Using A/C to heat pool?

[moreyes]

Does anyone make a a/c unit that takes the heat from the condensing unit and rather than dumping it into the air puts the heat into the pool water?

[haze_1956]

Interesting you asked that, as the same thought had occurred to me !

I was at a friends house who had just put in an Inground Pool with an electric heater, which is only about 5 feet from his house A/C condensor. I looked at the two units sitting almost next to each other and thought "paying to get rid of heat and make heat at the same time. What a waste of money"

Surely some company must have made the connection.

Google-time

[Player101]

I thought about that exact same thing also. The heat wasted from the A/C should be recovered to heat a pool. Could you imagine how efficient that would make the A/C unit; being water cooled and heating the pool at the same time? In this time of energy conservation ideas like this should exist. If it's not already out there a person could make lots of money making an AC pool heater combo.

[cwstnsko]

I don't have any current links, but I did find a company that makes this set-up when I was researching prior to having the pool built. It was expensive, but dramatically incresed the efficency of both tasks. Here in AZ, it would only work for a month or so in the spring and fall. Then the pool water would get too hot.

Along similar lines, I had a discussion with a factory rep about installing a heat pump, and he said you CAN get measurable efficiency gains by placing the pool heat pump right next to the A/C unit. If you wanted to get tricky, you could construct some panels to either encourage or discourage the mixing of the air streams depending on the season.

[haze_1956]

After due thought. I think I have found the downside of this idea.

Which is that a house is an enclosed space with finite BTU's to take.

Once you have the house cooled down, your heat source is gone, or at best limited to the heat gain of the building.

Not as effecient as the limitless outdoor heat.

And it sounded so good on paper too !!
.

[cleancloths]

I recently read about a laundromat that does exactly this. There is some company out there that makes an evaporator modification that lets the evaporator from the central a/c dump its heat to water (i.e. a swimming pool).

[sparks999999999]

http://www.ecosmartinc.com/catsolar2special.php

http://www.heatsiphon.com/


here's a couple i've seen before.

[cwstnsko]

http://www.ecosmartinc.com/catsolar2special.php

http://www.heatsiphon.com/


here's a couple i've seen before.

I hadn't seen the 1st link before, that's interesting, but I wonder how effective it would be.

The second link just looks like a regular pool heat pump with lots of bells and whistles.

I think what the thread started out asking about is referred to as a "water source" home heat pump with the pool being the water that the house A/C dumps the heat into.

I did a little searching, but still haven't found the link I was looking for.

This link is starting to get close: http://www.dulley.com/docs/f458.htm

[gonefishin]

After due thought. I think I have found the downside of this idea.

Which is that a house is an enclosed space with finite BTU's to take.

Once you have the house cooled down, your heat source is gone, or at best limited to the heat gain of the building.

Not as effecient as the limitless outdoor heat.

And it sounded so good on paper too !!
.

But you don't have to depend on the A/C as your only heat source. You can use in in conjunction with solar or a gas "kicker" unit.

I wouldn't say it's a bad idea at all. The biggest problem for me is that my A/C unit is on the complete other side of my house


I'd say keep rolling with the idea!

dan

[cwstnsko]

This is really getting to what I remember: http://www.toad.net/~jsmeenen/pool/

That's the ticket! It can be made to switch back to air when the pool gets too warm