Heater and Pump Questions

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sheree202

sheree202

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Jan 15, 2016
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Lawrenceville, GA
I'm working with a pool designer to finalize my plans and I'd love to hear some opinions on two things:

- Would you purchase a heater for a pool in Georgia? I've also thought about just using a solar blanket in the evenings to save money. Our pool will be 36 x 18' with no spa.

- Would you use a variable speed pool pump with a controller or two separate pumps with no controller for a pool with a water slide (75 GPM). I was planning on the variable speed pump, but when I asked the designer her opinion she stated if it were her pool she would do the 2 pumps.

Thanks so much!!
 
I always recommend a second pump with any water feature. It can be frustrating to try to do everything with one pump. Being that you don't have a spa simplifies things quite a bit to the point where a single pump would be fine, however an additional pump is not all that expensive in the scheme of things.

I don't live in Georgia, but who wouldn't want to swim in warm water? I would also opt for a heater
 
Pool automation is fairly expensive and adds a layer of complexity. I would skip it. I would go with a VS pump, they have built in controllers that can be programmed for multiple speeds and times. With a good plumbing and valve layout is easy to control water flow to where you want it. Plumb the slide in your return plumbing with a 3way valve and you can control how much water is fed to it with the valve.

I have a single variable speed pump and control the amount of water flow to waterfall, pool returns and solar heater with valves. The amount of water flow to each is infinitely adjustable and very easy and convenient.
 
I'm going to take the opposite viewpoint of pooldv. Compared to your overall build cost, an automation system for a pool as simple as yours is basically "in the noise" of the cost. Right now, you can get an 8-relay Pentair EasyTouch automation panel paired with an IC-60 SWG for ~ $,1800 retail (that's for a pool more complicated than yours). Considering your pool will cost you something upwards of $40-$50k, that's a tiny fraction of the price.

I would suggest you explore your various automation options. If you're going with Pentair, you can call them and they can customize an automation panel for your pool. With just a pool to deal with and a slide, you wouldn't need more than a 4-relay automation panel and it would give you the option to control landscape lighting as well as your pool/slide combo. An automation panel can be paired with a wireless system (like the ScreenLogic2 system from Pentair) which can let you control your pool from your smartphone. Think of it - you & hubby are both at work, but want to swim when you get home. So, a few hours before quitting time, you grab your phone, turn on the pool pump, set the heater to warm the water up and, viola!!, when you get home you can change into your bathing suit and go swimming. At the very least, a remote control system from the house is a really nice thing when you don't want to trudge out to the equipment pad to manually change valves or turn on pumps. Scheduling is a great and wonderful thing, but sometimes you need to fiddle with the pool or change the schedule on-the-fly; you can only do that with an automation panel and a remote control system.

I would also get a heater because you're going to want to be able to heat the pool on-demand and not wait for mother nature to be cooperative.
 
sheree202 said:
Haha! I truly appreciate everyone's advice :)

Would something like this work? Amazon.com : Pentair 520593 EasyTouch 4PSC-IC40 Single Body Pool Or Spa Control System, Includes SCG Integration Garden
Click to expand...

That's a good start but that particular model is for a pool/spa combo that gives you some extra spa automation that you will not likely use.

Depending on your pool volume, an IC-40 might be good enough but I'm always a fan of oversizing ones SWG.

You could call Pentair (they really are very helpful) and they can help you build an EasyTouch system that exactly fits your needs. You can also check out Sunplay website to see what they have.

Matt


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk,16k gal SWG pool (All Pentair), QuadDE100 Filter, Taylor K-2006
 
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