Heat pump recommendations

[yann]

Hi all

Long time since last post, hope you're all keeping well.

Considering installing a heat pump to extend the swimming season.
From my research, a 17kW would be the minimum size.
Would need one with its own pump to work independently from my filter / chlorinator. I have a heater piping installed already.
Also I don't have too much room on my equipment pad and I might need a vertical pump.

Looking at pool covers as well but there's a lot of options out there, so any advice greatly appreciated.

Thanks all

 

[ajw22]

Advice is probably best from your mates down under who know what products are available to you. Let's see who is waking up from your winter and lockdowns.

@needsajet @AUSpool @aussieta

 

[aussieta]

first step would be to check your electricity prices and/or how much solar panels you have
i know i would not be able to afford to run a heat pump on the pool

 

[yann]

Hi all

I don’t have any solar (yet). No sure I can have. Lots trees around and limited sun exposure.

Electricity is $0.21/kWh

 

[needsajet]

I don't have any experience with heat pumps, so I can't comment on brands. The Whirlpool forum might also be helpful, as well as Aussies here on TFP.

I would get the cover sorted first. You'll need it either way to keep the heat in overnight, or plan on more heating cost or fewer swimming days. You'll actually gain a fair number of weeks of good swimming temperature just with the cover. It's good for it to be convenient to use or you may not use it as much. I put my cover away for the summer because to me they're a bit unsightly, so if you want to do that, consider it in your decision.

Solar heat on the roof is the cheapest source of heat, although it's not free to put up by any means. $4K to $6K is in the ballpark, but once in, running it is quite cheap. It also doesn't help through cloudy, cool breaks, but catches up fairly quickly when the good weather returns. Our experience has been that few adults want to swim much when it's cool anyway, so it works out fine for us. The kids will swim in crazy cool water by my reckoning, although not the littlies so much.

Heat pump is next in running cost and not a huge amount more than solar to install. Then gas is highest cost to run, but cheapest to install. 17 kW sounds like a good size heat pump for your pool.

 

[AUSpool]

There are a number of heat pump options and although I haven’t used one I have looked at them as an option. You will need to have a dedicated power supply installed for one and maybe even upgrade the supply for the pump to go with it which can’t be on the same supply. The sparky who wired our house said that over the years he has decommissioned just about as many as he’s installed.

Your heater pipping would be suitable for solar, heat pump or gas heating with a dedicated pump. If space is an issue you could use your existing pump with an actuated valve but keep in mind that a heat pump or gas unit would require a lot of space.

I have no idea what a ‘vertical pump’ is. I’m thinking of something like a well pump but have never seen anything similar associated with a pool. You could perhaps mount a standard pump on a wall with suitable brackets.

The best ‘bang for buck’ is defiantly a cover and every heating option will almost certainly recommend a cover in conjunction with their product. Covers are a bit of work with the on, off, on, off.

 

[needsajet]

I think by vertical, the poster may be referring to the direction of airflow from the fan. Heat pumps, be they air con or pool heating, that pull air in from the bottom and expel air straight up out the top, rather than sideways like most residential air con outdoor units.

The pump itself on a dedicated heating circuit can be quite small because it's not pushing water through the filter, and are usually just normal small pool pumps. For solar water heating on the roof, 1/2 HP is common, and I suspect for the heat pump it will be something similar, maybe 3/4 HP. (~0.3 to 0.5 kW)