General advice on replacing 15 year old equipment

Folks,

We are at a point now where we need to replace, either completely, or pretty much completely, all our in-ground 30K pool equipment. Much of it worked (lasted) for quite some time, although some crapped out right away. I'm even open to having to remodel the pool if need be, although obviously just being able to repair/replace what I have is best.

We have a salt chlorinator that bit the dust around five or six years ago (mostly the electronics box). I went to using chlorine tabs and that seemed MUCH easier and worked almost as well (I do miss our salt pool for the feel). The biggest issue was the filter itself got clogged up all the time requiring a high pressure washout at least once a month during the season. At least until the electronics box bit the dust (it kind of faded away until I could no longer even see the LCD).

We have a very huge DE filter that this old man finds a challenge nowadays to lift out (9 pounds of DE but after a lot of cleaning dirt/crap the filter itself seems to weigh around 70 pounds). Also the pressure gauge no longer works, so I clean it by feel (at this point in time I know pretty much when it needs to be completely cleaned). No backwashing, so it always has to be a complete change (but I guess that's typical of DE, right?). It seems to be working but the clamps on the side are deteriorating as is the entire casing, so I really think I need to replace it. My theory is there should be *something* easier to maintain but as I read the Pool Guy's basic instructions he says DE best for clear water and we love our super clear water.

We have a 1 1/2 HP pump, the Pentair Max-e Pro, which I'm guessing is too big (again, according to the PG) but not only do we have solar but as part of this renovation we intend to put a waterfall in, so I'm not so sure I should downside. The pump I replaced myself a couple of years ago but it's NOT efficient (as it was an exact replacement of a pump installed there 12 years previous, for ease of replacement). I see that nowadays there are a lot more efficient pumps but this one seems to be working just fine and I think I could replace it myself again if need be (assuming they still make them).

The biggest overall problem we have is trying to get heat again in our pool but I already asked about heat pumps in another thread. I think we made a mistake trying to heat the entire pool in the winter here in central Florida, and now I only want to get March/April and perhaps all of October (our solar panels don't get any of these months - we are old people and need the water to be 82+, preferably even 85/86). Our gas heater bit the dust after only two or three years (we also used it to heat the hot tub but we almost never used that).

Finally, the electronics are shot. The PG guy here says that's to be expected, I guess, but they worked for a LONG time (almost ten years). Then the indoor control went tits up and now I have to go outside to turn on/off the pool pump. Most of the switches have broken down, and after replacing two or three of them I gave up anyway, and now just switch things by hand. It would be nice (again, old man) to have it all automated again, at least so I could turn it on and off in the house but when I contacted the pool parts people they basically said I would most likely have to replace the whole outside control panel, which is above my pay grade (I say this, not them :>).

We have an inground filter, which PG says no-no but it's too late, it's there and no way to switch out. I can't even get an auto vacuum, as there is no place to plug it into (at least in the pool - I guess I could use the water hose outside but there's no way I'm going to do that). It now only has around four of the nine "sprayers" (the little things in the pool floor that push the dirt around, theoretically into the drains) working. I'm guessing they might be fixed but, again, above my pay grade. So I vacuum manually out of the skimmer once a week - that's about all that's needed as we have a screened in lanai that keeps most of the crap out.

So -- ANY advice on the various things I need/should do would be helpful. Again, I'm willing to do some major renovation if needed, although would prefer not to do so.