Opinion on whether new heaters are more efficient

[tkrotchko]

I have a roughly 20 year-old Pentair Mini Max NT heater, and I've replaced many parts on it to keep it running (blower mother, fenwal, three control boards, and now an igniter), and I'm okay fixing things from time to time, but it appears to me that our propane usage has shot way up this year, and we're not using it any more or less than other years.

Today, I looked at the flames coming from the burners, they're all bright blue, so I'm not sure what is going on.

Would a newer heater be more efficient in terms of propane usage? Is it possibly the combination of lots of old parts in this heater is contributing to some sort of inefficiency?

With propane so expensive, something that is just 15-20% more efficient could pay for itself quickly. I'd love to hear everyone's opinion.

--Tom

 

[cfherrman]

Is there a efficiency percentage listed on the heater? New ones are in the low 80's currently.

I'm guessing if your heat exchanger is plugged up on the inside you would lose efficiency. I don't know if this is common at all or not

 

[JamesW]

Heater efficiency really hasn't improved much.

You're really not sure if the current heater is operating inefficiently or not.

Going by "it seems like it's using more gas than normal" doesn't really help.

You can get a new heater if you're sure that the old heater has an issue. But, I don't think that there's enough information to make that diagnosis.

Are all conditions identical? Water temperature, air temperature, cover on or off etc?

 

[tkrotchko]

It's hard to say what's identical. We always keep our pool covered when we're not in it, and I would say if anything, this summer has been warmer than usual.

We just filled up a few weeks ago, I'll have to monitor it.