Gas heater recommendation

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armstrr

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May 11, 2010
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Sarnia, Ontario Canada
I have a 20x40 IG pool ...Detroit area weather. There is a 530 sf solar system installed on a roof which faces south east...not ideal, but works great when the sun cooperates.

Unfortunately, the sun doesn't always cooperate, and planning pool events is hard since I can't control the sun! I would like to augment the solar system with a gas heater. I ran a gas line...believe it is 1" and distance from meter is approx 120'. I have an all pentair system including easy touch with intellichlor and intelliflo .Also have a cleardeck in deck solar cover/reel

I by no means intend to swim in march...but it will be possible to gain a few weeks in may and June with a a gas heater

I believe the gas line I ran will limit the heater size...potentially to 200k (I'm going to confirm distance and size when it is not 3deg f outside and snow covered....) Maybe 250k...the distance charts are very cut and dry ( 0 to 100 feet 100 to 200 feet etc)...perhaps since I'm just a little over 100' I can go bigger. One of my fears is the gas line pressure will be too low and I will have a non functioning (but BIG), heater. I'm guessing a smaller heater will do well enough anyway for my low usage. Dies having my meter changed out make it possible to have a larger Heater on a given diameter line.

I am currently interested in the raypak/rheem digital and the Lochinvar energyrite.

The Lochinvar is more efficient, has a sealed burner and double the warranty on parts

The raypak seems well respected and is less costly.

I imagine either will do and will be low usage...so I am concerned more about long life and life cycle costs...I have to believe parts for the raypak are less.

Any comments appreciated.

Ps, I plan to enclose the equipment pad, approx 12x18' with an enclosure, so venting approx 10' will be necessary. Will either of these work better or be less costly to install taking venting into account? I may be able to place the heater close to a wall for easy/short side venting.

Thanks for your advice!

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Hello!

You have certainly done your homework, which is great! Also, I checked out your build pics and your pool looks amazing! I've got a little bit of feedback about your options :mrgreen:

When enclosing the pad, make sure you leave enough ventilation to allow the heater to breath so the gas doesn't pool.

Double check that your gas line is 1' all the way to the heater. Sometime its 1' to the the house and reduces to 3/4 from the junction to the pool. If all checks out, you are correct with the distance limiting you to a 250 unit

Both of the heaters mentioned will work fine, but since all of your other equipment (including automation) is Pentair, you might also want to consider a Pentair heater option.
**This way you could control the unit remotely when it's cold outside.** :hammer: EDIT: You will still be able to control heater regardless of brand, as explained below by Jason and Paul
 
Really? My Pro Logic allows me to set the desired temperatures and then it turns the heater on/off automatically based on the measured water temp. The heaters thermostat is completely bypassed in that it needs to be set at the highest temp and the automation then takes care of it by just turn the heater on/off. This way the ProLogic can control any brand of heater.

I would be surprised that the Pentair automation is that different.
 
jblizzle said:
Really? My Pro Logic allows me to set the desired temperatures and then it turns the heater on/off automatically based on the measured water temp. The heaters thermostat is completely bypassed in that it needs to be set at the highest temp and the automation then takes care of it by just turn the heater on/off. This way the ProLogic can control any brand of heater.

I would be surprised that the Pentair automation is that different.
Click to expand...
Oh that's awesome! I'll do a little more digging and see what I find out. Thanks for the tip Jason!
 
As long as you have a water temp sensor installed you should be able to adjust the temperature from the digital hand held remote. You would set the heaters temp to the highest, 104, and then control it thru the remote. Unless, you have one of those remotes that only has the on/off buttons and then you need to set your temps @ the heater. The heater control thru most control systems is just a two/three wire that sends an on off signal to the heater.

If you match all of your equipment from the same manufacturer, Pentair for example, you would get three years for a warranty on the equipment.
 
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