New heaters needed....whats your gut reaction???

[galleymore]

Hi All

I look after a 90,000gal pool (residential, not commercial) and need to look at heaters...

Currently I have three jandy electric heaters (120k-btu each) which struggle on cool days to get the temp up (they are quite old now!)

So.....being a rental property, the pool is only heated a few times a year, for maybe a week or so at most. Thats good, but I have to start heating from scratch every time.

I do not have natural gas and I'm restricted to the size of LP container I can have (local code).

Should I just replace the 3 heaters I have with new (whats the largest btu I can buy?) OR, look at mix-and-match electric and LP??

Is there a commercial heater available (electric)?

any suggestions most welcome!

Thanks

 

[bk406]

Are they really electric heaters or are they heat pumps?

What size propane tank are you restricted too?

 

[galleymore]

Sorry, they are heat pumps, my mistake!

I could probably get away with a few 200lb tanks, but was concerned about the consumption of the LP heaters and running out of gas!!
Do you know the consumption rate og LP gas heaters? what sort of capaicty would I need for a weeks worth of heating??

thanks again

 

[PoolGuyNJ]

Most propane fired heaters burn about a gallon per 100K per hour. A 200 lb tank won't cut it. A 250 Gallon or a pair of 125 gallon tanks, which is what I have, in tandem would. Why would there be an ordinance on the size of the tank(s)?

I heard Aquacal is coming out with a 500K heat pump but I have no other info.

Scott

 

[bk406]

A 250 pound tank is about 50 gallons. You would need at least 200 gallons for one 400k BTU heater. A small tank will not have enough surface area to convert enough liquid to gas to run the heater. In any tank, there is only ~60-70% available so that the reason you need bigger or more tanks.

Some jurisdictions limit the size of tanks near a house or other structure. My town wont allow a 200 gallon tank by the house, but will allow two, 100 gallon tanks.

 

[guamguy]

I've seen some underground propane tanks before. Maybe you could get away with that.

 

[JoshU]

Multiple AquaCal heat pumps can be linked together to work in conjunction with each other. AquaCal offers a unit that will allow the units to work with each other very easily.

(Disclaimer: I'm an AquaCal dealer.)