Hey guys, I'm new here so here's a little background info...
Existing equipment:
AGP 15x30 oval (~9500 gal) metal walls
3/4hp Hayward Turbo-Flo II pump (discontinued)
?? sand filter
Jacuzzi gas Heater (?btu)
located way up in northern Ontario Canada
All of this was existing when I bought my house 4 years ago, most of it I would say is original & over 20 years old...
Last year I had to change the original liner, that went well...I also added a cheap Intex SWG, I was really impressed with that little unit, works very well & the price is right...
I fired up the existing heater only once a couple years ago, it's so old & deteriorated that water was spewing everywhere. We just went without it since then. Being up north we don't get much of a summer, and even then you can't even call it summer sometimes, but usually the water temp is acceptable enough during peak times...Now this year we had our first child & we're going to have to heat the pool to make it worthwhile, so I'm looking at replacing that heater...
I'm definitely going to have to replace the pump as well, my old one died on me a few days before closing last fall...
Quick note: Again I'm located in the boonies, we do have a pool shop in town, but only one & their prices are usually pretty crazy. Also I don't have the luxury of finding all these great deals online...There are virtually no online Canadian stores, & ordering from the states would negate any savings due to shipping & customs fees...
I did manage to find one Canadian online wholesale distributor... So here's my options...
Heaters...
My local pool shop offered me a Raypak 266btu digital model...
The online place sells a Hayward 250btu digital model, this one end up being $200 cheaper than the Raypak
I would like some opinions as to which purchase would be the better choice...
Pros for Hayward: smaller footprint, cupro-nickel standard (Raypak=$300upgrade), $200 cheaper
Pros for Raypak: there are no restrictions regarding placement of heater within X ft. of pool, Hayward specifies 5 feet away from pool wall, which is not possible for me. Also just by looking at both the Raypak seems built better, but I don't really know anything about pool heaters so that's not saying much.
My solution for the distance thing would be maybe a cement board barrier between the pool & the heater if heat is the concern...Not sure what the problem is though, heat or water or other...Waiting for a reply from Hayward on this...
Pumps...
My local pool shop offered me 1hp Waterway pimp in both single speed 2-speed
The online place sells a Hayward 1.5hp Matrix 2-speed w/timer pump for the same price as the local's single speed & $100 less than the 2-speed ( I think the Matrix is Hayward's top of the line AG pump?)
Neither place sells a 3/4hp, the online place offers a 1hp but it's only single speed for lke $20 less than the 1.5hp. I would think the 1.5hp Matrix would be the way to go, 1.5hp is probably overkill but I would think I could just leave it on low most of the time? I contacted Hayward to see what the loads are at both speeds, waiting on that as well...
So what do you guys think? Are my options obvious?...
Existing equipment:
AGP 15x30 oval (~9500 gal) metal walls
3/4hp Hayward Turbo-Flo II pump (discontinued)
?? sand filter
Jacuzzi gas Heater (?btu)
located way up in northern Ontario Canada
All of this was existing when I bought my house 4 years ago, most of it I would say is original & over 20 years old...
Last year I had to change the original liner, that went well...I also added a cheap Intex SWG, I was really impressed with that little unit, works very well & the price is right...
I fired up the existing heater only once a couple years ago, it's so old & deteriorated that water was spewing everywhere. We just went without it since then. Being up north we don't get much of a summer, and even then you can't even call it summer sometimes, but usually the water temp is acceptable enough during peak times...Now this year we had our first child & we're going to have to heat the pool to make it worthwhile, so I'm looking at replacing that heater...
I'm definitely going to have to replace the pump as well, my old one died on me a few days before closing last fall...
Quick note: Again I'm located in the boonies, we do have a pool shop in town, but only one & their prices are usually pretty crazy. Also I don't have the luxury of finding all these great deals online...There are virtually no online Canadian stores, & ordering from the states would negate any savings due to shipping & customs fees...
I did manage to find one Canadian online wholesale distributor... So here's my options...
Heaters...
My local pool shop offered me a Raypak 266btu digital model...
The online place sells a Hayward 250btu digital model, this one end up being $200 cheaper than the Raypak
I would like some opinions as to which purchase would be the better choice...
Pros for Hayward: smaller footprint, cupro-nickel standard (Raypak=$300upgrade), $200 cheaper
Pros for Raypak: there are no restrictions regarding placement of heater within X ft. of pool, Hayward specifies 5 feet away from pool wall, which is not possible for me. Also just by looking at both the Raypak seems built better, but I don't really know anything about pool heaters so that's not saying much.
My solution for the distance thing would be maybe a cement board barrier between the pool & the heater if heat is the concern...Not sure what the problem is though, heat or water or other...Waiting for a reply from Hayward on this...
Pumps...
My local pool shop offered me 1hp Waterway pimp in both single speed 2-speed
The online place sells a Hayward 1.5hp Matrix 2-speed w/timer pump for the same price as the local's single speed & $100 less than the 2-speed ( I think the Matrix is Hayward's top of the line AG pump?)
Neither place sells a 3/4hp, the online place offers a 1hp but it's only single speed for lke $20 less than the 1.5hp. I would think the 1.5hp Matrix would be the way to go, 1.5hp is probably overkill but I would think I could just leave it on low most of the time? I contacted Hayward to see what the loads are at both speeds, waiting on that as well...
So what do you guys think? Are my options obvious?...
