We are on day three of freezing weather in Oklahoma and my water temps are getting very low. Pool is open and pumps are running continuously. My question is, can I use the pool heater now or no? To try and heat things up a bit? It's a Hayward gas heater... thanks!
Using heater in freezing temps?
- Thread starter Mlsemler
- Start date
- May 3, 2014
- 58,521
- Pool Size
- 6000
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
You can, but unless the pool is covered, it will not do much. Just keep the water pumping. A tarp or blanket over the surface equipment with a drop light underneath is the best idea.
Thanks for your reply. So it won't damage the heater to turn it on? If the pumps are going continuously, will it be OK even if the water hits 32 degrees? We never have cold snaps lasting this long and I am sick with worry. I don't have a tarp -- can I literally just throw a large fleece blanket over all of the equipment?
- May 3, 2014
- 58,521
- Pool Size
- 6000
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
You can run the heater, it will not harm it.
Not sure I would use fleece, it is plastic. Cotton would be better. Do you have a drop light or other light source (incandescent bulb for heat)? The bulb needs some protection. A drop light has a cage around the bulb.
Not sure I would use fleece, it is plastic. Cotton would be better. Do you have a drop light or other light source (incandescent bulb for heat)? The bulb needs some protection. A drop light has a cage around the bulb.
Thank you so much. I have read some places not to use the heater/turn it on in freezing temps -- why is that? Of course, water is flowing through it even now, so it doesn't make much sense to me why I couldn't...
- May 23, 2015
- 24,447
- Pool Size
- 16000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
From the Pentair Mastertemp Manual (but is pretty much the case for all gas heaters) -
- May 3, 2014
- 58,521
- Pool Size
- 6000
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
I stand corrected -- odd when we have integrated spas most of us use in the winter.
Sorry for the misinformation.
Sorry for the misinformation.
- May 23, 2015
- 24,447
- Pool Size
- 16000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
A low volume water body like a spa will heat up quickly enough to not matter. A large volume pool will not and the heater flue gas will have a longer exposure to condensing temperatures. The water vapor in the gas will mix with NOx and sulfurous compounds forming a very acidic mixture. This is similar to how car exhausts back east and in the north will rot out if you make short runs with your car - the automobile engine exhaust condenses in the tail pipe and muffler and rots out the metal. When I lived in NY, muffler changes were a common occurrence if you owned the same car for the long haul....
That says don't use with water temp below 68, not air temp. So presumably, it's fine to use in freezing weather to keep a spa hot, as the water temp is much higher than 68. Also it says continuously and final temp, so it also implies it's fine to use to heat water below that, so long as you keep heating till it's above that temp.
To the OP...if your temps remain low, consider running out to lowes or hd to get a tarp and consider a few warming lights, eg the kind they use in chicken coops in winter. That will help protect the system a bit if its outside and your temps are low. Wind at these temps is also your enemy, so the tenting is generally worthwhile.
Box up or ziplock bag any electrical you run out to the pad to run the lights. Fingers crossed for you
Box up or ziplock bag any electrical you run out to the pad to run the lights. Fingers crossed for you
sktn77a
Gold Supporter
Actually, sktn, they're not talking about rain, which the heat exchanger is protected from by a weather shield. They're talking about using a heater to take water from say 40 degrees and heating it to under, or maintaining at 68 degrees.
The coldness of the water going through the heat exchaner pipes versus the flame is what can cause the condensation they're talking about. Combined with extremely cold makeup air being drawn into the system, this create corrosive condensate and cause sooting which further exacerbates condensate because now your partly blocking the venting of the combustion gasses, which instead condense into a sticky greenish substance that's difficult to clean.
In other words, if you were going to heat 40 degree water to 80, by that time the exchanger would be running warmer due to the 80 degree water running through it. That's why its not an issue to start up your heater in the spring even with cold water...in a set number of hours your water will be warmed past the problem area.
At least, that's my layperson's understanding after discussing the phenom with a mfg rep.
The coldness of the water going through the heat exchaner pipes versus the flame is what can cause the condensation they're talking about. Combined with extremely cold makeup air being drawn into the system, this create corrosive condensate and cause sooting which further exacerbates condensate because now your partly blocking the venting of the combustion gasses, which instead condense into a sticky greenish substance that's difficult to clean.
In other words, if you were going to heat 40 degree water to 80, by that time the exchanger would be running warmer due to the 80 degree water running through it. That's why its not an issue to start up your heater in the spring even with cold water...in a set number of hours your water will be warmed past the problem area.
At least, that's my layperson's understanding after discussing the phenom with a mfg rep.