solar pool heater

[russ]

Hopefully the one you are looking to heat your pool will work.

It seems the dedicated pool heating type should work.

1) low delta T so they can be efficient - they claim a COP of 5.5 to 6

2) titanium heat exchangers solve part of the water chemistry problem.

I would prefer to buy one from one of the large companies rather than one of the pool heating mini companies that have come up recently.

[SunEagle]

I have begun seeing condensers available for transferring heat from a/c compressors into pool water. The potential for energy savings are significant, after all there are rebates and tax credits available for geothermal heat pumps. Using 85 degree water for condensing your refrigerant is much more effective than using 100 degree air. If you have a closed loop solar heating system and the fluid you are circulating through your panels is much hotter than outside air temp, then this would not be helpful. If your A/C compressor is located near your pool then this kind of system could work. You would be saving the electricity that the condenser fan burns, and the compressor would not have to work as hard. I tried to get one of my areas better HVAC guys interested n this without success. I'd sure like to hear if anyone out there has done this with good results.

There were a lot of homes in my neighborhood (including mine) that had a heat exchanger (or economizer) which would transfer excess heat from my AC compressor to our water heater.

While it seemed like a good idea back in the late 80's that unit tended to leak or have other issues just few years after being installed. Everyone that had one has removed it.

Hopefully the one you are looking to heat your pool will work.

[trainpilot]

Thanks for the suggestion Russ. What I'm seeking though, is feedback from someone who is using the waste heat from their home air conditioning system to heat their pool. The packaged heat pump pool heaters are heating the pools by cooling the air that the fan blows through the evaporator. It looks like they work pretty well, particularly when the outside air temp is not too cool. But if someone is running significant air conditioning inside their house, they could be heating their pool just by pumping a bit of pool water through a water-cooled refrigerant condenser. I realize that now we're looking at a system that does not use solar, but I'm hoping to someday take advantage of this, and integrate this with my solar pool heating.

[russ]

I'd sure like to hear if anyone out there has done this with good results.

Google "heat pump pool heaters reviews"

[trainpilot]

heat from A/C to pool

I have begun seeing condensers available for transferring heat from a/c compressors into pool water. The potential for energy savings are significant, after all there are rebates and tax credits available for geothermal heat pumps. Using 85 degree water for condensing your refrigerant is much more effective than using 100 degree air. If you have a closed loop solar heating system and the fluid you are circulating through your panels is much hotter than outside air temp, then this would not be helpful. If your A/C compressor is located near your pool then this kind of system could work. You would be saving the electricity that the condenser fan burns, and the compressor would not have to work as hard. I tried to get one of my areas better HVAC guys interested n this without success. I'd sure like to hear if anyone out there has done this with good results.

[inetdog]

People have been telling me for years I couldn't have a thermostat in each room, much less heating and cooling at the same time.

With the Nest family of network connected thermostats and controls (very very pricey, but interesting) you can have all of that and more, including occupancy sensors and remote control from a mobile device.

[Ezrio315]

Solar Pool Heater

Yes Kenneth, I do agree with you and also like the ideas about solar pool heaters. They are not too much expensive and anyone can afford solar pool heaters. I think solar pool heaters are more effective then other source of pool heating so that we should use solar heating source to heat a swimming pool which works very effectively.

[OvertheSun]

During the day the temperatures can go up quickly requiring some people to use their AC unit to keep cool.

The hot sun may start to warm pool water but due to the volume it sometimes takes days to raise it to a couple of degrees or to a temperature that people like to swim in.

My pool doesn't stay warm until we get about a week of hot sunny days.

That's definitely a factor. The past few weeks the temp has reached the mid-high 80's during the day and 40s or 50s at night. That plus the fact that my house was the perfect storm for inefficiency until recently. I work from home and my office could get so hot that I can't think. Until installing the zoning, I had a separate room AC in my office in addition to the central air. Before that, i had to crank the AC up so much that rest of the house was freezing. But working from home means I don't have to rent an office or drive there every day.

Plus my kids are whimps about the pool temp!

[SunEagle]

I don't get it, if it's warm enough that you have to use AC, shouldn't that mean that it's also warm enough that you don't need to heat the pool?

During the day the temperatures can go up quickly requiring some people to use their AC unit to keep cool.

The hot sun may start to warm pool water but due to the volume it sometimes takes days to raise it to a couple of degrees or to a temperature that people like to swim in.

My pool doesn't stay warm until we get about a week of hot sunny days.

[Volusiano]

I really love the idea of using the "waste" heat removed from the house by the air conditioner to heat the pool, since I'm paying for that anyway. But I'm having a difficult time trying to convince the HVAC contractor to look into whether it would work with my system. I've emailed back and forth with the rep from this company: http://www.hotspotenergy.com/pool-heater/ but even he's not sure because the pool heater is designed to more or less take over control of the A/C condenser. If I could use this to heat the pool, I could get rid of the solar pool heater and have more room for PV panels on the roof.

I don't get it, if it's warm enough that you have to use AC, shouldn't that mean that it's also warm enough that you don't need to heat the pool?

[OvertheSun]

Thanks, Russ! It sounded too good to be true, but i wanted to know. I became a little wary when the information about it said that the pool heater diverted the refrigerant from the AC condenser and shut off the fan. Even if it would work in some situations, i just put in this modulating HVAC system and could only imagine that it wouldn't be too happy about giving up control to a lowly pool heater. I think I should just be happy with the HVAC. It is so cool that it can acually deliver heat to one room and AC to another. Not exactly at the same time, but with 15 minute changeover. People have been telling me for years I couldn't have a thermostat in each room, much less heating and cooling at the same time.

[russ]

I really love the idea of using the "waste" heat removed from the house by the air conditioner to heat the pool,

The problem there is the low temperature differential you are trying to work with - too expensive to do. The heat exchanger would become humungous with a cost accordingly.

I looked at the brochure - they are not working with the air side but the refrigerant side - that is doable however I don't know about cost effective. In cool seasons it would be useless. Actually under any condition where the AC is not running it is useless.

[OvertheSun]

I loved no gas bills for the fired heater which never needed to fire.

I really love the idea of using the "waste" heat removed from the house by the air conditioner to heat the pool, since I'm paying for that anyway. But I'm having a difficult time trying to convince the HVAC contractor to look into whether it would work with my system. I've emailed back and forth with the rep from this company: http://www.hotspotenergy.com/pool-heater/ but even he's not sure because the pool heater is designed to more or less take over control of the A/C condenser. If I could use this to heat the pool, I could get rid of the solar pool heater and have more room for PV panels on the roof.

[J.P.M.]

I live in AZ so maybe the combination of heat and intense sun is not as amenable to the pool cover as in San Diego.

It may be the material, too. Mine is just a vinyl cover from what I can tell. It has some kind of thread embedded inside to provide strength.

If mine lasts 9 or 10 years, I would not have a problem recommending it to anyone.

The old one I replaced in Albuquerque had lasted about 6 yrs, but was probably abused and neglected by prior owners. The dark brown replacement was going past its 3d yr. when we left w/no change in texture, suppleness or serviceability in one of the sunniest populated places on earth at about 5300 ft. above sea level. I'd wager 6-10 yrs. might be possible w/ reasonable care. Hadn't faded much either. Probably similar to Volusiano's. BTW, cover only replacement cost was about $500 mat. + labor as I recall in 2002. Pool was 10ft. X 40 ft. swimmable area. My wife loved the 85-90 deg. H2O temp., about mid April -> end of Oct. I loved no gas bills for the fired heater which never needed to fire.

[Volusiano]

That stinks! Ours has lasted almost 9 years so far. A couple patches (from the dogs, mostly, and a couple places that received some slight damaged from flying embers during the San Diego fires in 2007, which came within about 1/2 mile), but it's still relatively intact.

Maybe the local environment has an effect? Or the material is different?

My understanding is that the cover may not actively absorb heat, but it helps reduce heat loss at the surface, where the majority of the heat is lost in a pool. May not be as effective as a bubble-wrap cover, but if it was a dark color (ours isn't), it might absorb some heat, too. We have solar heating, and I haven't compared the temp with versus without the cover, so I don't really know....

I live in AZ so maybe the combination of heat and intense sun is not as amenable to the pool cover as in San Diego.

It may be the material, too. Mine is just a vinyl cover from what I can tell. It has some kind of thread embedded inside to provide strength.

If mine lasts 9 or 10 years, I would not have a problem recommending it to anyone.