do you have a cover on your pool to retain the heat you paid for?

Using the HP as an on-demand heater will be more efficient if you can wait for the pool to heat. Continuously running the HP just replaces heat lost into the air which is inefficient but convenient as the pool is always at the desired temperature.
Click to expand...
 
andrewanderson7 said:
We do have a cover. I'd like to see the cost/benefit of keeping a minimum pool temp over time. I'd also like to know how long the HP needs to run to hit a desired temp.
Click to expand...

150,000/HP BTU Output = temperature rise/hour for your pool.

BTU output depends on air temperature and the 125K BTU is at 80F. As temperature drops BTU output drops.

Hayward website shows a HeatPro and Summit XL heat pump. I don't know what a EasyTemp HP is and what it's BTU output curve is that should be in its manual.

But the best your HP is going to do is about 1 degree an hour heat rise.


andrewanderson7 said:
Is there any way with the OmniLogic to set the HP and pool pump to run in tandem until it hits a desired temp then switch everything off?
Click to expand...

No,

If it did turn off the pump when would you then want the pump to turn on?
 

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ajw22 said:
150,000/HP BTU Output = temperature rise/hour for your pool.

BTU output depends on air temperature and the 125K BTU is at 80F. As temperature drops BTU output drops.

Hayward website shows a HeatPro and Summit XL heat pump. I don't know what a EasyTemp HP is and what it's BTU output curve is that should be in its manual.

But the best your HP is going to do is about 1 degree an hour heat rise.




No,

If it did turn off the pump when would you then want the pump to turn on?
Click to expand...

Do you have a heat pump? It says you have nat gas heated in your sig but someone commented earlier in the thread that implied you have a heat pump. I ask because I am also in Northern NJ and am curious if a heat pump works in our area. My new pool has a heater but its propane and propane is extremely expensive now. I also am adding solar panels to the house (to help with the cost of running my swim spa) so if a heat pump can be an alternative to the propane heater, that might be worth looking in to.

This thread is interesting because I am big into home automation, I run Home Assistant and was going to eventually look into getting my pool integrated with HA so I can control the schedules from HA isntead of the old school intermatic analog timer that is currently used. Plus the ability to monitor the equipment, control the heater, control/monitor the SWCG if i get one, etc sounds awesome. Also if its posssible to monitor the water that would be awesome but most of the gizmos I have seen that test the pool seem to have really mixed reviews,
 
If this is heated by a heat pump you can add a electrical meter in line to the heater it basically calculates used wattage which you can in turn calculate cost . 1kwh times your local rate


HiLetgo Digital Multimeter AC 80-260V 100A PZEM-061 LCD Display Digital Current Voltage Power Energy Multimeter Ammeter Voltmeter with Current Transformer CT https://www.amazon.com/dp/B079JNY5V...t_i_6BN0WWDH90EAX66BNHYS?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
 
swimspaguyy11 said:
Do you have a heat pump? It says you have nat gas heated in your sig but someone commented earlier in the thread that implied you have a heat pump. I ask because I am also in Northern NJ and am curious if a heat pump works in our area. My new pool has a heater but its propane and propane is extremely expensive now. I also am adding solar panels to the house (to help with the cost of running my swim spa) so if a heat pump can be an alternative to the propane heater, that might be worth looking in to.

This thread is interesting because I am big into home automation, I run Home Assistant and was going to eventually look into getting my pool integrated with HA so I can control the schedules from HA isntead of the old school intermatic analog timer that is currently used. Plus the ability to monitor the equipment, control the heater, control/monitor the SWCG if i get one, etc sounds awesome. Also if its posssible to monitor the water that would be awesome but most of the gizmos I have seen that test the pool seem to have really mixed reviews,
Click to expand...

Let's discuss over in the thread you have going.
 
Also on the cheap side you can add a 240v relay which is controlled by any normal smart switch and allow control of the heater or pump. This works for gas or electric heaters and the relays only cost about $10 plus the cost of your preferred switch ( I use caseta). It's not fancy but it works and allows scheduling and remote on and off from your phone from anywhere.

Packard - DP301202 C230B 2 Pole 30 Amp Contactor, 120 Voltage Coil https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001KGSJ7...t_i_B0VWAPVXDR1QY6A48G9E?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
 
p1zaul said:
Also on the cheap side you can add a 240v relay which is controlled by any normal smart switch and allow control of the heater or pump. This works for gas or electric heaters and the relays only cost about $10 plus the cost of your preferred switch ( I use caseta). It's not fancy but it works and allows scheduling and remote on and off from your phone from anywhere.

Packard - DP301202 C230B 2 Pole 30 Amp Contactor, 120 Voltage Coil https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001KGSJ7...t_i_B0VWAPVXDR1QY6A48G9E?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
Click to expand...

Heat Pumps pull 50-60 amps. 30 amp contactor is undersized.
 
K
ajw22 said:
I do but many folks here don't understand the difference.
Click to expand...
Yes, this is definitely not something that is DIY if your not familiar with volts and amps. But an electrician could hook something like this up very easily. For what it's worth the pump I have is actually 40amp and for a gas heater the electrical draw in very minimal, but you always want the contactor at or above the breaker rating.
 
ajw22 said:
The OP signature says he has a Heat Pump. So I don't know why you are talking about a gas heater here.
Click to expand...
The nice thing about a forum is other people tend to follow along or stumble upon at a later date, it seems worth noting this system does work for both types of heaters. I also find it odd just above you are quoting a different post asking about tracking gas heater run times in response to the op questioning heat pump usage, which you most definitely can meter.
 

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