I'm looking to do my part to stimulate the economy and buy a gas heater for my pool. I have gas at the site, going to hire out the plumbing for the gas line. I'll have to use adaptors for the pool plumbing I assume. I have about 6 feet between the house and the pool itself. Will clearance be an issue with a gas heater being placed in that area? Any other considerations I'm missing. Pool is about 8k gallons and I want to extend the season and keep the pool fairly warm during the season.
Gas heater for intex AGP?
- Thread starter sammckin
- Start date
- Jul 21, 2013
- 65,496
- Pool Size
- 35000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
Be sure that the heater exhaust will not burn anyone near it. Heaters can be noisy when running.
NEC requires no electrical devices within 6' to 10' of pool depending on what version of code applies in your area. You may want to select a millivolt type heater that does not require an electrical connection.
Review the selected heater manual for clearance requirements.
NEC requires no electrical devices within 6' to 10' of pool depending on what version of code applies in your area. You may want to select a millivolt type heater that does not require an electrical connection.
Review the selected heater manual for clearance requirements.
Got it. I suppose I could located the heater further away. I'm not sure I would need to run it while using the pool or not? Any idea what else would be affected by moving the heater farther away?
- Jul 21, 2013
- 65,496
- Pool Size
- 35000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
Show us what your layout is.
It makes sense to put the pump and filter where you locate the heater. Water can be moved pretty efficiently.
I have a 406k btu/hr natural gas heater for my intext pool (26'x52" round). It is fantastic although it cost much more than the pool. The Raypack model I have is very very quiet. No fans or moving parts other than the gas valve opening and closing. The heaters with a pilot light that require no electricity (milivolt) were getting harder to find when I was in the market 2-3 years back. Ours does take electricity which was easy to do. Bought ours through inyopools and had a good purchase & delivery experience. With my setup, I get 2 to 3 degrees F temp rise per hour of heater run time. Here in Western WA State it cools down in the evening during the summer, so I loose quite a bit of heat each night even with solar cover on the pool. I need to run the heater 2 to 4 hours a day in the summer to maintain pool temp. Water takes a lot of energy to heat! My summer 'heating gas bill' rivals my winter gas bill for heating the house--for a point of reference. But for us, it has been worth it.
Ours is natural gas, at least 10-15 ft away from the pool. Located in the back corner of our yard. No problem heating 11,000 gallons overnight into the 90's when left on high. heh, heh
I think I have the layout figured out. Now the only question I have is flow rate. Will my current pump have enough to operate a natural gas heater. Mine claims 2100 gph which I converted to 30 gpm. Is 30 gpm sufficient for a 150k but heater?
- Jul 21, 2013
- 65,496
- Pool Size
- 35000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
They vary of course, the one I'm looking at is 25 or 20 gpm I believe. I will have to move the pump, filter and heater and I'm planning to plumb it with pvc using 1.5 inch. The heater uses 2 inch connections. Current pump is rated at .30 hp.
This one is 20gpm.
014784 - 156A Natural Gas Pool Heater 150K BTU for 0-4999ft Elevation | In The Swim
Raypak 014784 Digital 156A Natural Gas 150K BTU Pool Heater for 0-4,999' Elevation and uses Polymer Headers.
- Jul 21, 2013
- 65,496
- Pool Size
- 35000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
In general we don't see any pool pump having a problem getting enough flow to a heater.
I pulled the trigger and ordered the heater. I will be back with more questions when it arrives lol. Thanks everyone for the help and the confidence to proceed.
I ordered from inyopool also. Also got a raypack. Would you be so kind as to show me a few pics of your setup and plumbing? What adapters you used and such? Any information would be great. Also wondering how long delivery took for yours? Thanks for the reply! Here is the model I got:
Raypak Digital 150K BTU Natural Gas Pool Heater ─ In the Swim
I wonder how long until you try the swimming pool hot tub? We treated ourselves to a 96 degree dip yesterday. But it's back down to a conservative 84 now. Worth every penny though - the cost of the heater AND the monthly gas bill. We had so many frigid or just not swimmable days before we got the heater. You're going to be super happy.
Here are some pictures of my setup--I used this plumbing for 3 summers until the pool frame rusted too badly to continue using. I'll admit embarrassment over the weediness of the pump area--that was fixed last year to a clean gravel area--but you get the idea. Isolation valves are your friends--they let you work on things without draining the pool. Also, I put this piping away during the winter, so I appreciate the ability to disassemble it with the various threaded connections.
Oh man this is a huge help, thank you so much. Great setup, I won't judge you for the weeds, lol! I bet that 400k btu heats your pool fast! Thanks again, this will be a huge help!
Picked up the heater today. I think I have everything in place to get started. About the by pass on the heater side, do you find it necessary?
I think so. If you're doing a SLAM, or any other high chlorine or high chemical thing in your pool water to correct and issue, I did not want that flowing through the heater's heat exchanger. So I'd close the in & out heater isolation valves and open the bypass before I drastically changed pool chemistry. The whole idea is to protect the heat exchanger from harsh chemicals.
- Jul 21, 2013
- 65,496
- Pool Size
- 35000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
A Heater Bypass - Further Reading is good to have.
Low pH water is what damages the heater core.
Chlorine at SLAM levels and even some above will not damage a heater. Low pH is the killer to heaters. Not other chemicals, high or low.