iPhone said:
And I can tell you its easy to keep a pool at 80 with a heat pump in the dead of winter if you have a Dome and it gets above 45 degrees during the day (low humidity helps).
Key word is DOME. But, in the dead of winter, 80 degree water is really cold.
iPhone said:
And it really depends on where one lives. People in south Florida can get way with roof solar heating and a solar pool blanket which is all my Uncle is using. Most people in Southern California should be able to get away with a solar blanket and heat pump. The high of 63 today would put as much heat as they would want in the pool today.
Define as much heat as you would want. A high temp of 63 will put minimal heat in a pool. Again, it depends on the size. If it is 63 and raining, no way.
iPhone said:
Yes a gas heater is the quickest way to raise a pools temperature and is a must for those living up north.
It's the fastest way to put heat in a pool anywhere.
iPhone said:
Our Heat Pump works down to 40 degrees
How many BTU's does it put out at 40 degrees?
iPhone said:
I think you are confusing taking a large pool in the middle of winter that is 40 degrees and trying to bring it up to 80 degrees with a heat pump, can't be done.
I am not talking about doing that.
I'm not talking abou that either. I know exactly what your saying.
With highs in the mid 60's, and trying to raise the pool temp 5 degrees, a 20,000 gallon pool would take ~10 hours if you figure 80,000 BTU output from a heat pump. Thats about all you can get out of one at an ambient temp of 63-65 degrees with short winter days, I dont care what the company says. And at $.040 a kwh, thats ~$25.
So lets take the OP's situation. He has a 4400 gallon pool. Thats 36,520 pounds of water. So for a 10 degree rise at 80,000 BTU, it will take ~ 4.5-5 hours of run time to get that pool up 10 degrees, and thats to get it there, not hold it. At California rates of $0.40 per kwh, that almost $11.00 to get that 10 degrees. Using NG, a 400,000 BTU heater can do that 10 degrees in about 1 hr. At $1.50 a therm, it would cost around $5 to get that same 10 degrees. If you use propane, it would heat the pool in the same amount of time as the NG, and cost about $10-$11, about the same as the Heat pump, but do it in 20% of the time.
I have heat pump, I know what they can do. They are very good when the air temps are above 65 degrees for 10 hours a day and the nights are above 50-55 AND you use a solar cover. Below that, most of what they do is make the electric meter spin. I still maintain that if you live in california, or any other state with high electric rates, a NG heater is more economical and user friendly than a heat pump. If you only have propane, then its probably close to a wash in price, but much faster. And, that $3600 for a dome will buy a lot of gas!
I'm all for heat pumps. I just dont think, (i know actually) they wont do everything you say they will.