Heat pump with 1.25" connections

[ninjajim4]

Hi all,

I just unboxed this heat pump:

Amazon.com

Hopefully it's right-sized for our modest setup and anyway, it seemed overboard to me to get something 3x the cost of the pool itself, and we don't have gas or 220V readily available. Water is already sitting at 82 degrees without it and the thought is we can get a few degrees boost when needed or stretch out pool season a bit. One review was from a fellow Chicagoan, albeit with a smaller pool, but I was encouraged by that.

I welcome general thoughts/opinions, but also wanted specifically to ask -- I've noted that it has 1.25" connections. Our pump output has a 1.5" connections, and I've also seen a review that mentions that this heat pump noticeably restricted flow for them. I wasn't sure if that was going to be the case for me given how basic the pump we have now is. My thought to correct this issue is to buy two of these:

Amazon.com

And attach the 1.5"output of the pump to one of them, and the 1.5" output of the pool to the other one. Then I will join these two parts by adding a 1.25" hose straight through on one pair of the 1.25" connections, and then add the heat pump between the other pair.

My question is would this potentially starve or reduce effectiveness of the heat pump? and then on the opposite end of the spectrum, is this overkill and should I let it ride as is or could restricted output potentially put some strain on the filter pump?

Thank you!

 

[mas985]

Heat pumps in general have a LOT of head loss and that one probably most that others and the Intex pump may not be up to the task as it is a low head pump. So it may end up reducing flow rate considerably.

As for heat gain, assuming your pool is around 4000 gallons, that will heat will raise the pool temp about 0.44F/hr.

Have you thought about solar? These are made for the Intex pumps:

Amazon.com

4 of these would match the output of the HP.

 

[ninjajim4]

Heat pumps in general have a LOT of head loss and that one probably most that others and the Intex pump may not be up to the task as it is a low head pump. So it may end up reducing flow rate considerably.

As for heat gain, assuming your pool is around 4000 gallons, that will heat will raise the pool temp about 0.44F/hr.

Have you thought about solar? These are made for the Intex pumps:

Amazon.com

4 of these would match the output of the HP.

I have considered them, but I wanted something that wasn't reliant on the weather and also wasn't crazy about the clutter. ~1/2 degree per hour is about what I expected and would be happy with, i.e. ~24 hours to bring it up ~10 degrees.

Do you have thoughts on my idea of splitting up the output, and what that would mean for performance of both the heat pump and the filter pump?

 

[mas985]

I am not sure exactly what you have in mind but if you are bypassing part of the water flow around the HP, then that could be an issue because the HP usually requires a minimum flow rate or they will overheat or trip an alarm. Water will take the path of least resistance so most of the water will bypass the HP which may trip the HP alarm for low flow/pressure. You may end up upgrading the pump to support the setup.

I think you would be better off forcing the entire Intex pump flow through the HP to make sure it operates properly. You will just have to deal with the decreased flow rate. You may want a valved bypass for when you vacuum or just want some extra flow without the HP inline.

 

[ninjajim4]

I am not sure exactly what you have in mind but if you are bypassing part of the water flow around the HP, then that could be an issue because the HP usually requires a minimum flow rate or they will overheat or trip an alarm. Water will take the path of least resistance so most of the water will bypass the HP which may trip the HP alarm for low flow/pressure. You may end up upgrading the pump to support the setup.

I think you would be better off forcing the entire Intex pump flow through the HP to make sure it operates properly. You will just have to deal with the decreased flow rate. You may want a valved bypass for when you vacuum or just want some extra flow without the HP inline.

Thank you, that is exactly what I was wondering. I appreciate your thoughts on it!