Heat Pump in the New York/North East Area Make Sense ? Survey Please

[CarlD]

The other question that comes to mind is are you planning to use your pool everyday or leave it for a week or more at a time. For everyday use you'll probably want the heat pump since it's supposed to be far less expensive to run on an everyday basis. But if you have to heat the pool up because it has sat, then gas may be the way to go.

Have you considered solar? You said you have a great deal of sunlight. Trust me, it works where you live. I give this as an example:

My parents had an 18x33 oval 4' deep. I installed a 4x20 and 4x10 panel for them--just the two panels. Their pool (and the panels) only got 6 hours of direct sun a day (too many trees), yet the pool which NEVER went over 80 in years past, stayed at 84 all summer.

The kicker: their house is in Ossining. That's Northern Westchester.

[akrauss]

Thanks CarlD. This is my primary (and only) residence so the pool will not sit idle. The idea is to make it warm enough to really make good use. I am a lap swimmer and would love to try and get in almost every day.

Ahhhh .... solar. Now why did you have to complicate my choices -- and Ossining is approx 15 min. from me ! Several people have suggested solar, but I guess, I mentally pushed that aside because I was pulling my hair out with only two choices. Also, my house sits terraced above the pool which is probably 10 feet below. Between the house and the pool is a two tiered 8-10 foot railroad tie retaining wall. Thus, I envision another difficult process to pipe it up to house and down to the pool. Dont see how to add a photo to the post, otherwise I would show you what I am up against and no we didnt build the pool, it was preexisting at the house we purchased approx. 4 years ago.

How much for a solar system to suit my needs, with or without labor ?

Thanks again for your help.

[Poconos]

About the solar...all it takes is a south, or somewhat south, facing area and as much space as you have. I have a back field about 70' from the pool that is unmowed. Laid out 1200' of black poly 1/2" pipe on rolled shingles to give the pipe a black surface to sit on. Total area is about 8' x 50' and it could be shrunk if more effort was put into laying the pipe. When the grass grows you can't even see it. Pros about homebrew, cheap. Cons, not as efficient as a mat heater.
Unless you use something like photobucket you can't post pics on the forum. Even we mods can't. Bah!
Al

[akrauss]

Thanks Al. Unfortunately all the sun I get is on an east/west facing roof. I have NO south facing roof and no other area to lay out such a system.

[CarlD]

Panels can be set on angled racks--they actually face the sun better. I have a FantaSea pool--the deck is the solar heater!

[cleancloths]

I'm in northern NJ and have had a heatpump for 10 years. Its an 85,000 btu unit and my pool is a 20 x 40 inground - works great. Whatever you do make sure to use a solar cover on the pool at night and when not in use - it makes a huge difference. Two years ago I added a pair of 2' by 20' solar panels that just lay on the ground by the fense. They handle all the heating of the pool from late may till mid august. The heat pump is only needed to bring the pool up to temp (like I did two weeks ago) and to provide some extra heat during april and early may and mid august till I close in late sept.

[DanS]

I've had a heat pump in Maryland for 6 years. It cost more than double the price of a propane heater. Now it needs a $1500 repair, and I'm going to get rid of it and switch to propane. For me, I think the up front additional cost was greater than any savings I may have had from using a heat pump. With the house and pool using electricity, I can't say how much it cost to run the heat pump, but I doubt I saved at least $500 per summer, and it only lasted 6 years until the expensive problem. What I dislike is that it only raises the pool temperature a few degrees per day, even running nearly 24 hours per day and using a cover. Last fall, it couldn't even maintain the temperature at the end of the season. I need to run my pool a lot more than I would run it with a more powerful heater, so this is an additional cost. Whatever you choose, the solar cover was a big help, and they don't cost much.