new heater questions

Hi,

we have decided to bite the bullet and replace our pool heater for our in-ground pool. The inside of our last pool heater rusted (it's 17 years old) and mice built a nest in it.

The recommendation from haldane, our propane company was to replace the current heater with a 400,000 btu raypac millivolt pool heater pr406. They suggest the non-digital version due to the cost of repair if mice should get into it. The cost is $3100 for the heater, installation, hooking up to the propane and carting the old heater away. Haldane acknowledges that we can find it for less on the internet, get it installed and hooked up for less but then they won't service the heater for warranty repair. Haldane only carries raypac as they feel it's a good,solid brand and fairly simple.

In the mean time, we have (finally!) found a pool repair person we trust. He suggests we buy the heater, have him install it and he will service it. Haldane will have to come on site to hook it up to our propane tank. In the end, this option will probably save us $500-$700 as I see the heater online for $1600 or so. We also have a wider choice of heater options.

My concern is that some day our pool guy may decide he wants to do something else...or he may move and we're left without anyone to service it.

Here are my questions:
- digital or analog? It seems to me digital is a nice to have...
- raypac a good brand? Any reason to look at another brand?
- heat pump or heater?
- haldane or pool person installation?
- should I order the heater online?

tia,
jd

You need to do a cost-benefit, risk-benefit analysis.

In other words, say you save $600 and it costs you $2500 vs $3100. If your new guy vanishes after a year, that $600 will look like a bad savings and you should have stuck with Haldane.

But if he's with you for the next 15 years, clearly it will have been well-worth it to use him rather than Haldane.

Somewhere between 1 year and 15 years there's a time point where if he leaves it would be a wash whether you go with him or Haldane.

Figuring out that point is your cost benefit analysis.

Determining how likely this guy is to head off into the sunset by that time point is your risk-benefit analysis.

I'm using a GC on my house that I know for at least 11 years. On the latest project he actually took out stuff he had put in for us years ago! The guy who does our sprinklers every spring and fall has been doing it since the fall of 1997. We dread when he retires because the other guys in the company aren't nearly as good.

So, that's how I would make my decision.