How MORE expensive is your electric bill (thinking about installing a heat pump)?

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pisymbol said:
My guess is gas is at a minimum double the cost.

And the initial cost is thousands of dollars plus heater. Between permit, running the gas line out, etc. etc. I can save some of the cost digging the whole myself but still it will be very costly.

I have an electrical outlet. Now I just realized that it probably has to be 20A? (it might be that anyway)

EDIT: Nevermind, my pump and lights are on 20A circuits.
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I have no idea what gas costs in your area but run the numbers and make certain it isn't cheaper to run on gas. Natural gas in many places tends to be cheaper than electric for heating. Yes the up front costs might be more but that's a one time cost.

Heat pumps are an AC unit so you should install a dedicated line for the heat pump. Include a quick disconnect to it. You need to look at the requirement specs per the manufacturer. Probably need at the very least a 40-50 amp dedicated circuit.
 
You guys running heaters might consider wearing scuba dive skins. There very thin tight fitting and make a big difference when swimming in cool water.

Also, I have read about heat pump systems hat combine the house and pool. You cool your house and dump that heat into the pool. Can be reversed in the winter to help heat the house.
 
WASP said:
You guys running heaters might consider wearing scuba dive skins. There very thin tight fitting and make a big difference when swimming in cool water.

Also, I have read about heat pump systems hat combine the house and pool. You cool your house and dump that heat into the pool. Can be reversed in the winter to help heat the house.
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This unit has its own thread on TFP but it apparently takes waste heat from your A/C and uses it to heat your pool.

Heat Recovery Pool Heater | Compare To Solar Pool Heater | HotSpot Energy LLC
 
ps0303 said:
I have no idea what gas costs in your area but run the numbers and make certain it isn't cheaper to run on gas. Natural gas in many places tends to be cheaper than electric for heating. Yes the up front costs might be more but that's a one time cost.

Heat pumps are an AC unit so you should install a dedicated line for the heat pump. Include a quick disconnect to it. You need to look at the requirement specs per the manufacturer. Probably need at the very least a 40-50 amp dedicated circuit.
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Hmph, I was told that was not the case regarding amperage. 20A was fine?

EDIT: I guess that depends on the unit. The bigger units I see from Hayward may need 50A.
 
No experience with electric but I recently turned on the gas heater on my pool to raise it from 72 to 84
Im also tracking the daily gas usage
I didnt track the cost to raise the temp
but the daily cost to maintain the temp is under $5 a day - thats the total gas usage for the house
the water heater for the house, and the gas cooktop and the Gas grill and the Jandy LX pool heater
The grill and cooktop have NOT been on much
The pool does have a cover

so for my purposes the pool is costing about $2-3 a day MAX to make comfortable and since this is TX
in 2-3 weeks the heater wont be needed at all

BTW in most places using electricity to make heat is the most expensive
Gas is almost always more efficient and less expensive
 

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pisymbol said:
Funny enough, I've been told just the opposite.
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Pros and Cons of an Electric Furnace vs Gas

Heating cost comparison: Oil heat vs gas heat vs electric heat prices shrinkthatfootprint.com

Is it cheaper to heat my home with gas or electricity ? - Page 2 of 2 - TheGreenAge | Page 2

No question natural gas is cheapest - even before the recent fall in gas prices it was still cheapest

I used to live in Upstate NY and had a choice between electric baseboard heat and wood stove - I learned to chop wood and keep the stove stoked
 
Silver_2000 said:
Pros and Cons of an Electric Furnace vs Gas

Heating cost comparison: Oil heat vs gas heat vs electric heat prices shrinkthatfootprint.com

Is it cheaper to heat my home with gas or electricity ? - Page 2 of 2 - TheGreenAge | Page 2

No question natural gas is cheapest - even before the recent fall in gas prices it was still cheapest

I used to live in Upstate NY and had a choice between electric baseboard heat and wood stove - I learned to chop wood and keep the stove stoked
Click to expand...

Keep in mind a heat pump will be 5-6 times more efficient than electrical resistance heat. Much less energy is used to pump heat than to generate it.

There is a good calculator here: http://roxwebdev01.pixelgate.net/gas_sizing/Raypak.php?appid=1

It is based on Raypak (Rheem) heat pumps, but it should give a rough idea of the costs based on pool size, use of a solar cover, geography, etc.
 
Correct, those are comparisons to electric resistance heating which is undoubtedly the least efficient way to heat anything. As Jay says heat pumps are 5-6 times more efficient than electric resistance heating. Natural gas can be cheaper to heat a pool, but it is close and depends on rates. Propane is not.

+1 for a wood stove! Love mine! Both of them. :)
 
I think it has been well established on past threads that using a heat pump to
maintain a temperature 24 hours a day is generally much cheaper than using natural gas. However, heat pumps have a hard time heating pools when the temperature is low while gas has much less difficulty in that situation.
 
grottoguy said:
I think it has been well established on past threads that using a heat pump to
maintain a temperature 24 hours a day is generally much cheaper than using natural gas. However, heat pumps have a hard time heating pools when the temperature is low while gas has much less difficulty in that situation.
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Again, that is also my understanding as well.
 
I have little experience with heat pumps - one rental had one, 20 years ago and in the winter it couldn't keep up. So it had "emergency heat" which was electric heat, and any time the temp was below about 40 it ran on "emergency" full time, which isnt efficient. Add to that my perception that a heat pump is essentially a reversible AC unit. And AC isnt perceived to be cheap to run. IM sure my perceptions are skewed but at least you know the history
 
grottoguy said:
I think it has been well established on past threads that using a heat pump to
maintain a temperature 24 hours a day is generally much cheaper than using natural gas. However, heat pumps have a hard time heating pools when the temperature is low while gas has much less difficulty in that situation.
Click to expand...

Heat pumps are slower to heat, but this season our 140K BTU Pentair unit heated our 35,000 gallon pool from 56°F to 78°F in 2 days. I was pleasantly surprised. Better than I expected.
 
Here is my take. I has a 140k BTU Hayward Heat Pump installed a few weeks ago. It has been horrible here weather wise, cold and rainy. Install was finished on a saturday and the water was in the 60's, by Monday the water was in the 80's. I have it set to 88 and it is like a hot tub at that temp and the chilly weather. It honestly doesnt run much now that it is up to temp. My pump runs for 3 hours in the morning and 3 hours early evening, so the HP cant run for more than 6 hours per day. When I first had it installed I ran the pumps 24 hours per day.

As for the cost for electric, I have no clue. I personally have not seen the bill yet and am not sure its even been a full billing cycle yet so wont know for a bit. I strongly feel though the initial bill will be a couple hundred more, but after that should balance to 100 more per month.

The $$ is well worth it though, without this heater with the weather this year the pool wouldnt be warm until July .. we have all been swimming and I can tell we will swim late into the year. 60 degrees temperature and 88 water is amazing! We have towels and robes out for all of us so when we get out we warm up quick.
 
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