New Heater

[PoolDoc]

Considering that you can get a new Hayward heater installed for $2,000 - $2,500, the gas company's prices is excessive.

Do you mean burner tray, or heat exchanger? $900 is not necessarily out of line for the heat exchanger, but it is for a burner tray. I think you need to see if you can have a knowledgeable local pool guy take a look. Spending $100 to have some give you more reliable hands-on info would be worthwhile, under the circumstances, I think.

The consensus that the Hayward is better, is from here, and it's an informal rather than formal thing. One key point is that only the Hayward offers salt compatibility on their standard heater. Another is that Pentair has drastically cut its warranty on direct-to-consumer sales.

[lstinthot]

Would you recommend going with a heat pump over the propane heater if you are changing the heater or putting a new heater in? Our heater is not starting, we have an older pentair 400 something. I cut the pipes to it for now. It started 2 years ago just to test it out. Did not want the cost of the propane bill so we never used it.

[bottomcat]

@PoolDoc: Any recommendations on a NG heater for 24' round? I'm looking at between 150,000 and 250,000 BTU and I am using chlorine. Thanks!

[PoolDoc]

Just posted this list in another thread.

The Hayward Universal is the Support Team consensus:
Natural gas models:

• Hayward H300FDN Universal H-Series Low Nox 300,000-BTU Natural Gas Pool Heater
• Hayward H250FDN Universal H-Series Low Nox 250,000-BTU Natural Gas Pool Heater
• Hayward H200FDN Universal H-Series Low Nox 200,000-BTU Natural Gas Pool Heater
• Hayward H150FDN Universal H-Series Low Nox 150,000-BTU Natural Gas Pool Heater

It's not that we think the other heaters are bad (except for the StaRite!), but the Hayward has a combination of features and pretty good reliability that put it on top. The Pentair heaters are out -- unless your contractor buys it -- because Pentair has slashed the warranty on consumer purchases.