Heater

[dubele]

Hi,

I am wondering if I should get a heater. I live in southeast Pennsylvania. Pools typically open in May here and close by September at the latest. Really, "good" swimming is only from mid-june through August on average.

I just asked my pool salesman on the cost of a heater. He says a gas heater will go for about $2,600, but are not as efficient as a heat pump which are double the price but that a gas heater will heat quicker. I don't see myself heating the pool all during the season....probably just in May and September to extend my season. I'm leaning towards gas.

Any advise??

Doug

 

[pwrstrk]

Hi Doug ! From SE PA also.

I've been looking into them also. Maybe for next season. Look on CL. There were a lot of them on there. Search pool heaters.

 

[257WbyMag]

Based upon your location, you would likely benefit from having a heater. I'm not sure about the comparisons between gas heaters and heat pumps. Others can chime in on the pros and cons of each.

 

[raidencmc]

How about solar.

diy-solar-heater-critiques-t69195.html
That was my post. I am in souteast PA too. I am going to revisit my original plan over winter and open early. gas-heater-vs-heat-pump-t26527.html seems like a good comparison. I think the biggest issue might be can your current house electrical configuration sacrifice whats needed for a heat pump. I would imagine that propane would give you more heat faster.

 

[Jeffwantstoswim]

We installed a gas fired heater when the pool was built 3 years ago. We use it mostly in the spring to get the pool to the mid 80's and late Aug early Sept. although, we did use it quite a bit this summer.
The heater will extend you pool season approx 1 month with reasonable expense.
The heat pump will give you the most efficient btu, but the gas fired heater will give you many more btu's.
Our heater is good for 250k btu; when our heater goes out, I'll replace it with a 350k - maybe get a couple more weeks out the season.

 

[Safetybob]

Doug, get you pencil and paper out......your going to need a couple of columns, one for gas and one for heat pump. If you have a gas line close and very close, you might luck out and get lucky with gas, otherwise unless you can do alot of stuff yourself, it will be very pricey to get gas, inspection, blah, blah, blah for that gas heater.

If you electrical is closer, then that heat pump may be the better option because you can easily blow a couple of thousand on getting gas located/relocated. Again, depending on what you can do, running electrical maybe much, much easier and cheaper.

Craigslist is always a great place to start looking. You may also consider asking what the replacement heater manafold will cost to replace if you get an older heater......so be picky. New may be a better option. Don't forget a nice blanket for the pool once you get the heater installed.

Good luck!!

Bob E.

 

[ajfjcklc]

I'm in Binghamton NY (just above NE PA) and elected to go with a natural gas Hayward 250K BTU heater for my 24000 gallon IG. Now, my pool construction isn't done yet so I can't tell you how I like it - the heater/pump and concrete should be done tomorrow. But I knew that with the investment in a new IG pool I wanted to be able to swim in May and September. My pool heater/pump is located very close to where the natural gas line enters my house so it was inexpensive to run the gas line to the heater. In the pic I included the gas line and meter going into the house is just to the left of where the pic cuts off.

There is no right or wrong answer on getting a heater. One of my neighbors says anyone who wants a heater on their pool should just go take a bath - he's had an IG pool without a heater for 12 years and is perfectly happy.

 

[diyindux]

I just built a 26,000 gallon inground pool an installed a 400k btu Sta-Rite gas heater. That thing rocks! I had to get a bigger gas meter to hook it up as I have a 133k furnace, 18k gas dryer and a 46k range as well but man does that thing heat some water. It raises the pool temp a degree in 45 minutes. Choice of heater size is largely affected by pool surface area, but I picked one bigger than was recommended by the manufacturers in order to get the pool warm in less time. The larger heaters aren't that much more money and you will need to use the same amount of gas to heat the pool regardless of the heater size so don't buy too small. Actually, the larger heaters are probably more efficient as the pool pump will not have to run as long.

The way I look at it, with the cost of building, maintaining and insuring a pool being as much as it is, I want to be able to swim in it as many times in a year as possible. In the northeast, that requires heater.

Oh, and if you didn't see my recent thread make sure you use a new breaker to feed the heater circuit.