Suggested Pentair Variable Speed Pump + Heater Programming

[Kainhighwind5]

Hi all, some background - I’m based in South Florida so the pool is used year round here (mostly) and our pool is used daily by my daughter who has swim lessons, and the family jumps in the pool on the weekends.

I have a Pentair SuperFlo Variable Speed
Pump with a Pentair Ultra Temp Heater connected. The heater (as I understand it) is like a reverse air conditioner, and pulls in warm air to heat the water.

The neat part (to me at least!) about this setup is I can essentially control when the Heater turns by reducing the flow rate to a point that the heater won’t turn on. For my setup, the minimum RPM needed at the pump to engage the heater is 1750 RPM (tested and confirmed).

With that in mind, my understanding is that the most efficient time to have this model heater working is while the sun is out, and it auto shuts off once desired water temp is reached, so I’d love some feedback on this programming schedule:

- 8AM - 12 PM: 3450 RPM, heater ON
- 12PM - 8PM: 1750 RPM, heater ON
- 8PM - 2AM: 1200 RPM, heater OFF

Open to feedback and suggested modifications, thanks in advance for the support.

 

[ajw22]

Heat pumps heat slowly and are best used to maintain a water temperature.

With the HP off from 8pm to 8am you need to see how much heat you lose during the night and how long it takes the HP to get the pool back to desired temperature. If people want the pool at that temperature at 9am the HP will probably not get it there in time.

Covering the pool when not in use and when the HP is off will minimize temperature loss, HP runtime, and your energy costs.

 

[Kainhighwind5]

Heat pumps heat slowly and are best used to maintain a water temperature.

With the HP off from 8pm to 8am you need to see how much heat you lose during the night and how long it takes the HP to get the pool back to desired temperature. If people want the pool at that temperature at 9am the HP will probably not get it there in time.

Covering the pool when not in use and when the HP is off will minimize temperature loss, HP runtime, and your energy costs.

Appreciate the response - current programming setup has the heat pump able to run from 6AM - 12PM then from 8PM - 2AM. Feels like I’m missing out on solid ideal heating time by not taking advantage of the sun between 12PM - 8PM, but I see your point. I may tweak the programming settings to allow the heater to be “able to run” till 10PM then to your point, see how much temp is lost over the evening.

Agree with covering pool, but can’t entertain that option at this time for a variety of reasons, so I’ll keep tinkering with programming to find an ideal setup.

Thanks again for the assist.