What Type of Heat.....NOT AN EASY ANSWER

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M

MattCarp

0
May 1, 2017
16
Fairport NY
So I have been a pool owner for 3 years and am learning something new every day. I am looking for some advice on heating the pool in Upstate NY

Facts:

Pool is 20x40 Vinyl almost 40K gallons.
East Facing so Sun from 10am-5pm most days.
Use solar cover
The water is typically 75-80

My house is the party house so I want to be able to keep the pool warm late into the evening some times.

I am in a town that has a deal for cheap electric < .040 KWH (the reason for my dilema)
My typical electric bill in the winter is 40 Bucks with the Hot tub running
When summer hits and the pool starts I run the pump 24/7 and the bill is about 60-70 bucks

Do I go solar because it's only a few degrees I want to raise
OR
Do I get a Heat pump to ensure the temp I want and don't have to deal with issues with leaks and cloudy days.
I found a scratch and Dent Aqua Pro 127K btu for 2750 out the door.

Any Advice is awesome
 
Hmmmm.... well... one of our pool experts who live in Texas actually has both solar and a heat pump.

Is a 127K BTU even big enough to make a dent in a 40,000 gallon pool? I dunno.....?

Is natural gas an option where you are?

Maddie :flower:
 
How deep is your pool to be 40k gallons? My 20x40 is 8.5 deep, and comes out to about 30-31k gallons. With electric that cheap I wouldn't flinch at getting a heat pump. I'm looking at solar soon, but I spend more on electricity and live further south. Depending on how long you want the swimming season to be, and the price of natural gas, a gas heater may be an option.


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No idea where Fairport is. You can add your city to your location so we can help better.

20x40x5 feet deep is 30k gallons
20x40x4 feet deep is 24k gallons

I have solar and a heat pump. Solar is free and great. But, doesn't work when it is cloudy or raining. It is nice to be able to heat anytime. If you are close on temp normally then I would go with a heat pump.

A 127k btu would heat 30k gallons 1 degree every 2-1/2 hours or so.
 
Yee, being in NY makes me recommend a heat pump even more. Quite a few folks have bought from those guys over the years. Be sure to have the heat pump refrigerant checked annually same as a home heat pump. I added mine to my spring and fall hvac service contract.
 
This past weekend I was able to get my 13k gallons from 59 degrees up to 74. That's with running the heat pump about 10 hours each day for two days. My heat pump is only 75kbtu. No solar hooked up yet.

Obviously you would need a bigger heat pump but if you want to keep your pool warm for the season but a heat pump is a great option.
 
Is natural gas an option? If yes, I would give it serious consideration.

I got a 400K BTU Ray Pak heater for around $2K and then had a to have a (fairly long) gas line run out to the pool so total cost was probably comparable to the $2750 you mention for the heat pump.

My pool is about 25K gallons and that Ray Pak heats about 2 degrees each hour and it has been a game changer for our family.
 
The price of my electric has me leaning towards a pump. At .0395 KWH my daily cost will be less than 2 bucks once I get it to temp. I also want to be able to swim all the time so I would need to leave it on all the time.. anyone ever do that with gas?
 
We have a heat pump because we wanted to keep our pool at a constan 80+ degrees every day. So happy we opted for the heat pump. Ours is a RayPac 133k btu; the pool is 20 x 40 / 30,000 gallons. The heat pump raises the water temp 1 degree every hour or 45 minutes (assuming outdoor temps in mid50s or better). When we opened the pool in early March this year, outdoor temps were 55 during the day and low 40s at night, and we still were able to bring the pool temp from 60 to 80 degrees in 3 days. With the pool heater set at 80, the pool has hovered between 80 and 86 depending on the sun/outdoor temp (so far as high as 88 degrees with most days around 70).

We have an autocover, which helps significantly by maintaining the pool temps at night.

I would not want a propane heater for the pool because it is too easy to run up a huge propane bill. If we had a spa, that would be different.
 

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Yankeelawyer, can you estimate how much the cost has been to heat the pool up so?

I occasionally play scratch off lottery cards and told Skippy that if I win anything it is going towards a pool heater. <fingers crossed!>

Maddie :flower:
 
Don't even consider gas with electric prices that low and you stating how you want to use the heater. If you want to do what you're describing, get it up to temp and leave it there for the season, the heat pump is the way to go. We are doing the same thing. You don't want to use a gas heater to heat the pool and maintain that temperature all season long, it will cost you way more in energy costs. That electric rate is ridiculous, about 1/4 of what it is in my area, which really makes this decision a no brainer.

- - - Updated - - -

You should change the title of this thread to get rid of the "NOT", this is a very easy answer in my opinion!
 
Definitely HP over solar. If the pool is nearly the right temp already, the heat pump won't cost you anything. So solar gains you nothing. And if it is not near temp, the heat pump will get it there and keep it there way better than solar.
 
Heat pumps will work fine in the north to heat pools, maybe (probably) not houses in the winter. A heat pump can make plenty of heat when air temps are 50 or above, even better 60 or above. Most people don't heat pools for swimming until air temps are at least 65 or 70 right? The lowest air temp I have swam at recently was 74 or so and even with 88 degree water it wasn't that great.
 

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