Heat pump and chiller

[Tinythemule]

New to the group and having a pool. First summer and it’s already getting hot and testing my pvc sprayer attachments on the return. One bought from amazon and other 4 diy. Reading more and kore about chillers and heaters you enjoy summer and extend swimming season with heat. Since we don’t have spa or intend to swim in dead of winter, it seems like a heat pump is the way to go. Talked to some sale rep online that recommended Gulf Stream. Rest of my equipment is Jandy. Of course the company that put pool in recommends Jandy but it’s pricey and on back order.

I read old posts that I can’t reply to about Gulf Stream. Anyone on here with Gulf Stream heater and chiller that’s had it for a while and liked it? Better brands? I don’t want the biggest, baddest and newest necessarily....more like the boring, dependable Toyota of the equipment world. 16x35 fiberglass in northeastern Oklahoma. Think it’s about 20,000 gallons.
Thanks.

 

[Dtkokay]

I have an Aquacal heat pump / chiller, which is a pretty well known brand. Honestly, the chiller doesn't work that well in hot and humid Houston because it doesn't good very cool at night here in the summer. And it's pretty expensive to operate. You may want to check out a traditional chiller that blows a fan over water inside the unit. Those are pretty cheap to run.

As for heating, the question is whether you want the pool warm all the time, or just as needed. A heat pump is better for maintaining a constant temperature, whereas a gas heater is better for rapid heating. Most folks find that the gas heater better fits their situation because they don't need the pool warm all winter long - just for special events or on the weekend.

 

[scdaren]

I have a Pentair 140 heat pump/chiller. While the heat pump is great for early and late season swims, the chiller is never used. We can get spans of 110 degree days here and the pool water can get to the point where it's not even refreshing at times. The chiller does cool water, but the cost to cool it down enough to make a difference has never been worth it to me. The only nice thing is that the cool water comes out of our sheer descent waterfalls, and you can sit under those and feel it nice and cold. Your best solution to chilling the water is putting up some of those shade sails, or look into the dedicated chiller systems.

Side story -- years ago I lived with some friends and had a pool. It was crazy hot out, and so was the pool, so we went to the ice depot and loaded up the back of a pickup full of ice. It wasn't cheap. We dumped it all into the pool, picturing ourselves riding around on big blocks of ice, and it disappeared right before our eyes. Made zero noticeable difference to the water lol. Lesson learned.