Best heater?

Appledapple

Active member
Apr 30, 2017
34
Stuarts Draft, Virginia
I think I may be ready to bite the bullet and buy a pool heater, but I don’t know what would be best for our pool. It’s inground, 16x36, and gets sun from late morning to mid to late afternoon. I keep a solar blanket on it at night, but even with the temps this summer of upper 80s, it stays around 82-84 degrees at best. It rained last week, so now it’s back to 78-80. The previous owners said they had the pool ready for a heater, but I don’t know for what type of heater. My goal is to have the temperature be around 86 in the summer. Are heaters relatively easy to install if it’s set up for it, or does the pool store need to do it? I’ve attached pictures of what I think is for a heater. I’m assuming it’s for a heat pump and not gas.
 

Attachments

  • 05DAA3B4-45F0-4E37-B6F4-B64C20B6BC78.jpeg
    05DAA3B4-45F0-4E37-B6F4-B64C20B6BC78.jpeg
    452 KB · Views: 19
  • 77ED6D72-D9E5-4C35-9924-B38B53DB0A99.jpeg
    77ED6D72-D9E5-4C35-9924-B38B53DB0A99.jpeg
    702 KB · Views: 19
The black box in the second photo is an electrical junction box. It is unrelated to a heater. A heater will connect directly to a circuit breaker in your load center.

The other photo just looks like a plaque. Do you think it's a pad where a heater would sit? How big is it?

Whether you use gas will depend on whether you have a gas line that reaches your pool equipment pad. Show photos of all your equipment, including the pump & filter.
 
I'm VERY happy with the raypak pr266aen.
Raypak is the usual recommendation as they have simpler design with less components to go wrong.

It heats my pool 2.5 degrees per hr.

Your pool is roughly double my volume.
So I'd suggest the 400k btu version to heat faster.

Hopefully you have gas near the pad. Pipe runs can be expensive.
 
This is the setup. The plaque is the top of the electrical junction box. It’s only about 2”x4”.
 

Attachments

  • 78DC4C83-77CA-4088-AD6B-7B98DD06C179.jpeg
    78DC4C83-77CA-4088-AD6B-7B98DD06C179.jpeg
    617.6 KB · Views: 11
  • FF8FB3C4-36A2-44C8-AF3C-D5789DC59B4B.jpeg
    FF8FB3C4-36A2-44C8-AF3C-D5789DC59B4B.jpeg
    654.6 KB · Views: 11
  • B481E6DE-9921-43DE-993F-6CF37987CC2E.jpeg
    B481E6DE-9921-43DE-993F-6CF37987CC2E.jpeg
    723.1 KB · Views: 12
  • BA6F81D9-EC44-4C86-8E3C-0C42E3AD3228.jpeg
    BA6F81D9-EC44-4C86-8E3C-0C42E3AD3228.jpeg
    375.9 KB · Views: 11
I'm VERY happy with the raypak pr266aen.
Raypak is the usual recommendation as they have simpler design with less components to go wrong.

It heats my pool 2.5 degrees per hr.

Your pool is roughly double my volume.
So I'd suggest the 400k btu version to heat faster.

Hopefully you have gas near the pad. Pipe runs can be expensive.
I know we have a gas line, but I’m not sure where it is. With my luck it’s probably on the other side of the house! Is it expensive to run the heater?
 
Last edited:
I'm not sure whether I'm seeing a gas line in the photo of the filter. On the wall behind it is a horizontal metal tube which might be a gas line or an electrical conduit. Is there a gas valve anywhere visible?

Yes, running a gas heater is expensive. I only use my heater for my spa. On pool party days (remember those?), I would see my gas usage spike to many multiples of normal daily use. To heat my pool, I use thermal solar panels. They don't heat the pool as fast as a heater would, but at least the heat is free. I have no idea whether solar is feasible in the Cowbane Prairie. And sorry, I don't know anything about heat pumps for pools.
 
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.