Help, I need a heater

[viperbrock2003]

OK, that sounds good! Does anyone have a good suggestions for a hot tub heater with a pump attached? i know nothing about hot tubs... can you get one that is an all in one that i can just plug in? if you cant tell I'm looking for the simplest way around this. lol. if any has a good web site please let me know.
Thanks

[dstarr62]

If you decide to go the hot tub heater route, what you're looking for is known as a spa pack. They can either be bought with just the heater and control unit or can also include a pump. I had to replace the spa pack on my hot tub last year, and I think it was around $700 for the pump, heater, and control unit. Do a search on Spa Pack and you should get several results.

Some things to keep in mind: Unless you have 220V power, you'll want to get a spa pack that is wired for 110V. You will want to wire it into a GFI circuit. An electrician can probably expand on this.

Most spa packs with pumps come with a 2 speed pump, the lower speed is for circulating the water when the temp drops below the set level, and the high speed is for when the spa is in use. Some control units are set up for 2 pumps, 1 a low speed pump and the second a high speed pump. For your application I doubt you would ever want to use the high speed. You might be better off getting a spa pack with only a low speed pump.

In hot tubs, the pump(s) are designed to plug into the control unit, for power and to control the on/off. Not sure if the existing pump you have could be wired to plug into the control unit. Also something an electrician can answer better than I can.

Finally, depending on whether you get an air switch control unit or electronic control unit, you will need to make sure the spa pack comes with the spa side controls, otherwise you may have to buy them seperately.

Hope this helps,
Don

[viperbrock2003]

ok i'll give that a try, thanks.

[harryk]

A couple of thoughts:

First, efficiency is not an issue. Electric resistive heat, which you are dealing with, is 100% efficient. Every KWH you buy gives exactly 1 KWH of heat to the pool. 220 V gives you smaller wires and smaller breakers and, for large heaters a cheaper and easier installation, but does not save you any (well, there is a little issue called line losses, but that is VERY little) on the power bill over 110 V. (technically, the current is 1/2, but the volts are double so the power is the same)

A 110 V can be done by plugging into an existing GFI outlet, assuming that this is code (I'm not sure), or worse case, wiring into the existing outlet. Much cheaper.

This may seem really wierd, but a solar cover is essential. The biggest thing a solar cover does is NOT "solar heat" but rather, it reduces the "evaporative heat loss" that comes from the water evaporating. The solar cover, even in your garage, will keep the pool from evaporating and cooling off. It will also help your humidity in the garage. Actually, in the garage, be real acccurate on the cutting to fit, so you don't have any open water around the edges, and it may help the humidity a LOT. This effect (evaporative cooling) is exactly why you feel cold when you are wet - the water evaporting off your skin makes you feel cold. In the pool, the water evaporting off the surface of the pool makes the pool cold.

Good luck!

Harry