Switch from HeatPump to Natural Gas Heater

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browerjs

Active member
Oct 30, 2019
32
Beavercreek, OH
Has anyone ever switched from a heat pump to a natural gas heater and been disappointed with the switch? My pool builder is replacing my Hayward Heat Pump after they messed up the winterization, and I'm thinking of switching to the H250 Natural Gas heater. I'm in Southeastern Ohio area, and use my pool sparingly when it needs heated, so I'm thinking that the gas heater may be a better option.
 
I have used both. The biggest difference you will note is cost. Natural gas is very expensive to run. My 400k btu costs around $5/hour to run. It increases temp around 1-2 degrees per hour on a nice day. Installing gas is also expensive. Expect $3k+ to have your gas line run. Gas will extend your season whereas a heat pump will not. If you do go gas, get the largest heater they have which is 400k btu. Cost increase should be minor. I turn on the heater when we want to swim and if I do it early in the morning by the evening I can expect up to a 15 degree rise. With any pool a solar cover (bubble wrap) used at night will greatly reduce nightly heat loss.
 
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Heat Pump = Inexpensive and slow. Efficiency drops a lot when air temp is low.
Natural Gas = Expensive and Fast. Doesn’t care about air temp.
 
Wow, I've been in Georgia too long. I didn't realize how high natural gas was elsewhere. I'm currently paying 39 cents a therm, so at 4 therms an hour, it would only cost me $1.56 per hour vs $1.20 per hour for a heat pump. It's absolutely worth going with natural gas here!
 
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My price of natural gas per ccf is 0.71902. My price of electric per kwh .0447 (although I think this may be doubling soon). If I'm understanding everything correctly, the price to run a 250k BTU gas heater for an hour would be about $1.80, this seems pretty cheap but I don't know how to compare it to the Heat Pump.
 
browerjs said:
My price of natural gas per ccf is 0.71902. My price of electric per kwh .0447 (although I think this may be doubling soon). If I'm understanding everything correctly, the price to run a 250k BTU gas heater for an hour would be about $1.80, this seems pretty cheap but I don't know how to compare it to the Heat Pump.
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Don't forget to include distribution and taxes into that number. My extra over-charges more than triple my actual cost for gas.

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browerjs said:
I'm in Southeastern Ohio area, and use my pool sparingly when it needs heated, so I'm thinking that the gas heater may be a better option
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How do you choose to use it in Ohio ?

The gas heater excels at extending the season

The HP excels at warming an already warm pool.

You cannot have both. :( The HP will extend your season some, but it will cost as much as the gas heater to do so, maybe even more with 1/3 the BTUs. It will quit 10 degrees or so (average daily temps) before the gas heater does. If you want to take the edge off on cooler days mid season, the HP is king and will be fairly cheap to do so. The gas heater can easily accomplish that also, but you are burning the same amount of gas that you did when it was cold out to do so.
 
ajw22 said:
Why not?
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OK smart butt. :ROFLMAO: OP may purchase one of each and use them at their most efficient times, but he cannot have a HP perform like a gas heater when it's cool/cold out, and he cannot have a gas heater use less energy heating the pool in July/Aug like a HP would.
 

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Newdude said:
OK smart butt. :ROFLMAO: OP may purchase one of each and use them at their most efficient times, but he cannot have a HP perform like a gas heater when it's cool/cold out, and he cannot have a gas heater use less energy heating the pool in July/Aug like a HP would.
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Thats why two is always better then one.

Doesn't evetryone own a sports car and a SUV?
 
Newdude said:
How do you choose to use it in Ohio ?

The gas heater excels at extending the season

The HP excels at warming an already warm pool.

You cannot have both. :( The HP will extend your season some, but it will cost as much as the gas heater to do so, maybe even more with 1/3 the BTUs. It will quit 10 degrees or so (average daily temps) before the gas heater does. If you want to take the edge off on cooler days mid season, the HP is king and will be fairly cheap to do so. The gas heater can easily accomplish that also, but you are burning the same amount of gas that you did when it was cold out to do so.
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This will be my 3rd season with the pool. The past two years, I’ve pretty much just kept the heat pump off during the summer and swam. I’ve tried turning it on during the day some but I won’t keep it on at night because it’s outside my bedroom, which I think defeats the purpose. I’m thinking gas will allow me to just turn it on during the day when it’s cooler.
 
ajw22 said:
Doesn't evetryone own a sports car and a SUV?
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I'm with ya. And I do with the vehicles. But for most folks looking to heat their pools, spending double isn't going to happen

Thank you for prompting me to explain it better. :)
browerjs said:
The past two years, I’ve pretty much just kept the heat pump off during the summer and swam
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browerjs said:
I’m thinking gas will allow me to just turn it on during the day when it’s cooler
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From these two statements, gas is the way to go. Usually one spouse wants to swim in the laaaaaaate season, and one wants it 94 degrees in the summer, and one of them is going to be disappointed with only one heater.
 
browerjs said:
This will be my 3rd season with the pool. The past two years, I’ve pretty much just kept the heat pump off during the summer and swam. I’ve tried turning it on during the day some but I won’t keep it on at night because it’s outside my bedroom, which I think defeats the purpose.
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Check on the required clearances for the gas heater exhaust from any windows or openings.

What model gas heater are you getting?

A gas heater with a blower can be very noisy.
 
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bertschb said:
Huh? How does a pool heater not extend your season???? I used my HP in early February to heat the water from 51 to 87.
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Sorry yeah should have specified in my climate it does not. In some climates it could. Around here we are still in the daytime temps of 60s with 40s at night (same in September) which is when Heat Pumps really start to become less than efficient.
 

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