Please forgive my ignorance...I had a Hayward heat pump installed recently, and I I just realized that I never thought about the fact that I don't run my pump all day long. I usually run my pump for about 14 hours a day. When the pump is not running, the heat pump throws a flow error, which is perfectly understandable. Should I keep my pump running 24, 7 when the heat pump is operational, or is it okay for it to shut off and give the flow error every night? Or can I program the heat pump somehow to work in consort with my pump?
Heat Pump Question
- Thread starter Greg T
- Start date
elwood58
LifeTime Supporter
If the Hayward Heatpump is connected to some for of automation, you can put it into control mode versus manual mode, and let your schedule control the heatpump. As it is, nothing is going to be hurt by it shutting down due to flow error. It will start right back up. If you are not using a solar blanket, you may want to run the pump 7X24 depending on how much temp you are losing overnight.
- Nov 23, 2014
- 217
- Pool Size
- 16000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Hayward Aqua Rite (T-15)
I agree with @elwood58 that the internal flow override is good enough, I run mine that way all the time, so I don't really consider that an "error" per se. At the risk of complicating things, I suppose one could argue that controlling the heater on a schedule (that matches the pump) adds a bit of redundancy since in that case you don't have to rely solely on the flow sensing in the heater. I've seen flow / pressure switches fail, but to date have only seen them fail "open circuit" so in that case the heater won't run at all and still protected.
The issue for me is cost during the coldest months. I tend to set the heater temp low so it won't come on - generally Nov thru Feb in SW FL - or I just turn it off Dec/Jan. Depending on weather, if it takes more than 8 hours heater daily run time to maintain a swimmable temp, we surrender and shut it off unless guests are present. 8 hours run time approaches $150 / month in pool heat cost, assuming 5000 watts and 12 cents/kwh. If you do let the water temp drop into the low 70s or so, you'll find it takes a couple days of extra run time to catch up in time for vacationing guests' arrival.
The issue for me is cost during the coldest months. I tend to set the heater temp low so it won't come on - generally Nov thru Feb in SW FL - or I just turn it off Dec/Jan. Depending on weather, if it takes more than 8 hours heater daily run time to maintain a swimmable temp, we surrender and shut it off unless guests are present. 8 hours run time approaches $150 / month in pool heat cost, assuming 5000 watts and 12 cents/kwh. If you do let the water temp drop into the low 70s or so, you'll find it takes a couple days of extra run time to catch up in time for vacationing guests' arrival.