How to Heat an Intex (Anyone Doing It?)

[crek31]

I have almost pulled the trigger and bought a heater for my Intex pool about twenty times in the last four months. I always chicken out because I am not very mechanically-inclined and have worried about fittings to get it onto the Intex. Well, I finally decided to shop around and found a Pool Store guy willing, it seemed, to think a bit outside the box. I showed him some of the threads on TFP about people adding skimmers, and hard-plumbing an Intex, etc.

Ultimately he told me the following, making me again chicken out and not buy my much wanted heater:

1. Says I would NEED a thru-wall skimmer to use a heater. Says just using the hose won't work. I guess I could toughen up and force myself to cut the liner and add a skimmer the way many of you have, so maybe that is not the end of the discussion. But . . . does anyone believe I could run the heater through the hose without having a skimmer?

2. He then said even if I put in the thru-wall skimmer, it would not work because the heater I said I want to buy is 400,000 btu and he says that is only for in-ground pools. Something about below or above the water line and that it would be extremely dangerous to put an "in-ground pool heater" on an above-ground pool. So then I asked if he sold "above ground pool heaters" and he said there is only one he knows of that is approved for above ground pool use and that it is a RayPak and is 100,000 btu. Does anyone agree or disagree with his assertion that it would be dangerous to use a 400,000 btu heater on an above ground pool (Intex or otherwise)? I thought many of you on this forum had above ground pools and larger than 100,000 btu, special "above-ground pool heaters" but maybe I have glanced over that detail for two years.

3. He says that even if I put in a thru-wall skimmer and buy a special "above-ground pool heater" that I am ill-advised to try it on an Intex. I showed him how you guys put in the skimmers and that they work, etc. He said his guess is that none of you take your Intex down seasonally and that is why they are working and the skimmer is not ruining the liner. So . . . Do any of you with a thru-wall skimmer on your Intex take your Intex down seasonally? Do you store it with the skimmer on, or do you unscrew it and then re-install it the following year?

4. I really just want a heated pool that I can use for four months and re-claim my yard the other eight months of the year. Hoping it is still do-able and that this guy is wrong. But, I have several thousand into the site prep, etc (gas; electric; moving sprinklers, etc) and I don't want to throw another $3000 for heater, filter, pump down the drain if it is not feasible to "pimp my Intex" the point of having a heater.

Thanks for reading a long post and for any insight offered.

 

[Bama Rambler]

Find another guy. The only thing restricting the use of the 400k btu heater is the flow through it. Whether it's a inground or above ground has nothing to do with it.

Getting enough flow through the intex fittings might be your only problem. If you have the equipment listed in your sig I don't think that will be a problem. You don't need a skimmer to use a heater. All it cares about is enough flow it doesn't care how it gets it.

 

[Jamison04]

I don't know much about the heaters and im sure someone will chime in but the skimmers shouldn't be an issue. The summer escapes pool which are the same as intex pools come with a thru wall skimmer and opening already cut out and they are classified as temp pools ment to be taken down each year. The skimmer should be removed if storing the pool so why can't you do the same on an intex that you modified? Just take care not to pull or stretch the opening upon storing and re-assembling.

 

[ariel68]

Sounds like we both have a similar dilemma, except I am looking for electric options to do the job. One local company has made a recommendation, but I have serious reservations about whether the advice he has offered is truly a viable option for us.

http://www.troublefreepool.com/thre...d-a-KStar-10-heater-to-heat-a-soft-sided-pool

 

[danpik]

Sounds like we both have a similar dilemma, except I am looking for electric options to do the job. One local company has made a recommendation, but I have serious reservations about whether the advice he has offered is truly a viable option for us.

http://www.troublefreepool.com/thre...d-a-KStar-10-heater-to-heat-a-soft-sided-pool

Just a WAG here, but I think since this thread is three years old and his pool profile shows he has a thru wall skimmer and a 400,000 BTU heater in it, I would think he has his problem solved.

But, since this was dredged up, it is interesting to see that someone put a 400,000 btu heater on a 20' pool. A bit of over kill as a 100,000-150,000 would more than do the job (~2*/hr). Recovery time must be great though (6*-7*/hr)

 

[crek31]

Haven't been on TFP for a bit, but noticed some postings here so thought I'd update: I did indeed put a 400,000 btu heater on my 20' pool and I am glad for the advice of someone on here to do so. It heated up very nicely when we had that pool, and continues to do an excellent job on our now 16 x 32 foot intex. Our Nebraska weather is so all-over-the-board that a fast heat-up is "needed" a lot of days. We put the pool up Sunday, filled it Monday and Tuesday, and lucked out that we got it in position so all the hoses still reach the equipment. Fingers crossed that all the equipment works tomorrow when the pool guy comes and hooks it all up (supposedly - he was also going to come Tuesday and today). So far no major problems with the heater -- a bit finicky figuring out what is needed flow-wise each season but that is likely operator-error. This is the last year on my Pentair warranty, so hoping it continues to be trouble-free.

 

[davidpoll]

Hi crek31, hope your pool and heater are working great. I know this thread is old, but can you advise me about locating the heater? I bought a 300K hayward gas heater and want to install it next to the pool where the clearance between a concrete wall and the pool is 72". The heater itself is 32" and Hayward instructions say to locate it 5' from an above ground pool. Do you think there is enough room or should I put some kind of barrier? Thanks

 

[mrdorkdar]

I've got this in the mail, should get it tomorrow. Activates automatically when the pump turns on. For my 2800gallon 8'x16' pool, this should be plenty to warm up the water to 82 deg or so.

EcoSmart 11 kW 1.89 GPM Smart Spa Electric Spa Tankless Water Heater-Smart SPA 11 - The Home Depot

 

[domct203]

I've got this in the mail, should get it tomorrow. Activates automatically when the pump turns on. For my 2800gallon 8'x16' pool, this should be plenty to warm up the water to 82 deg or so.

EcoSmart 11 kW 1.89 GPM Smart Spa Electric Spa Tankless Water Heater-Smart SPA 11 - The Home Depot

That 240V 50A spa heater is not rated for outdoor use. It will need to be indoors, or in a ventilated weather proof enclosure. It is also listed as 1000 gallons max. pool size, your pool is almost 3X that size. I think it will be very expensive to run.

 

[mrdorkdar]

That 240V 50A spa heater is not rated for outdoor use. It will need to be indoors, or in a ventilated weather proof enclosure. It is also listed as 1000 gallons max. pool size, your pool is almost 3X that size. I think it will be very expensive to run.

Ya I just realized that it was rated for indoors. I understand it is only rated for 1000 gallons, but I would think since that is for heating a spa to 104, it should be ok to heat my pool to 84 deg max no?

 

[domct203]

The specs say it is “37.5K BTU equivalent”, your 2800 gal pool needs about 25K BTU to raise the temp 1 degree in one hour so if the unit is truly 37.5K BTU, it should take about 40-45 min to raise temp by 1 degree at 100% efficiency.

I would suspect that due to its small size (& small heat exchanger) it will be inefficient (slow) to heat 2800 gallons, and very expensive to run.

With that said, at less than $500 it’s worth a shot, especially if you already have the 50A/240V at the equipment pad.

Keep track of your electric bill, and let us know how it works out for you.

The most important thing here is safety. Make sure the unit is protected from the weather in a well ventilated enclosure, and that it is properly bonded.

 

[mrdorkdar]

Here she is! Haven’t turned it on yet, still waiting for the pipe glue to dry...

 

[domct203]

Awesome. Let us know how this works out.

 

[PoolGate]

It doesn't look like that heater is physically large enough to heat a pool but following to see how it works out!

 

[domct203]

It doesn't look like that heater is physically large enough to heat a pool but following to see how it works out!

Yeah, it’s listed as 1000 gallons max, and it’s on a pool almost 3X that. It is also not rated for outdoor use.

I hope the OP has a plan to shield the unit from the weather.

 

[mrdorkdar]

Yeah, it’s listed as 1000 gallons max, and it’s on a pool almost 3X that. It is also not rated for outdoor use.

I hope the OP has a plan to shield the unit from the weather.

Haven’t turned it on yet to heat the pool cause I’m waiting till I know I’m actually going to use the pool, but I noticed in the manual it does actually say it can be used for outdoor use. Not sure why it says that, I know it probably isn’t, but I wonder why it says so. It is under my roof eve so it should be ok. I’ll prob cover it with a trash bag or something if the weather gets nasty but I’m in so-cal, and the weather is usually perfect anyways. Anyways, I’m going to turn it on in a couple days and see how she does. All the numbers make sense so I don’t see why it won’t be able to work. I sunk a 8’ Uber rod into the ground to bond it as well.

 

[mknauss]

Your rod in the ground is NOT bonding. That is grounding.

You need to have an electrician properly bond this equipment with your other pool equipment and the pool itself.

 

[domct203]

Your rod in the ground is NOT bonding. That is grounding.

You need to have an electrician properly bond this equipment with your other pool equipment and the pool itself.

+100

I just wanted to repeat Marty's post above. Grounding & bonding are not the same. The heater needs to be connected into the bonding system of the pool & equipment. This is for your safety.

It's good to hear that the unit is rated for outdoor use.

 

[domct203]

Just dropping in to see if you’ve run that heater yet? I’m extremely curious in it’s performance.

 

[mrdorkdar]

Just dropping in to see if you’ve run that heater yet? I’m extremely curious in it’s performance.

Yep! And it’s amazing! I did the calculations and it should only be a couple hundred per month to keep it at 82 or so. I also bought a inkbird smart outlet that is on a timer in the middle of the night. Between 2am - 8am, it turns on, measures the water temperature. If the temp is below a set number, it turns the pump on which automatically turns the heater on based on water flow. I have the pump set on pump only and no chlorine so it will run as long as it needs to. When the desired temp is reached, it shuts the outlet off and the heater turns itself off. I even got the led intex lights hooked up to a wireless wall switch so I really feel like this pool is pretty legit. Totally happy! Oh and I also made a bypass so that when I need to run the chlorinator, it doesn’t go through the heater as the heater company says high chlorine is bad for it.