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Gas Heater vs Electric Heat Pump for Pool

Posted on 6/1/21 at 10:50 am
Posted by donRANDOMnumbers
Hub City
Member since Nov 2006
16901 posts
Posted on 6/1/21 at 10:50 am
does anyone have some advice to share on these two?

my neighbor swears by using the gas.
but the pool contractor said an electric will do just as fine if you leave it on.

Gas Pros - gas can warm quicker and work in the winter
Gas Cons - expensive AF to run

Electric Pros - more energy efficient and cheaper
Electric Cons - not as efficient in warming and wont work in colder climates.

pool size, roughly 18x40

thoughts?
Posted by RaginCajunz
Member since Mar 2009
5310 posts
Posted on 6/1/21 at 10:55 am to
I'm well underway on a build...6 months from signing contract to be exact.

Anyway, I went with a gas heater. My buddy has a gas heater and recommended it. I plan on using mine like his. Spot heating on select weekends to extend the season early and late. I think if that is how you want to enjoy it, gas seems to be a good solution.

His take is that it only takes a few cool nights to really suck the heat out of the pool. Also, if it's too cool out, it does get uncomfortable when you aren't IN the water.

My boys are both October birthdays a few days apart, so I hope to have many October parties around the pool for them.

Posted by TU Rob
Birmingham
Member since Nov 2008
12732 posts
Posted on 6/1/21 at 10:58 am to
quote:

pool size, roughly 18x40


How deep? Parents had a condo in Destin, and the pool was about that size with electric heaters. I think they would cut them off some time in May, and turn them back on in late September or October each year. Did a decent job of taking the chill out of the water, but it was mostly 3 ft deep, except for right in the middle where it gradually went from 3 to 5 ft deep. I've heard they struggle to keep up once you go much deeper, like if there's a deep spot with a diving board.
Posted by CAD703X
Liberty Island
Member since Jul 2008
77947 posts
Posted on 6/1/21 at 11:24 am to
man up and enjoy the cool water

seriously, my 6yo boy was already jumping in our pool by late april and was cold as shite to me. he didn't seem phased.

i have considered one of those shitty $200 bubble-wrap blankets which they say work really well but you gotta throw it away after 3 years.
Posted by notsince98
KC, MO
Member since Oct 2012
17954 posts
Posted on 6/1/21 at 11:43 am to
Looks like you were given correct information.

You need to decide how you want to use the pool and when you need the heat. They shouldn't be that much different in cost to use. What is the up front cost difference between the two?

The only time gas should be crazy expensive compared to a heat pump is if you are choosing to heat the pool in much colder weather than you would with a heat pump. So lets assume that Dec, Jan and Feb are too cold for a heat pump to keep up but if it is so cold out that you don't use the pool anyway, then just turn off the gas heater too and don't pay to heat the pool when you know you won't use it.

I believe gas is only crazy expensive for those that choose to heat the pool all year round because they can and the electric is much cheaper because it literally can't provide enough heat at times so it isn't doing as much work.
This post was edited on 6/1/21 at 12:14 pm
Posted by Cracker
in a box
Member since Nov 2009
17670 posts
Posted on 6/1/21 at 11:59 am to
Build a plastic gasifier make syn gas heat it with trash
Posted by Havoc
Member since Nov 2015
28200 posts
Posted on 6/1/21 at 1:27 pm to
quote:

those shitty $200 bubble-wrap blankets which they say work really well but you gotta throw it away after 3 years.

On my 3rd year with one. Actually does seem to work well enough to cut/add another 2-3 weeks onto the beginning and end of the swim season. Maybe around a 5-8 degree difference here (SELA).
No signs of significant lateral degradation yet either.
Posted by TU Rob
Birmingham
Member since Nov 2008
12732 posts
Posted on 6/1/21 at 2:23 pm to
quote:

man up and enjoy the cool water

seriously, my 6yo boy was already jumping in our pool by late april and was cold as shite to me. he didn't seem phased.


Something about that age group, my oldest boy is the same way. Took him on a father/son camping trip with a bunch of guys back in mid April. He and a few others wanted to go swim in this pond. So we let them, and couldn't drag them out of there until it was dinner time. It wasn't just cool, it was downright cold. Blue lips and teeth chattering, but they swore it was fine and kept diving off a dock.

Same thing at a pool a few weeks later, Mother's Day weekend. I got about thigh deep in the pool, and didn't want to go much further than that. He's going down a water slide and swimming the length of the pool underwater. And again at the lake last weekend. He and his cousins were all swimming around the dock like it was the middle of summer. I only got in to try and ski, and it was a shock to the system jumping off the boat.
Posted by Whatafrekinchessiebr
somewhere down river
Member since Nov 2013
1580 posts
Posted on 6/1/21 at 2:29 pm to
Do you have a spa/hot tub?

My gas heater went out last December and I did a little research on switching to electric. Everything pointed back to what has been posted here, electric may be a little bit mor efficient for some cases but gas is the better option for quicker short term use like heating up a spa in the winter.

After having a heater for a couple of years now I would not have a pool without it. It makes all the difference in the world for extending the season and really doesn’t cost much if you are only trying to raise it 4° or 5° degrees which doesn’t sound like much but can make a huge difference in comfort.

With the time and $ I spend maintaining the pool year round I will gladly pay the $75-$100 in NG a month to swim comfortably most every weekend starting in April.

Posted by DVinBR
Member since Jan 2013
12960 posts
Posted on 6/1/21 at 2:53 pm to
Posted by indytiger
baton rouge/indy
Member since Oct 2004
9827 posts
Posted on 6/1/21 at 3:12 pm to
quote:

Do you have a spa/hot tub?

My gas heater went out last December and I did a little research on switching to electric. Everything pointed back to what has been posted here, electric may be a little bit mor efficient for some cases but gas is the better option for quicker short term use like heating up a spa in the winter.

After having a heater for a couple of years now I would not have a pool without it. It makes all the difference in the world for extending the season and really doesn’t cost much if you are only trying to raise it 4° or 5° degrees which doesn’t sound like much but can make a huge difference in comfort.

With the time and $ I spend maintaining the pool year round I will gladly pay the $75-$100 in NG a month to swim comfortably most every weekend starting in April.


How big is your pool/spa and how big are your heaters? I've got a small pool and spa, on separate electric heaters and I'm thinking of switching to gas, at the very least switching the spa to gas. I want to be able to heat the spa up to temp in a half hour rather than an entire day.
Posted by Whatafrekinchessiebr
somewhere down river
Member since Nov 2013
1580 posts
Posted on 6/1/21 at 3:50 pm to
quote:

How big is your pool/spa and how big are your heaters?


Approximately 15,000gallon sport pool so 3.5’ on ends and 5.5’ in the middle. The heater that went out was a Teledyne/laars 260,000 btu. I replaced it with a 266k btu Raypak. It depends on ambient temp but it typically takes about 1-2hrs to get the spa up to 102° in winter from high 60’s to 70’s.

For heating the entire pool it usually goes up +1° Every 45mns to 1hr.

Going up to a 400k unit would have been about the same cost but I would have had to re-run the gas line with a bigger pipe and my pad is a long way from the meter.
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