We purchased a house in November with an indoor in-ground plaster 10x60 lap pool ~16k gallons. Pool is ~25 years old and looks like original plaster and equipment. We live in North Idaho, so it's freezing in the winter. Heat pump has stopped working (still appears to be functioning, just no heat). We also have an inefficient electrical resistance heater. Before the heat pump stopped working, when the pool was over 80 degrees I would get crazy condensation inside the room. I tried a series of fans at the door, opening and closing windows but didn't seem to make much of a difference.
I would like to use the pool year-round if possible. My property only has electrical utilities, but I could add natural gas (need to run ~1500 feet from street), or propane. I'm considering adding a bunch of solar panels anyway, so I could reduce expense for electricity. Indoor pools in my area are very uncommon. I called the local HVAC guys and several pool builders and no-one even knows of anyone that does HVAC for indoor pools to properly engineer/handle humidity. I'm going to be in this house for a long time. I'm open to investing in quality equipment, but also frugal by nature and willing to try different things.
The heat pump exhausts to a ventilation system that has an additional fan and puts out a good amount of air along the entire length of the room, blowing air across to the windows on the other side. You can see the white vents in the picture. There is no other HVAC or heat source in the room. What I don't know is how well the system would operate with a good heat pump. Maybe that would be sufficient for dehumidifcation too. Any ideas?
I'd like to resurface the pool, replace all the equipment and add whatever HVAC makes sense to heat and dehumidify the air. Maybe I need a true HVAC system, I don't really know and unfortunately have been unable to find anyone that can even make some suggestions.
The frugal part of me says to either repair or replace the heat pump, and maybe add a pellet stove in each end of the room and see how far that will get me. Wood pellets are cheap and I was thinking I would get both heat and some dehumidifcation from that.
Anyone have any words of wisdom or know who can maybe help me determine my options? Thanks!
I would like to use the pool year-round if possible. My property only has electrical utilities, but I could add natural gas (need to run ~1500 feet from street), or propane. I'm considering adding a bunch of solar panels anyway, so I could reduce expense for electricity. Indoor pools in my area are very uncommon. I called the local HVAC guys and several pool builders and no-one even knows of anyone that does HVAC for indoor pools to properly engineer/handle humidity. I'm going to be in this house for a long time. I'm open to investing in quality equipment, but also frugal by nature and willing to try different things.
The heat pump exhausts to a ventilation system that has an additional fan and puts out a good amount of air along the entire length of the room, blowing air across to the windows on the other side. You can see the white vents in the picture. There is no other HVAC or heat source in the room. What I don't know is how well the system would operate with a good heat pump. Maybe that would be sufficient for dehumidifcation too. Any ideas?
I'd like to resurface the pool, replace all the equipment and add whatever HVAC makes sense to heat and dehumidify the air. Maybe I need a true HVAC system, I don't really know and unfortunately have been unable to find anyone that can even make some suggestions.
The frugal part of me says to either repair or replace the heat pump, and maybe add a pellet stove in each end of the room and see how far that will get me. Wood pellets are cheap and I was thinking I would get both heat and some dehumidifcation from that.
Anyone have any words of wisdom or know who can maybe help me determine my options? Thanks!
