Heat Pump recommendations - Gulf Stream

[Catanzaro]

How much are your electricians charging to run a 220V line from the breaker panel for the heat pump? My guy wants $1200 for the gfci breaker, wiring, conduit, switch, etc and labor. He says the #6 wire to handle 220V is expensive. I feel $1200 is a lot - what do you all think?

My heat pump will be located about 30ft from the panel and will sit just outside of the foundation wall, so no trenching. Is required.

gb:

There is a big disparity between the most expensive electrician and the smaller qualified electrician. If you read through this thread, you will see that the original quote was around $1,700 - $1,900. The one I used (passed inspection) came in at $500 and he also hooked up the salt cell. I priced out the materials and it was not a lot, but not cheap either.

Bottom line, it is best to shop around. Of course, everyone has to make money. I feel that what I paid was on the low side, and a fair electrician with all included should have been around $750-$900 at most. Your area of MA may have higher costs than down here in NJ. All depends on area and who you can find. He used Romex 6/2 wire type NM-B which was about $200 (with tax) at HD for 125 feet. He used about 75 feet. Then the AC Disconnect box with pullout is the Cutler-Hammer DPU222RP ($10) Double breaker of course ($20-$30). No conduit needed for code and my basement is wide open which saved time.

 

[gb99]

Update: My Gulfstream HE150 has been installed and and running for the last couple of weeks. We started swimming just after Memorial Day, which was previously unthinkable here in Massachusetts. So I'm very pleased with the purchase, but...

I have to ask you folks with the Gulfstream heat pumps: is yours relatively loud? Mine is significantly louder than my Hayward pool pump, and makes a slight metallic rubbing noise. I called GF service and emailed them a video, but they've yet to get back to me. I don't want my neighbors complaining and I don't have central a/c, so I don't know if these large compressors all sound like that. I took a video, but not sure on how to upload it since Photobucket no longer allows sharing for free. Please give me an idea of how loud your heat pumps are.

Thanks.

 

[Catanzaro]

gb:

Mine is at a normal level for AC type of units and no different than my 4 ton and 3 ton a few feet away. This is normal, and yes it will be louder than the pump. Walk away from the heater, around the house to determine noise level as I will be you the noise will be reduced drastically. This is how the neighbors hear it and quite honestly, no louder than my AC units as they are all within the same area.

Regarding the slight metallic rubbing noise, I can not imagine anything rubbing. Call Asa Strong, if that is where you purchased it. Also, I ran another test yesterday, but with cover and took the pool from 79 to 86 in 7 hours, which is expected. Interestingly the pool dropped to 85 at night and this morning at 83 degrees. Therefore, a 2 degree drop is not that much, but one must maintain at least an 82-83 degree constant temperature.

Also, estimating an average of $200 per month to keep pool warm each month (average). Could be less, but the heaters do not run longer than 5-6 hours and with a cost of $.96 per hour, I will take this.

 

[Catanzaro]

Update from yesterday's results (with solar cover):

Also, this morning, the temperature dropped from 85* at 8 p.m. to 83* this morning at 7 a.m., which is not too bad.



EDIT: Overnight temperature drop was without cover.

 

[Egghead2004]

[emoji106], enjoy that pool in MA! We are, our pool had been over 80F since 5/2. As long as the temp is over 50F, the heat pump works great.

 

[Catanzaro]

I wanted to update this thread. I have to admit that surprisingly my monthly bill has not increased that much. I can only base it on Kwh from previous year. Last year, I averaged 89 Kwh per day. This year, the average was 110 Kwh per day. Also last year, I used the heat pump but sparingly, which means some of the usage from previous year included the heat pump, and I averaged 73 Kwh per day. I can only assume that the difference (89-73) is off the heat pump in 2018. If I base my figures for 2019 off the electricity bills, my increase of 21 Kwh per day cost me ($107 for the month). If I work off of the spread of the last 2 years, (110-73), or 37Kwh per day usage of heat pump, then I am at $174 per month. I am probably somewhere in between as at around $150 per moth and this is based on a Kwh of $.17 per hour in total.

July and August should be better as the days are warmer and more importantly, the evenings are warmer, which means less evaporation. It appears now the pump is only running for about 2 hours to bring temperature back up to 87*. I am working off this figure to have temperatures even with the overnight drop stay at around 85*.

A solar cover is a must and I can only assume that without the cover, the cost would rise another 25%-50%. However the solar cover is covering about 85% of the pool as I cut it smaller to allow the pool to breathe. The roughest months are June and September. A necessary evil if one wants a warmer swimming pool.

If anyone has raw data, I would love to see calculations on the heat pump. Too bad there is not a timer on the pump that provides run time in hours. What a great idea?

 

[rajung]

not sure about your noise, but I did have a problem with ours, sounded like a helicopter overhead. Ended up being a issue with the fan and the rivets that attach.
They were not crimped tight enough and caused an imbalance, nothing you could see or feel with the fan off the unit. They shipped a new one and all was fine. The unit makes no more sound than your normal heat pump that we also have on the house

 

[Tinythemule]

not sure about your noise, but I did have a problem with ours, sounded like a helicopter overhead. Ended up being a issue with the fan and the rivets that attach.
They were not crimped tight enough and caused an imbalance, nothing you could see or feel with the fan off the unit. They shipped a new one and all was fine. The unit makes no more sound than your normal heat pump that we also have on the house

Has anyone used a Gulf Stream Heat Pump and if so, what are your thoughts? What other brands are recommended, etc. I am ready to pull the plug on something. Although, a gas heater may still be in the picture.

Our swimming demands are not needed in an instant, so a heat pump would work. Also, have clearance issues with a gas heater, etc. Thanks!

so....3 years later....how goes it? Any issues?

 

[Catanzaro]

The only issue I had with my heat pump was that this year, the thermostat went bad, all in one day. I e-mailed Asa Strong, and he responded that evening. He knew exactly the root of the problem , being the thermostat. Called Gulf Stream the next day and they helped me out an shipped a new one under warranty - Even though I was out of the 2 year, other states have 3 years, plus other items are covered for 10 years, plus lifetime. The total cost was $10 for shipping. The instructions were easy to follow and the new one needed a clamp and was not threaded in (no leaks as you are not supposed to over tighten). I left the old one there instead of cutting it out, and the new one was rerouted with some black small ties. It took about 1 hour and I was up and running.

Gulf Stream is claiming that the new thermostats are of better quality. My friend who purchased a unit later has had no issues, but only time will tell. Overall I am happy with the unit, and how it works. As I mentioned in my previous messages, a solar cover, while not very nice to look at is a must at certain times. There are days I leave on for 2 days in a row, and then out for a few days. The pool must breathe, etc. Depending on your pool, you can actually cut the cover into 2 to 3 pieces, making it easier to put and take off the pool.

My friend gave me another cover and again, I cut in half (A long story). I should have actually cut the cover in 3 parts, so now for next time, given that my cover is perfectly cut, I will use these as samples and cut the cover in 3 parts. The time needed to remove and put on the pool is really not that big of a deal. Using 1" PVC with end caps allows one to roll up, lift and store away. The 11' sections would be better than the 16' sections for handling, etc. Then you can use the PVC (do not throw on the pool) to lay on top of the cover to hold it down in the event there are strong winds, etc.

 

[Ellen M]

Just starting-filed for permit. One unresolved choice is which heat pump to help keep a more overall temp with the auto cover and use the Pentair ETI 400k BTU high efficiency heater (natural gas) when needing a boost. Want to learn more about each of these choices:
a) Pentair UltraTemp Heat Pump 140 b) Gulf Stream HE 150 R-A c) Hydro Royal HR 150, or d) AquaCal Heatwave SuperQuiet SQ 225. Any feedback is helpful.
Thank you, Ellen.

 

[Catanzaro]

As written previously in this thread, the heat pump works fine, it just takes longer to heat up the pool. Regarding efficiency, the pump must run longer, which now brings us back to more electricity. If one must run the pump 8-12 hours per day to heat up the pool because of a heat pump, then gas would be a better choice, because the savings are not that much.

I had an issue with my heat pump and Gulfstream went out of their way to send me a new thermostat (2 years later) and everything worked out well. A little bit of a PIA, but things happen. Because the season is so short in NJ, when the air temperatures drop at night and are in the low 80's during the day, the pool is rarely used. The pool is closed mid-September because of all the leaves that fall, so extended swim season is not an option.

A lot has to do with electricity rates vs. gas rates as well, depending on geographic location. In the end, honestly, if I had to do this all over again, I would have chosen the gas over the heat pump as NJ weather is all over the place. My issues were with clearance near a window (Yes, it was that close).