Need New Heat Pump

li33gwm · May 25, 2014

This season my pool has become a money pit. First the 3-4 year old pump would not work, so I bought one of the new Variable Speed Pumps (Hayward Eco Star) - jury is out on that one for now.

But now, even more pressing, my current 6-7 year old AquaComfort Heat Pump is leaking bad and was told needed new copper and something else. Probably not worth having it serviced as they are not sure they could even fix it. So the choices are to either just get rid of a heat pump or get a new one and this is where I need some help.

My local pool company sells AquaCal and is recommending SQ175 for the size pool we have (22x40). It is not cheap by any means so I did a search and came across a Sunrunner Whispershield 141,000 BTU for about a $1,000 less at Leslie's pools. When looking at the pictures of the AquaCal SQ 175 and the Sunrunner they look identical. Does AquaCal make the Sunrunner brand and is there really much of a difference between them besides the name on it? Also open to other suggestions as well. Thanks -

karmabiker · May 25, 2014

Welcome to tfp!

Not sure on the heat pump, just wanted to give you a bump to get more eyes on it!

li33gwm · May 26, 2014

Thanks! Appreciate it!

karmabiker · May 26, 2014

Just a thought ... Have you looked at a gas heater instead of a heat pump? Would it be a good fit for your application?

li33gwm · May 26, 2014

karmabiker said:
Just a thought ... Have you looked at a gas heater instead of a heat pump? Would it be a good fit for your application?

I would love to be able to get a gas heater, however we would have to bring in Propane and the length to run the line would be really long and expensive. And not to mention the cost of propane as I imagine we'd go through an awful lot with the size of our pool.

karmabiker · May 26, 2014

Ouch. Yep ... Heat pump

TroubleFreePat · May 28, 2014

Have you looked at Amazon? I was surprised to find Aquacal heat pumps on there, and they're sold by Amazon, NOT a third party.

I called Aquacal today and spoke with Rob in customer service. He said they get a list monthly of "unauthorized" dealers, as their warranty specifically says it must be purchased (or installed?) from an authorized dealer. He said the list is empty, so anyone selling the unit is considered authorized. But heads up on this issue. Maybe Sean can speak to it.

ANYWAY, was shocked at some of the prices on Amazon for Aquacal units. See if that helps. Can't answer your question, but thought I'd mention the alternative.