Heat Pump and San Diego

[Teeguy]

Hi all,

New pool owner here and after moving into my house in San Marcos in August, the old Pentair natural gas heater died. I'm leaning towards a heat pump and using my PV solar to offset the bill. I'm assuming max 6kwh draw per hour of operation with 0.5kwh for the VS pump against a 20+kw PV system. Looking at average yearly weather, it looks like both humidity and air temp would be fine (humidity 60%+ and daily avg temp of 69+). Using gas is becoming prohibitively costly so I don't want to replace the heater with another NG unit. Any other things I should consider or anyone with experience with HPs here in So Cal? Pool is approx 20k gallons. Thanks!

 

[steinre1]

San Diego seems like the perfect climate for a heat pump. Very efficient when the air temp is above 50 degrees.

 

[jsygrls]

So here in Florida, HP's are use for home ac/heat pretty much across the state . They are very efficient . ( i believe I read that Cal. will be going that way soon). Lots of homes here have them for their pool heat source also, they actually have a chiller option available on some units also.
The big difference for you besides operation cost which should be much less , is the time it will take to heat you pool. Your gas unit was probably quick. Not so with the HP. The folks that sell HP's will have a ton of info on that for you. Also maybe a different electrical requirement for the unit and plumbing configuration to factor in.
Here 's a site I used to purchase my last one, I found them to be very knowledgeable, competitive and accommodating.
When-if you purchase a HP, MAKE SURE you have qualified service techs in YOUR area to work on your brand and model.
Most ac company avoid them.

 

[Teeguy]

Thank you for your reply @jsygrls ! Do you use yours to heat a spa as well? We have a normal sized spa and I can imagine having the pool automation start heating that a few hours before we would expect to use it. Coupled with a cover, I think this is the way to go.

 

[mknauss]

If the primary use of the heater is for the spa, stay with natural gas. A heat pump is designed to maintain pool temperature. Not raise it quickly.

 

[steinre1]

I have both a 400BTU gas heater and a 175BTU Heat Pump. Both are more or less about the beefiest models you can get. I can confirm that the heat pump takes about twice as long to heat up the same body of water. With gas, the hot tub can go from 85 to 100 in about 20 min. it takes about 40 min for the heat pump. But I can tell you that the heat pump is MUCH cheaper to keep my pool at a constant temperature. If both heaters died and I could only afford one, I would go heat pump. But that is a personal decision - we constantly keep the pool heated and don't use the hot tub much.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

I echo what @jsygrls said - make sure you have a qualified installer AND SERVICE company in your area for the model you choose. I know it sounds weird but pool service techs know very little about heat pumps nor do they typically carry the HVAC equipment to work on them. Residential HVAC companies rarely ever want to touch anything related to a pool. They know and service home AC equipment and that’s their bread & butter. Pool equipment is just a hassle to them and they don’t want the liability.

 

[jsygrls]

I can confirm that the heat pump takes about twice as long to heat up the same body of water. With gas, the hot tub can go from 85 to 100 in about 20 min. it takes about 40 min for the heat pump. But I can tell you that the heat pump is MUCH cheaper to keep my pool at a constant

Teeguy,
yes, I pretty much use for just the spa/hot tub feature during the colder months. I very seldom heat the pool except for special occasions, and out of town guest and children.

 

[Teeguy]

@steinre1 Thanks! What heat pump do you have? I've not seen a 175k btu unit as of yet. I'm considering repairing my NG pentair and adding it to the HP when I get it.

 

[Teeguy]

I've had trouble locating a local installer. As noted previously, the pool guys don't want to touch them, and that includes the vendors listed on Pentair and Haywards websites. I'm probably just going to do the connections myself and have an electrician handle the wiring.

 

[Teeguy]

Well, got the Pentair 140k installed. My current pool guy, who had initially said no realized he could actually do the plumbing and my electrician handled the wiring. It's running great and got the pool over 80 in about 7 hours, starting at 70 degrees. Turned on the spa and it hit 102 in around 50 minutes. Next thing is to get it connected to my old Compool 3600 as the instructions don't include older systems like that. I'll be upgrading the system in the next few months as the pool needs resurfacing but if anyone knows what the connections might be, I'd love to hear it.

 

[guinness]

You should be able to use the fireman's switch in the Compool and run a 2-conductor cable to the heater.

Heater Control with Automation - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com