Heaters

[mcmeekin]

I'm about to begin a new pool. We moved to a new home and had to leave behind our old one that we build 5 years ago. We're in SC.
Our old and new pool was/will be a 14x28 rectangle vinyl lined IG. 11-12000 gal 3-5 foot depth. We had a gas laarslite2 gas heater at the old house. It heated it up quickly on demand (we swam on Christmas one year... the water went from ~55 to 90 degrees in about 8 hours overnight) but man the gas bill. We liked ~ 86-88 degree water.
I'm considering a heat pump type heater on the new one. Anybody had experience with both and prefer one over the other as far as heating ability and utility bills?
Anybody got a "Heat Siphon" brand? Any better/different than a "typical" heat pump?

Thanks
Stan

 

[duraleigh]

Hi, Stan,

Wow! That was SOME gas heater!!! Were you able to get a 20-year note on the gas bill? :lol: :lol:

Generally, heat pumps will save you some money over gas but you'll not be able to heat the pool nearly that quickly (you probably already know that).

SC just might be the ideal location for the limited amount of heating you will need to do. I have little experience with pool heat pumps but the principle is the same on all of them. Any extra promises from one brand to another I would chalk up to marketing.

 

[ric]

Heat siphon Heat Pump

Hi stan
I have a Heat Siphon heat pump I just installed and it works great it was a easy install buy myself. the hard part was the wiring because it was 65 feet from the main box. It ran from 5:00 pm and was off by 5:00 am(thats whin I get up) It was worm for central Ohio that night about 63. water temp 72 to 85. then we got a cold snap and it has run a lot. In the north the cold temps are usually in the very early hours of the morning. I have a small one i think it was 3.75 cant remember right now. My pump is about ten feet from the pool and the heat pump is next to it. It is a little lowder then my pool pump but its not so loud that it is bothersome. I cant tell you how much it cost me to run it yet but I will say you have perfect whether for the heat pump. I purchased mine from Markus Miller
and I cant say enough about his way of doing busines. He and his staff no what there doing. If you check this forum I think you can get a discount from Marcus. As we all have questions about a purchase Marcus always got back to my e-mail questions very quickly with excellent ansers.
Stan the choice is yours I do recommend the heat siphon heat pump but whatever you pick take a look at miller's sight he probably has it.

Have a great swim

 

[kirbinster]

Heatpumps are great if your goal is to save money. BUT they are designed for slow steady heating. A typical heatpump might be rated at 100K BTU/Hr while a gas heater might be 400K BTU/Hr - thus the gas will heat four times faster - but cost you a fortune to operate.

As for running the heatpump at night I would suggest not doing it in the colder weather. Sure it physically can do it, but the efficiencies drop. I did that for years as I have cheaper power at night, but switched to daytime operation this year. My net electrical usage (in dollars) is much lower now. The reason is in the fringe months the temperature might be 70-80 degrees in the day and 35-45 degrees at night.

Whatever you do be sure to use a solar cover at night otherwise you are just spending money to add to global warming.

 

[ric]

Thanks Kirbinster
I have seen the heat pump running more at night and have decided to do the same. not only is it running a lot at night but the other one for the house is running also and the pool pump running 24/7 I will be doing a lot of notes as I watch my elec.. It will take a while but I will get it figured out. you should see the elec. meter whin all is running.
Do you have a timer or do you just turn off the breaker? or maybe you just shut down the pool pump and let the flow switch take care of it.[Would like to know?
Stan I didnt mean to steal your thread but this is a good topic and lots of people have the same questions about heat pumps. Also your pool size is the same as mine I have a three year old and she can stand in the shallow end of the pool with her head above water. She is a sight to see with her water wings and she has a great time. I could sell tickets to her show.
Kirbinster please let me know your choice to turn your heat pump off I would like to know what is working for you.size=12] [/size]

 

[kirbinster]

The heat pump is set on a thermostat, while the circulating pump is on a timer. When the pump is running the heatpump will come on when needed to maintain temp. When the pump is off it prevents the heatpump from running based on the flo switch in the heatpump. So, to answer your question, I have the heatpump always on put it is controlled by flow - or lack of it more accurately.

 

[Poolsean]

To throw in some more information to consider:

Hat Pumps are rated in C.O.P.S, Coefficiency of Performance, which is similar to an Air Conditioning unit's SEER. It's a matter of efficiency. If you see a 5.0 COP, it's fairly good. The higher the better. If you see one advertized at over 7.0...be VERY LEERY of it's claims!
Unfortunately, this is not currently regulated so anyone's marketing claim of COP is up for scrutiny.

Another thing to consider is warranty and heat exchanger material. Most are offering Titanium heat exchangers, which are pretty impervious to chemical attack and damage. Old school heat exchangers are made of copper - nickle blends, and can be damaged by poor water quality, or chemistry imbalance. Guess what the most often "warranty rejected" reasons were.

There are many good heat pumps out there, do your research. Just to throw in one more name:
www.aquacal.com
We are the oldest and largest heat pump manufacturer in the world. We only focus on manufacturing two products. Heat Pumps and AutoPilot Salt Chlorine Generators.

Hope this helps,

 

[Guest]

I have an AquaCal heatpump on my pool/spa and am more than happy with it!

 

[ewsb]

Anyone used a heat pump and gas heater on a single pool

I have an Aquacomfort heat pump with the Intellitouch Control systems which works extremely well even when the ambient temperature get around 40. I am in DC and want to extend the season even longer (post November)and am looking to install a gas heater to use during the colder months (then the heat pump in warmer months for a consistent 84degrees) Has anyone done this before?

Sean

 

[MarkC]

I have the Heat Siphon 3.25SX and have been using it for 5 years. Never had one problem with the thing and my heating bills are less than $100 a month for 80-85 degree water from June to September early Oct. I don't use a solar cover anymore as I got tired of the hassle and was afraid the dogs would fall under or onto it.