Pool heater questions!

[horseradish1]

Can anyone recommend a gas pool heater to heat my pool? I see raypak and Hayward as brands on Amazon and it looks like Hayward has more reviews, but would love some feedback from owners on this site! Also, what size should I get? 350k?

 

[ps0303]

Raypak hands down over any other. The biggest heater your wallet can afford and will fit in your system.. You have natural gas I'm guessing since I see you are in Chicago. Smallest heater you could get away with is the Raypak 266 at 266K BTU. Next size up is the 406 at 400K BTU. Also consider the location of your gas line. If it's very far away you would need to have probably 1 1/2" line to feed the unit.

 

[horseradish1]

Thanks for the input! Definitely natural gas.

 

[horseradish1]

I am reading some negative things about raypak with their limited warranty and it being voided by unbalanced water claims. I see some Pentair units having good reviews with 2 year warranty, which is definitely appealing. Thoughts on Pentair?

 

[ps0303]

Not sure what the "limited" warranty is you write of. Yes they have a 1 year all parts/labor warranty which is one year less than others but I can tell you from experience, if I hear from a customer on a Raypak, it's at least 7 years down the road from the install. I've replaced older Raypak's that were in the field for 10 plus years and it's the first time it was ever touch bu a repair tech. All manufacturers will NOT cover any warranty repairs if water chemistry is the issue. Pentair which is the same at Sta Rite, not the better unit on the market, my opinion.

I have been in the business for a long time and work on all heaters. I see fewer calls on the Raypak's than any other model in the field. I install Raypak's over any model due to what I see in the field. The last thing I want is an unhappy customer with call backs for issues. I used to install one other brand some time back because they were the best at the time. However they started failing me and I has numerous issues and unhappy customers so I stopped installing them. If you look thru this site Raypak gets the nod all the way around and not just from users but from the professionals on here like me.

I would also encourage you to use a installer that is properly licensed in your area and has knowledge of gas appliances. You mention a shed that you have your equipment in. If you choose to install the heater in there, make sure it is vented properly as well as that their is correct fresh air so the unit operates correctly.

 

[danpik]

Paul pretty much nailed it. I don't work on near as many heaters as he does but, I do work on my fair share. I only know of a couple raypaks in my area and that is only because I have worked on them. I do work on a lot of the other brands out there and do see some of the problems associated with them crop up time after time.

Keep in mind something when you read reviews. Most people don't think about writing a review if they have a good experience with something. If they do it is usually short and sweet. However, when they do have a bad experience, they can not write the bad review quick enough and they usually go into extreme detail on what the problem is.

You have the info you need to make a decision.

 

[jrguzmanr]

I just had my heater replaced a few weeks ago with a Raypak 406 and I'm very happy with it. Granted it's brand spanking new so all should be working perfectly but what really surprised me is that it's heating up my pool much quicker than my old heater (which was around 15 y/o), about 1.5 degrees an hour. One thing you should keep in mind is that you want to buy/install the largest heater you can get. Two different size heaters will get you to the desired temp and consume about the same amount of gas getting there, but the larger one will get you there quicker.

 

[BoDarville]

One thing you should keep in mind is that you want to buy/install the largest heater you can get. Two different size heaters will get you to the desired temp and consume about the same amount of gas getting there, but the larger one will get you there quicker.

+1 to that!

 

[wayner]

One other thing that I will look for in my next heater is the ease of automation. I would really like to be able to remotely turn my heater on or off using a web page or smartphone. You may want to think about this when you get your heater but nowadays they may all allow you to do this when compared with the right smart controller.

 

[horseradish1]

Guys - awesome information here. Thanks for the time you put in to the responses. Definitely planning on having a licensed pool company install, just wanted to have some background information to be more informed during process. I did not realize the shed had to be vented, will make sure the contractor considers that! I think I was looking at the raypak 406 and got a bit nervous by the reviews on amazon, but I think you guys eased those worries a bit.

 

[ps0303]

One other thing that I will look for in my next heater is the ease of automation. I would really like to be able to remotely turn my heater on or off using a web page or smartphone. You may want to think about this when you get your heater but nowadays they may all allow you to do this when compared with the right smart controller.

Pool heaters do not have anything built into them that allow you to remotely control them. This is what an automation system such as a Pentair Easytouch is for.