Combining heat exchanger with heaters & a custom shed

DeusAderit

New member
Nov 12, 2024
1
Pembroke, NC, USA
Okay, first post, please be gentle. 😆
I recently purchased a titanium heat exchanger to prolong my pool season. I built a deck around my above-ground pool, insulated in, and I'm finishing up a custom shed that contains my pump, filter, heat exchanger, chemicals, etc.
The shed protects the heat exchanger from the elements, with the fan blowing outside and the intake vents inside the shed. It's kind of half-in, half-out, built into the wall.
Understanding how heat exchangers work, I find myself wondering - what if I installed electric heaters inside the shed to raise the ambient air temp? It seems like it would increase the efficiency of the heat exchanger by giving it hotter air to work with. Of course the heaters would be on a separate electrical circuit to avoid tripping any breakers, and protected from any accidental splashing.
Just curious, has anyone tried this before? Is it crazy, stupid, impractical, or genius? 🤓
 
Can you post a picture or link to the heat exchanger?

I'm a little confused by your description - is it just a heat exchanger like a radiator or is there a heat source for it as well?
 
Understanding how heat exchangers work, I find myself wondering - what if I installed electric heaters inside the shed to raise the ambient air temp? It seems like it would increase the efficiency of the heat exchanger by giving it hotter air to work with.
I assume you mean Heat Pump.

Adding electric heaters would only provide a minor improvement and it would be super inefficient.

The heat pump would only be able to transfer a tiny fraction of the electric heat to the water.

It would be more efficient to use an electric heater if the heat pump could not keep up.

Electric heaters are 100% efficient.

Heat pumps have a COP, which depends on the ambient conditions.

You might want to consider a geothermal heat pump.

Do you have natural gas available?

Natural gas is probably the lowest cost heat source.

Propane would probably be lower cost than electric heat depending on your local rates.

What heat pump do you have?

What is the coldest temp you want to use the heat pump in?

What is the desired pool temp?
 
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