[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]

Originally Posted by 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

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

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.