To understand why I want to put the heater on a timer, I have to go back a little bit.
I was sold a Hayward SWG rated at 40K gallons for an 8500-gallon pool. The SWG came on with the pool pump's analog timer. Even at the lowest setting of 5, the SWG was creating way too much chlorine, so I had to put it on its own timer to limit the time it was on. I chose a WifI timer so I could make all the tweaks I needed from my phone with an excellent result.
That led me to thinking - which usually means trouble and expense. I hate the analog timers with the wheels and the on and off pins, so I figured I should replace both of the pump timers (high and low) with the same wifi timers, giving me easy access to change pump times. I can even tell Alexa to turn it on and off while vacuuming the pool. This mod also turned out great!
That led me to thinking – again. Due to the built-in flow sensor, my heater only works when the pump is at high speed. Since I always have the heater set at the same temperature when I am using it, the only thing I control on the heater is when it is on and off. A timer would allow me to set a routine to turn it off for ten days while I am away and come back two days before I come back to get the pool up to temperature. That would coincide with the pump being on high speed long enough to let the heater work.
So, in the end, all the wifi timers will be an inexpensive way to get all my equipment automated without sending a thousand on a pool automation system. I could set up a routine and say, "Alexa, heat the pool for the next two days," and would set the timers accordingly to make that happen.
As an IT person for years, I am not convinced powering down a circuit board will reduce its life. The SWG gets powered on and off every day with no ill effects. There may be something to powering it down while it's heating, but the timers would be set to ensure that didn't happen.
Anyway, you asked
