Heating the pool with my home's basement boiler

[loucommando]

Has anyone setup their pool with a heat exchanger working off of a domestic boiler?

I've got an amazing Viessman boiler heating my home, and am thinking about pulling a loop from the sand filter and running it into the basement through a Bowman pool heat exchanger.

My biggest concern is whether or not the Intex 1600 sand filter's pump is up to the task of pushing the water an additional 75 feet through 1-1/2" pvc pipe. The pool and the boiler are at roughly the same elevation.

Any advice or thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

 

[bandersesk]

Man, I wish I had one of those boilers! If you're worried about pressure drop, it should only give you a lower flow rate, which will reduce your filtering and circulation. If your pump is over sized and you don't have to run continuously for filtering, you should be OK?

 

[duraleigh]

Not enough information to make a decent response.

Where do you live? Miami? Anchorage? Have you considered the cost of heating a pool? How big is your pool? What is your fuel source?

Regardless of your type of heat, it will take probably FAR more btu's than you suspect to heat your pool.

 

[loucommando]

It's a 14' diameter Intex pool holding around 4,000 gallons. My natural gas fired modulating condensing boiler is 160,000 btu's and only heats domestic hot water in the summer. More than enough btu's for the pool size, I figure, and way more efficient than any pool heater. My stack temperature is a cool 92 degrees.

We live in Minnesota and are planning on using the heat to simply extend the season into the fall. Everything gets drained and packed away long before the first frost.

Thanks for the confidence boost, Ted. I usually run the pump on a 6 hour cycle, but for heating, I'll have to figure out the logistics of the zone control. Probably drop a Honeywell cap-tube thermostat into a line near the pool and a relay to communicate when the pump is running.

Doing some more research, I think I'll use a stainless steel plate exchanger instead of the Bowman which costs around $750.

Funny how a cheap $300 pool has become so complex.

 

[duraleigh]

I agree with you. A 4000 Pool and your size boiler will work just fine.

So many folks log on and anticipate heating their 20k pool with their house hot water heater. I made an attempt several years ago to heat my 42k pool with a 250k wood heater and a HUGE exchanger......I almost put the fire out in my wood stove because that exchanger transferred so much heat and it was never even close to enough btu's to make much difference.

 

[loucommando]

That's awesome. I thought about wood too.

I love the hacker spirit that you and many on this website have. It's a great resource, and I'm thrilled to have found it.

Do you think I'll overburden my little Intex 1600 filter with this added piping?

Thanks for your responses.

I'll post back my findings with photos once I completely mess it up!

 

[JasonLion]

That distance is too much for the Intex 1600. That pump is designed for short runs with low flow resistance. 75' each way is going to require a pump designed for an in-ground pool, which will be able to handle longer plumbing runs. Also, if at all possible use 2" pipe instead of 1.5". The cost increase is minimal and it will make the system noticeably more efficient.

 

[loucommando]

Jason,

I ran 1 1/2" today through the foundation and into the basement, and the length of the loop turned out to be only 20' each side, for a total of 40'. (Guess I'm a lousy estimator)

Do you think that 40' is too much length also?

If so, would the bigger Intex pump work?

Thanks for your response!

 

[loucommando]

!!! UPDATE !!!

Apologies for disappearing from the forum. I owe it to everyone here to report back ... especially since you've all been such a great resource as I hack my pool.

I am happy to report that my system is up and running well. Last October I ran the heater overnight and got he pool up to spa temps. It seems pretty efficient without adding too much cost to our utility bills. (I'll have to make a more accurate report on that later)

Here is a link to a small album of photo's of the setup. I haven't finished installing the skirting around the pool and deck ... but it will give you an idea.

The mechanical setup features the following:

14' Intex Ultra Pool (Cheap!!but great value)
Intex Krystal Clear Sand Filter Pump Model sf15110 - 1600 Gal/hr (Cheap!! but great value)
Intex Krystal Clear Saltwater System C8110 (Seems to do the job ... but watch your alkalinity or it gums-up easy)
Veissman Vitodens 210 Boiler (Expensive!! but great value)
Purity Titanium Heat Echanger SP-155Kti (International Order from Alibaba)- (About $700 less than most other options of the same quality)
Honeywell Aquastat (gonna get replaced by a micro-controlled system)


Right now, I'm working on building a controller/monitor for the pool systems. Here's what I've got for that so far:

1 - Raspberry Pi
2 - Sainsmart 2 Relay Board
2 - DS18B20 Temp Sensors (Ambient and PoolWater)
1 - Water Flow Hall Sensor Switch Gauges Flowmeter Counter 1-120L/min
2 - Split Core Current Transformer ECS1030-L72
1 - Tycon Power System ENC-DC-10x8x3 Die Cast Aluminum Outdoor Enclosure

I hope to eventually build a web front end to be able to check and track pool status ... and manually control equipment and adjust automated schedules. I will report back on my progress on this too.

Thanks again to everyone who contributes to these forums for all the information and assistance ... especially the moderators.