Pool quotes

[Liz315]

Hi,
I have 2 pool quotes I’m hoping to get feedback on for the same leisure elegance 30’ fiberglass pool. We are doing a salt system and probably a heat pump because I have been told it offers an economical way to heat a pool if you keep it at a consistent temperature, I’m thinking like 85.

 

[Newdude]

Hey Liz and Welcome !! You'll need part #s for the equipment and extras so the pros know whats being installed other than 'VS pump upgrade'

Heat pumps shine at making the warm pool even warmer during the nice months but become expensive to run when it gets cool early/late in the season. They stop working altogether about 10 degrees (air temp ) sooner than a gas pump. The gas pump shines in heating a cool pool quickly early/late in the season. If it costs $100 to heat the pool for a weekend in Oct/Nov, you'll be thrilled to swim in Oct/Nov. It also costs the same to heat the pool from 80 to 85 for a weekend during the warm months so its better as an on-demand heater. Its hard to choose for most people because we all want a little of both.

 

[sktn77a]

Just an observation, the payment schedules are kinda front-loaded. This leaves you with little leverage for them to come back to fix things after the final payment. I'd want the final payment to be 10% of the total and to be paid when EVERYTHING is completed to you TOTAL satisfaction.

 

[uvavi8r]

@ Liz315, I am very interested in how your build goes, we are looking to put in a Elegance 26 in Northern Virginia. I initially had no response from Leisure about builder or pool information, but Luis got in touch last week. I hope we can come to some arrangement soon...Have they given you any indication of when they are going to start your build? Also, did you work with a local builder or did Leisure Pools get everything done.

Thanks for any advice you might have.

-Wes

 

[Candurin]

@Liz315 As you live 20-30 min from us and we are about to have our FG pool installed, I can say that our PB strongly recommended a gas heater and I’m glad they did. Our neighbor has a heat pump and he is NOT happy with it.

 

[Liz315]

Thanks that is a huge help. I truly appreciate your input.

 

[Liz315]

What fb pool are you going with? I’m also trying to decide on a 2HP pump vs a variable speed. I have read variable is much better as it’s cheaper to run and you always have moving water, but a pool builder said variable pumps tend to have more issues due to it being more complicated.

 

[Liz315]

@ Liz315, I am very interested in how your build goes, we are looking to put in a Elegance 26 in Northern Virginia. I initially had no response from Leisure about builder or pool information, but Luis got in touch last week. I hope we can come to some arrangement soon...Have they given you any indication of when they are going to start your build? Also, did you work with a local builder or did Leisure Pools get everything done.

Thanks for any advice you might have.

-Wes
[/
Leisure pools recommended my pool builder in my area. He is ordering the shell as soon as I provide a small deposit. He explained leisure like most manufacturers are backed up so I will find out as soon as we get it ordered. I suppose it depends on if they have any of the model I want in my size and color warehouses or already in production. I’m thinking probably not so it will be installed as soon as it comes in. I’m hoping for Sometime before May. Good luck with your build. I’d possibly suggest looking at a pool the size of the 26’ version if you have the space for slightly bigger, as originally we were going to go with something that size until we saw it, it’s very small. We saw the 33’ version in person and that was not big either, not that we want big, but for the amount of effort going in 30’ might be a good step up.

 

[Liz315]

Hey Liz and Welcome !! You'll need part #s for the equipment and extras so the pros know whats being installed other than 'VS pump upgrade'

Heat pumps shine at making the warm pool even warmer during the nice months but become expensive to run when it gets cool early/late in the season. They stop working altogether about 10 degrees (air temp ) sooner than a gas pump. The gas pump shines in heating a cool pool quickly early/late in the season. If it costs $100 to heat the pool for a weekend in Oct/Nov, you'll be thrilled to swim in Oct/Nov. It also costs the same to heat the pool from 80 to 85 for a weekend during the warm months so its better as an on-demand heater. Its hard to choose for most people because we all want a little of both.

So if we won’t be swimming off season, swimming only May-September in Southern New Jersey and hoping if economical to constantly keep the temperature at like 80-85 to cut the chill in the water swimming most days throughout the summer with young kids. Would a heat pump work taking into consideration we won’t have a solar cover and heat lose at night and during rain or will it still make more sense to do the gas heater and heat it on demand pretty much using it each morning to make it comfortable to swim during the day and shutting it off each night. How long would it take to warm the pool up with gas that way?

It’s 16,000 gallons. Heat pump they r offering is 117BTU. Gas Heater option is 250 BTU.

 

[Liz315]

I’m also thinking about doing a variable heat pump so I know the heaters required the pump to run while it’s on. Not sure if that matters.

 

[Liz315]

Last component we are using is a Hayward aquabrite 925 and a 330 cartridge filter.

 

[Newdude]

it appears from your wants that the heat pump is a good choice for you. You will primarily be using it to warm the pool during the swim season when its already warm. You'll also use it to get some extended time, but not alot. Both of those are perfect for a heat pump, even in NJ. If you wanted April and Oct, it wouldn't cut it most years.

There are some drawbacks though, the heat pump needs to be run all the time to be efficient, but then its expensive because it ran all the time. Its exactly the AC debate. Do you just leave it on all week and accept a high bill, or do you turn it off for 3 days, then make it struggle to cool the house down again and cost more in the 4 days than the whole week would have been if you just left it on in the first place. But the 7 day on bill isn't much cheaper either. Lol

Also, seriously consider getting a solar cover. I had one and I hated it, but I will still say that it worked without question. It flat out cut my operating cost in half. Its your hard earned money, do with it as you wish but consider it at least. I chose to use neither because the cover was a PITA and the bill was outrageous without it. So we just deal if its a little brisk. Most kids will swim with purple lips anyway.

@JamesW is great with the calculations to see what your hourly costs would be between gas/electric. Hopefully he can work his math magic for you.

 

[Liz315]

By expensive are you talking $200-$300/ month or like $600+? To keep it running all the time without a solar cover. Would it also be able to keep up after lots of rain or it would take days for it to get back up.
Aesthetically my husband will not let me do a solar cover (atleast until he gets a huge bill that is). Stupid I agree but with a modern house and him being an Architect it’s understandable.

I suppose I’m trying to figure out will it be cheaper to achieve what I’m trying to achieve with a heat pump for less than the monthly cost to run a gas heater on demand or will it cost the same to do so or more?

 

[Newdude]

By expensive are you talking $200-$300/ month or like $600+? To keep it running all the time without a solar cover.

I was $300-$400 covered and $600-$800 open. The price range was for warm/cold parts of the season. But I also have almost 3 times your gallons to heat and more surface area for it all to evaporate. (70% of heat loss is evap).

Would it also be able to keep up after lots of rain or it would take days for it to get back up.

Rain never mattered and I get the same storms you do, just 2 hours later.

Stupid I agree but with a modern house and him being an Architect it’s understandable

I hated my cover so much and the insane bill without it that I stopped using both. We just deal if its a little brisk. Taking the edge off is one thing but on cool days nobody ever felt like swimming anyway. And kids will usually swim with purple lips and fight to not come out. Your lips are PURPLE !! Look at you !!! Lol.

Give James a bit and hopefully he can math up some #s for comparison.

 

[Liz315]

Lol so true kids don’t care. Yeah that’s high no matter what. Hopefully the gas heater will work out for those specific cold nights/ days during the warmer season on demand. This is very helpful thanks.

 

[Candurin]

@Liz315 we chose Aloha pools out of Medford. So far, a wonderful company to work with!

 

[Redsand187]

I don't know if it will impact your thoughts on a variable speed pump, but in July 2021, Federal law will require all new pumps to be variable speed.

 

[Liz315]

@Liz315 we chose Aloha pools out of Medford. So far, a wonderful company to work with!

They do look great, I always like to see great reviews and they have plenty. What fiberglass shells do they install? Do they do leisure? What she’ll manufacturer are you going with?

 

[Candurin]

We are going with dolphin industries pools. They’re manufactured 15 min away.

 

[Liz315]

Hey Liz and Welcome !! You'll need part #s for the equipment and extras so the pros know whats being installed other than 'VS pump upgrade'

Heat pumps shine at making the warm pool even warmer during the nice months but become expensive to run when it gets cool early/late in the season. They stop working altogether about 10 degrees (air temp ) sooner than a gas pump. The gas pump shines in heating a cool pool quickly early/late in the season. If it costs $100 to heat the pool for a weekend in Oct/Nov, you'll be thrilled to swim in Oct/Nov. It also costs the same to heat the pool from 80 to 85 for a weekend during the warm months so its better as an on-demand heater. Its hard to choose for most people because we all want a little of both.

new pool build. This is my first pool so I have no clue what I’m doing besides what I have read on this forum.

DEFINITE KNOWNS:
-leisure pools, elegance 30’ in graphite grey
- 14x30” fiberglass pool rectangular (NO SPA)
- 16,000 gallons of water
- salt water system (Hayward aquabrite 925)
- gas heater (Hayward H-series 250 BTU)


- 330 cartridge filter
- 2” rigid plumbing pipe
- Hayward brand equipment is what the builder uses

QUESTIONS:
1. Based on the above info what size type pump should I get? Currently he has a 2HP pump but I have read it should not be oversized because it can overwhelm the system and cost more than it needs to to run. However the plumbing is 2” and the filter is oversized for the pool so that shouldn’t matter correct. At one point I thought about a variable speed pump but read it’s not good for a salt system pool or one with a heater since it needs to run at full speed anyway for those two things to work, plus my pool guy doesn’t like that they are more complicated. So then I’m thinking I should be fine with the regular pump, but should I go with the 2 HP? The pool guy likes it bigger to handle if there is ever an algae problem or something like that in the pool so it can be rectified quicker since it’s pumping more in a shorter period. Or should I do a 1.5 HP because it will cost less to run but run longer not leaving the water stagnant for too long. Will 1.5 HP cause any problems with the swg or the heater not being able to perform properly.

2. what Salt water generator should I ask for to make sure it’s able to produce enough chlorine? I read you should double the volume of ur pool so instead of 16,000 I should go with more than 32,000. Any suggestion for a specific model? He currently has in contract for Hayward Aquabrite 925.

3. does the gas heater Hayward h-series 250 BTU look ok?

I’m not looking for the best most expensive system. I’m looking for an easy to maintain pool that still keeps things simple.

thanks,
Liz