Propane vs. Electric Heat Pump in Massachusetts

[rjparker]

Thank you everyone for your feedback and thoughts. Appreciate it greatly.

Now for a slightly different perspective. That heated pool will cost you more in operating expenses than your house. Plus you will lose water at an alarming rate, costing more to replace it. The chemical balance becomes more difficult along the way.

Most adults lose their love affair with the pool after a couple of years and especially as they age. What they always appreciate is an attached hot tub that can be quickly heated on demand by a 400k heater. Or the same day with a heat pump. But at much lower expense. By the way a heat pump can be noisy, a gas heater is quiet.

 

[Katodude]

If you go propane, make sure you shop around for your fills. I just got a coupon from Amerigas for $1.99. They are coming today to fill the tank.

 

[JustPeachy]

Just chiming in with a bit of a different take.

Heat pump technology is constantly changing and improving. 10 years ago it was common to trash air source heat pumps for homes because they "can't heat under 30 degrees F". Nowadays most big companies have models that can provide heat (without aux heat strips) down to 4 degrees F, and some models can produce heat as low as -20 DEGREES F!.

That technology is starting to bleed over into pool heat pumps as well. For instance, the Raypak Crosswind 65-I can give 61k BTUs for between 1-2kws of electricity in optimal temps, and has a defrost cycle for a reason (because it can work in temps where the coil would freeze over). Put 2 of them together and youve got a very efficient heating system that can work in a wide variety of temps for 15-20ish amps.

So what? Well I'm saying all of that because I think heat pump technology is already very close to surpassing fossil fuel heating technology for every use case except heating something very quickly, but in 10 years time, who knows, we might have 200-300k BTU heat pumps. That might impact which way you'd go now.

 

[Bill1974]

Doing some math to figure out what the cost to operate based on how you plan to use it is what you need to do. If you don't want to deal with a cover, heat the pool quickly and not on a regular basis, gas is the way to go. If you want to it maintained above what it will naturally be with sun exposure, a cover and HP probably are the best bet. If it's just to extend the season a few weeks, gas is also likely the easier but more costly to operate option.

Another thing to possibly consider is maintenance costs/efforts. Most people are comfortable maintaining gas equipment, what will take to have someone do that for you? A HP probably have less to maintenance. Repairs if you're not up for doing it yourself it's probably a wash, if you are up for you could probably handle more things on a gas heater, some repairs on a HP will require special equipment.

As others have said noise could be a consideration.

If cost is not a factor (up front and operating) gas is probably the right choice.