New to the POOL scene and need heating help

[madwil]

I'm personally favorable to natural gas than heat pumps-
natural gas (not LP!) is usually considerably cheaper than electricity per BTU, even with the price increases lately...
The advantage of a heat pump is primarily around 1 unit for heat and AC in a home, not in efficiency for heat alone!

[CarlD]

Madwil:

You may want to review that. Heat pumps are actually far more efficient for pool heating than they are for home heating. Heat pumps got a bad rap because they were installed in areas were temperatures would go into the low 30's and high 20's in the winter (Like the Washington, DC area) and then they would kick to resistance heating. But if the heat pump is working in temperatures of 58 degrees or above, they far outstrip NG and oil for efficiency. The latest version of heat pumps are called geothermal heat pumps because they don't use the air, but instead use the natural temperature of the ground below the frost line, usually in the mid 50's, for both heating and A/C. This has been a major break-through for heat pumps' efficiency in general. Yet pool heat pumps are already "there" so to speak.

Now a pool heater here in NJ going to be running when the air temp is in the 60's, 70's, 80's or even 90's, right in its sweet spot for efficiency. Meanwhile, a NG heater is simply adding calories to water at a certain temperature, and the air temp doesn't effect the efficiency of the burning gas at all. My next door neighbor has NG and he tells me he HATES to run it--his gas bill goes, well, through the roof.

Personally, I'm a solar guy, but I have good sun on my pool. I would not personally install a NG heater in NJ. But when I did the wiring for my pool, I had the electrician run cable so I can put in a heat pump if I ever want to go that route.

However, with my parents' pool, years ago, a 13-15,000 gallon AG, I put a 20'x4' and 10'x4' set of flexible solar panels. They had poor sun coverage--only about 6 hours directly on the panels per day. Yet their pool, which for years had been a chilly 78 deg, was 84 deg all summer--nice and comfortable.

Carl

[madwil]

haven't seen the new HP data, interesting to I assume bury the heat exchanger to use the ground?
Still, electricity comes from nukes, NG, coal, or hydro plants on the East coast, with more wind farms in the west than in the east...
The cost of electricity is typically based on price of fuel, plus distribution; they gain efficiency in bulk plants...
However, converting fuel to electricity to a mechanical force (HP works by compressing/expanding gases) to heat seems overall lots of room to lose energy- where NG concentrates all the energy right where you want it! I'll have to look into the pool specific units...
I know that furnace only homes, with no AC, are still more economical on NG, but the gap may be much narrower now than in the past!

[CarlD]

Madwil,

The carbon footprint etc of electricity vs NG is all very interesting and something I'm fascinated by, but it's for the China Shop.
The OP is looking for a recommendation and, as such the metered cost of the NG is likely to be far higher than the metered cost of the HP. That's what it comes down to. Will it cost $100/month or $400/month to heat the pool?

Carl

[madwil]

agree completely- the cost is the determining factor; my past experience (none heating pools) with heat is NG is much more efficient- more BTU/dollar- than electricity...
But haven't worked in heat in a couple years, so as stated am behind on the newer HP technology, and haven't done a straight comparison on HP vs NG for pool heating!

[CarlD]

That's OK. It's apples and oranges. Heat pumps for home heating vs heat pumps for pool heating. Very different conditions.
And geo-thermal heat pumps are a "hot" technology.

Carl

[Jlrymedic]

However, with my parents' pool, years ago, a 13-15,000 gallon AG, I put a 20'x4' and 10'x4' set of flexible solar panels. They had poor sun coverage--only about 6 hours directly on the panels per day. Yet their pool, which for years had been a chilly 78 deg, was 84 deg all summer--nice and comfortable.

Carl

Does anyone have pictures of a solar setup, and maybe a supply list with instructions??? I want to put some kind of solar heat on my pool in Central Illinois, but I'm not very technical.

[wsommariva]

I have a heat pump - Rheem/Rudd. 10,400 gal inground. I like it. I also live in NJ - Northern and have lots of trees and not too much sun. We open the pool, turn on the heat pump and keep it at 77 all season. Once it heats up it rarely goes on. Hard to tell the cost since I have a 1.5 HP pump running ten hours a day.

[tnt69]

Would a Heat Pump work to heat & cool a pool? We are getting ready to install a 21x43-54" AGP & I would like to open it like late April & keep it open till some time in October. Living in Southern Illinois, we need the heat early & alittle bit late, but with long stretches of 95-100 degrees, we could also use some cool down at times too.

[FlowerPool]

Cwalker...do u have pix of your hose on the roof?