I need a new heater for my pool for next season. I'm starting to see some discount coupons for heaters and wonder if I should buy one now to save some $ and stick it in the garage until April 2014. My pool is a 27,000gal inground gunite 3M quartz plaster. I have natural gas. The heater I just took out was a Laars/jandy 400,000BTU which seemed to raise the temp in the pool roughly 10 degrees in very little time. Maybe 6-8 hours. Do I need another 400,000BTU heater? Or does it seem reasonable to go with the smaller unit to save even more $? What brands does anyone recommend? The JandyLaars only lasted 8 years before it started giving me a lot of trouble. I think the heat exchanger started leaking within 8 years.
What HEATER should I buy??
- Thread starter petes914
- Start date
With the size of the pool you have, I'd stay with the larger 400K (or+) heater, but that assumes you don't intend to warm the pool all the time. If you just intend to warm the pool on ... say weekends, definitely stay with the larger heater to get the temp up quicker.
If the pool is to be heated continuously, a smaller heater could do, assuming you have it covered. Once the smaller heater is off and the water cools down, trying to get it back up in a reasonable time might be longer than you want.
If the pool is to be heated continuously, a smaller heater could do, assuming you have it covered. Once the smaller heater is off and the water cools down, trying to get it back up in a reasonable time might be longer than you want.
I'll provide you with this info on gas pool heaters. The least amount of parts inside will cost you less down the road. In other words , things like blower motors, when they break, aren't cheap. If you would like to get another unit similar to your Laars, I would point you in the direction of Raypak. As for size, if you liked the 400K you had then go for another one. Raypak sells a 266K unit which would take roughly a third more time to heat the pool. So if you want fast heat ups, go for the larger one. If you can wait a little longer to get it to temp, then go for the next size down. And as always, keep your water chemistry in check to prolong the life of the unit.
Even if you don't buy now, in the spring there will be sales on these units as well. In fact you would probably end up with a newer 2014 model instead of a 2013 unit. Food for thought.
Even if you don't buy now, in the spring there will be sales on these units as well. In fact you would probably end up with a newer 2014 model instead of a 2013 unit. Food for thought.
Pool Clown
In The Industry
Stay with the larger heater. A smaller heater will cost you more in gas to do the same job.
petes914 said:
Where are you seeing coupons?
I need a new heater ASAP.
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I was thinking going with a Hayward only because it seems every pool dealer in my area carries the basic parts for them. I've always had to order online for the Jandy. I like the idea of less parts the better off I'll be. My 9yo Jandy/Laars even had a safety for everything. If one part wasn't working perfectly the whole unit shut down and was difficult to diagnose the problem. Like the last thing to go wrong, the "fuseable link". I didn't even need it.
Raypak is popular here too unless the dealer carries the Hayward line. My PB prefers it over all the others and he sells Pentair and Jandy.
Is Raypak a solid company? Come to think of it, my pool cleaner, Ray-Vac, which took a little research to figure out what it was being my pool company pulled off all the MFR labels off ALL my pool equipment and stuck their labels on everything (Blue Haven Pools) I had a warranty with Blue Haven for a new Ray-Vac head replacement after 5 years. Ray-Vac I think went out of business and I think Raypak bought them or their product line? (can't remember the exact events) but I contacted I think Raypak and they were kind enough to honor the warranty and send me a new head.
That was good of them. Not sure about the other private label, but Raypak seems like a pretty good outfit.
Raypak is a solid company and has been in business for a long time. They have one of the most solid functioning heaters on the market today. Lots better then Hayward or Pentair.
Thanks for the input Paul. Who else is at the top of that heap? I did find it interesting that every single builder we talked too wouldn't budge from Raypak, no matter what. Ones that were hard set on one brand only of everything else.
Brushpup said:
No one and I hope Raypak never screws it up by doing something stupid with some new engineering. It is by far the most simple straight forward heater. It's similar to the old Laars units. In fact that is what Raypak used to model their heater after.
- Nov 30, 2008
- 338
Had a Raypak, switched to a Pentair Master Temp 400.
Should have stuck with Raypak.
Rest easy.
Uncle Dave
Should have stuck with Raypak.
Rest easy.
Uncle Dave
Davegvg said:
What are the reasons for why you should have stayed with Raypak? I'm sure readers would like to hear the words from another homeowner.
Thanks.
- Nov 30, 2008
- 338
Certainly Paul,
The raypak was much simpler to work on and standard stuff like cleaning out a burner box was a lot easier.
I gave it a seasonal burner brush out/ clean out and in 10 years I had it nothing really "failed" except a knob that was hit by a contractor.
In the time I've had the Pentair (4-5 years) it has needed-
A gas block replacement - have fun diagnosing that one and I'm still trying to figure out how something like this could have failed.The tech had the entire unit in pieces all over the yard.
2 thermal regulators (basically a thermostat)- these tend to get "stuck" closed resulting in heater that fires up fine but then shuts off in 3-4 minutes. It's about a 100 dollar part (If I recall) with a custom fitting mounting the assembly the heater and you have to improvise getting it open and closed with something like a screwdriver while working under the pressure of a spring. Not the end of the world but why?
An ignitor unit- unit just stopped firing after year 3.
A pressure switch that went bad causing heater shut off after 10-12 minutes because it "thought" there wasn't enough flow. Its failure was intermittent- fun.
Comparing the ownership experience to the Raypak which "just worked" the Master Temp has been a letdown.
Uncle Dave
The raypak was much simpler to work on and standard stuff like cleaning out a burner box was a lot easier.
I gave it a seasonal burner brush out/ clean out and in 10 years I had it nothing really "failed" except a knob that was hit by a contractor.
In the time I've had the Pentair (4-5 years) it has needed-
A gas block replacement - have fun diagnosing that one and I'm still trying to figure out how something like this could have failed.The tech had the entire unit in pieces all over the yard.
2 thermal regulators (basically a thermostat)- these tend to get "stuck" closed resulting in heater that fires up fine but then shuts off in 3-4 minutes. It's about a 100 dollar part (If I recall) with a custom fitting mounting the assembly the heater and you have to improvise getting it open and closed with something like a screwdriver while working under the pressure of a spring. Not the end of the world but why?
An ignitor unit- unit just stopped firing after year 3.
A pressure switch that went bad causing heater shut off after 10-12 minutes because it "thought" there wasn't enough flow. Its failure was intermittent- fun.
Comparing the ownership experience to the Raypak which "just worked" the Master Temp has been a letdown.
Uncle Dave
Davegvg said:
All the things I find wrong with many of the Pentair's I work on. Now when people see me harping on these units as being inferior, at least they won't think I am making it up.
Whenever I go to a new customers house for a service call I always ask if it's ever been worked on before. Almost every Pentair has been worked on before and they are 5 years or less in age. Every Raypak that I've worked on, not many and I know there are plenty of them out there, they have gone close to 10 years without a single repair. To me that says something good about Raypak.
Another vote for going with the larger unit. Since you had a 400K BTU heater, I would stick with that. If you go with a smaller unit (after having a larger one), you will likely be disappointed. It will take a fixed number of BTU's to heat a given amount of water to a desired temperature and the larger unit will get you there faster.
Another aspect I'm seeing from these posts is that simplicity in design is an important consideration. More "features" means more complication and the potential for more breakdowns and higher repair bills. With that said, the one safety I recommend (and it's probably standard on all models) is a heater shut-down if the pump is not running.
Another aspect I'm seeing from these posts is that simplicity in design is an important consideration. More "features" means more complication and the potential for more breakdowns and higher repair bills. With that said, the one safety I recommend (and it's probably standard on all models) is a heater shut-down if the pump is not running.