Adding Electric Pool Heater

[sweethomeru]

Greetings Villagers!
I bought a pool home recently that has a solar heating system. Needless to say, it's just not doing the job adequately enough during the winter months.
I'd appreciate hearing from anyone who has added an electric pool heater to augment their solar system.
I'd love to know how your installation experience went, and how satisfied you are after the sale.
Thank you in advance.

[Chatbrat]

Had an electric only in NC--$600.00/month bill for the house--$450/ was the pool

[Goldwingnut]

Use gas heater, they can install an underground tank if you don’t have gas available, much more cost effective. If you have a gas grill or fire pit then can add a connection and stop having to get the tank refilled.

[Toymeister]

There are two ways you can heat a pool with electricity. One was posted above, resistance heat, cheaper to install but consumes three times the power of a heat pump heater. I have one of those but I haven't received the first electric bill yet.

The cost of a heat pump for just the part is close to three grand on Amazon.

[Michigan Farmer]

Look into a heat pump, no fuel, takes heat from the air to warm the water. Reverse air conditioner

[starflyte1]

I have always had heat pump when I have a pool. We bought a home with solar and had a heat pump too. Never used the solar.
I like the water warm!

I did make a mistake with my heat pump. It does not automatically circulate to maintain the temp. The pump must be on manually. Just a little annoying.

I don’t keep records of electric cost, but have never noticed a huge increase in my bills.

It is surprising how quickly pool heats. The pool is 10 x 20 and 4 ft deep

[Kahuna32162]

We have a supplemental gas heater installed by T&D. Only turn it on when we need it. Solar does the rest.

[TCRSO]

You will spend big $$ with electric. Gas or heat pump only

[Henryfrakl]

Used T&D Pool and spa. Did not have Solar but went with an electric heater. Bought the largest one they had and was only $400.00 additional.
I can heat my pool in half the time and because of that unit runs half the time.
So suggest going bigger you will not regret it

[PoolBrews]

Go with the biggest heat pump you can get. I have a 140K heat pump on a 7,000 gallon pool. I use a solar cover at night to prevent heat loss. We keep the pool at 88 this time of year. It takes about 1 1/2 - 2 hours to heat to 88 each morning. The heater adds about $30 to our monthly electric bill.

Gas is far more expensive than a heat pump - especially if you have to use propane. A heat pump like mine runs around $3,100 (uninstalled), while a 400K gas heater will run around $2,400 (unless you need put in a propane tank - then you need to add that cost). You'll make up the difference in price the first year.

Our pool builder used all Hayward. If I were buying my own heat pump, I would look at the AquaCal line. It is more efficient and quieter in operation than the Hayward. Hayward and Pentair, for heat pumps, are very similar in specs.

If you go to troublefreepool online you'll find more info about pools than you ever imagined!

Hope this helps!

[candl]

I have Heat Pump for my pool , for past six years.
Prior home in S W Fl had one for 20 years still going strong when I moved.
They take longer to heat than gas just plan ahead, a lot cheaper to run vs gas.

[Juliebythesea]

Are you using a pool blanket with the solar heater
Ours worked like a charm
Also helps if your solar panel heater gets adequate sun

[LAP17]

We have a larger pool heated with propane. Propane is too expensive to heat with during the winter ($2.50-5.00 per gallon), so we paid $5000 last week to install a heat pump. It keeps the pool fairly warm so we merely supplement the heat pump with propane to keep it at 84. Have not yet received our first electric bill. We got a Pentaire compatible heat pump purchased through Pinch a Penny.

[Bob45]

Look into adding extra solar panels to your system. It works well for me. My pool is 80+ except for about 6 weeks in the winter. Then it's mostly in the mid to upper 70's.

[sweethomeru]

Go with the biggest heat pump you can get. I have a 140K heat pump on a 7,000 gallon pool. I use a solar cover at night to prevent heat loss. We keep the pool at 88 this time of year. It takes about 1 1/2 - 2 hours to heat to 88 each morning. The heater adds about $30 to our monthly electric bill.

Gas is far more expensive than a heat pump - especially if you have to use propane. A heat pump like mine runs around $3,100 (uninstalled), while a 400K gas heater will run around $2,400 (unless you need put in a propane tank - then you need to add that cost). You'll make up the difference in price the first year.

Our pool builder used all Hayward. If I were buying my own heat pump, I would look at the AquaCal line. It is more efficient and quieter in operation than the Hayward. Hayward and Pentair, for heat pumps, are very similar in specs.

If you go to troublefreepool online you'll find more info about pools than you ever imagined!

Hope this helps!

Thank you Irvalley for the info. My solar system keeps the pool between 70-75 degrees this time of year so I'll only need to boost it by 10 degrees or so. Any installers you can recommend?

[PoolBrews]

I would probably do it myself, if I were just replacing :)

Premier Pools of Central Florida did my pool install, and they were great. You have to make sure you specifically put in the whole name on Google - turns out there is a national company called Premier Pools and Spas that has a very bad reputation.

Premier Pools of Central Florida is locally owned (Winter Park, FL) and has been in business for some time, but they are a Hayward dealer. Not sure if they handle AquaCal (I didn't know enough to ask them when we signed the contract). We have the Hayward HP 21404T, and it works great.

The AquaCal is more efficient (cost less to run), has great reviews, and is 10db quieter than the Hayward.

[sweethomeru]

Are you using a pool blanket with the solar heater
Ours worked like a charm
Also helps if your solar panel heater gets adequate sun

I am using a pool blanket and my solar heater gets plenty of sun.

[PoolBrews]

I am using a solar cover as well this time of year. During December and early January, when I heated to 88 and didn't have a solar cover, the temp dropped to 77-78 overnight and it takes the heater a good 3-4 hours to bring it back up.

With a solar cover, it only dropped to 83-84 overnight and took the heater 1-2 hours to bring it back up.

You don't need a high end cover - they list them as 2 year, 5 year, 7 year... none of them will last more than 2 years in the Florida sun. I got mine for $37 at Home Depot. Get the cheapest one you can get.

[sweethomeru]

One of the companies I contacted Fiesta Pools who constructed the pool. They only carry Hayward but it is the least expensive so far at $4600 including installation and electrical. It's rated the same as yours at 140,000 btus.


HeatPro Heat Pump | Heaters | In Ground Pool Heaters - Hayward Pool Products (https://www.hayward-pool.com/shop/en/pools/heatpro-in-ground-heat-pump--140-000-btus-hp21404t)

I went to pinch-a-penny and the Aquacal was $2000 more without electrical.

Thoughts?

[tophcfa]

T&D built our pool and we have both solar and an electric heat pump. Solar only is good for about 9 1/2 months per year, but during cold winter months, when the days are short and the sun is low we need the heat pump. We also have a pool cover that we only use during the coldest times of the year. With the cover on the pool the solar will heat the pool some during sunny days but once the sun gets low we run the heat pump. With the cover always on unless we are using the pool, the heat pump works great. During the last week, when it was very cold, our heat pump kept the pool in the low 90 degree range. We have found that the heat pump uses about the same amount of electricity as our A/C uses during the summer months. Since we don’t use the A/C in the winter, the cost is very reasonable. I am not sure how well the heat pump would work with no pool cover. Also, the pool cover holds in chlorine so you need to adjust the pools chemistry when using the cover or the chlorine levels will get too high. Hope this helps.