any other A/C condenser to pool products? hotspot energy?

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socal1

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Dec 13, 2011
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So, we are about to install a new HVAC setup in the house and I wondered if anyone made a setup to dump the heat from the A/C condenser into the pool, I found one product - http://www.hotspotenergy.com/pool-heater/ it looks interesting, but no clue on prices.

Any one know of other products like this? it sounds like a very nice idea with a ton of heat potential with zero extra cost.

Anyone try this brand / setup?

Thanks for tips.
 
Re: any other A/C condenser to pool products? hotspot energy

No experience with that brand, but the concept in general is not nearly as attractive as you would at first assume. It is mostly only useful in northern areas where you can benefit from heating the pool in the middle of the summer, and even then the heat load is not well balanced with the amount of heat available.

Pools need really massive amounts of heat in the spring and fall, when you are probably not cooling the house, and hardly any heat in the middle summer when you are running the home AC all the time. That means that the opportunity for running such a device are limited. Combine that with the fact that pools need two to four times as much heat, when they do need heat, than a house could produce, and it really isn't usually a good fit.
 
Re: any other A/C condenser to pool products? hotspot energy

In Southern California we still have cold nights until into summer. For example we have needed the A/C for the past few days, but the nights have kept the pool in the low 70's. During the peak of summer I can imagine this wouldn't be needed (it looks like this one has a bypass to go back to the old condenser when no pool heat is needed)
 
Re: any other A/C condenser to pool products? hotspot energy

woodyp said:
Why not just grill and heat the pool at the same time?
Click to expand...

Ha, creative I guess. I already have a 400k gas unit installed and use it from time to time, but not the cheapest thing to use.
 
Re: any other A/C condenser to pool products? hotspot energy

Solar is probably going to be the most cost effective solution for heating a pool.
 
Re: any other A/C condenser to pool products? hotspot energy

Socl1, I'm in Michigan and because my pool is shaded, have a healthy heat det. I am about to install an hvac system for a home studio addition and I've sent th link over to my buddy and hvan eng whose doing the specs. I'll let you know his opinion of it wen I get one...may be a little while, he's slammed.
 
Re: any other A/C condenser to pool products? hotspot energy

I looked into this, and I came out with the same answer as described above: When you really need to heat the pool, you aren't in need of AC in the house, and vice-versa. The system is actually pretty complex to make the switch-over when pool heating is not needed, and it may (when I asked it definately did) void the warranty of your AC manufacturer. All this considered, and the cost, I am looking at a dedicated heat pump. Bummer, because it is a great idea on the surface.

I did see this, but it will not work well in my application : http://www.solarattic.com/ It grabs the sweltering heat of your attic to heat the pool. Again, the hot attic is going to happen when your pool doesnt need to be heated.
 
Re: any other A/C condenser to pool products? hotspot energy

I understand that people want to save money but why would you not want to buy a product that is made specific for the application? Buy a heat pump, solar or a gas heater. These are designed for the specific purpose of heating your pool. If you can't afford any of them then maybe you don't really need to heat your pool.

Lots of things look great on paper and save you tons of money. However, I doubt you would pick a skateboard over a car to get you around town. Pick the right product for the application.
 

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Re: any other A/C condenser to pool products? hotspot energy

Not necessarily about "saving money" per se to explore such ideas. I don't know...if for someone like me who uses the heater 4 days out of 7 in the summer can reduce the use of non-renewable energy resources (my natural gas) consumption while improving the performance of a compressor it may make sense if it works.
I spend about $300 a month. If I could recover that or reduce that substantially over a few seasons, it might make sense. Of course, I don't KNOW yet, but I wouldn't outright dismiss an idea just because someone is already manufacturing pool heaters that use natural gas ;) That would kind of be like suppressing research into hydrogen slush vehicles because hey, gas powered vehicles already exist :)

-- Oh wait, they DID that!
 
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