Hi. I live on Long Island, and I have a 20ft by 40ft inground vinyl chlorine pool (33,000 gallons). I would like to use my pool multiple times a week from June - September. I want to heat the pool, and I have been receiving mixed messages from everyone about whether I should get a heat pump or a propane heater (I do not have natural gas). I would like to keep my pool at 85 degrees. Without a heater, the pool ranges from 68 - 83 degrees throughout the season. For the heat pump, I have heard that it will not get my pool to 85 during June and September or when we have a few cold days in a row. I especially want a warm pool on the colder days, so this would be a problem. For the propane, I have been told that it is a huge hassle to get the permits and everything set up for the tanks, and it is easier to go with an electric heat pump because I just need to run a 220 line. However, if the pump cannot properly heat my pool, is that really what I should do? I also want to use my pool frequently, and I have heard that the propane heaters are more for weekend warriors and not for daily use. I would appreciate any advice. I had posted this in a neighborhood chat, and someone suggested I should post it here. Thank you for your help!
Heat Pump vs Propane Heater Long Island
- Thread starter Christina B
- Start date
- Jun 7, 2017
- 9,950
- Pool Size
- 29000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Jandy Aquapure 1400
The main issue with propane is the expense. If money was no object, propane is the way to go. But not sure why you were told a heat pump would not work for you. In your climate you should be able to keep your pool at 90 all season.
Thank you for your response. Many people in my area have said that the heat pumps take days to warm up the pool, and they have been disappointed with them. They also said that the heat pumps didn’t really extend the season at all since it needs to be somewhat warm out for the pump to heat the pool. I originally was leaning towards a heat pump until people on the neighborhood chat were saying they were disappointed with them.
- Jun 7, 2017
- 9,950
- Pool Size
- 29000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Jandy Aquapure 1400
This is all true but the solution is you set the heat pump at the desired temperature and forget it. Heat pumps are not "on-demand" heating like gas. They are slow to warm but good at maintaining. Gas heaters take a day to get to your set temp and heat pumps will take a couple weeks. But instead of costing $500+ a month like gas, they are under $100/month to run. Also true it won't really extend your season so if you are looking for that, the only option is propane. I'll tell you though I have gas and I have swam only a handful of times outside of the season. When air temps go down it simply isn't enjoyable to swim!
Another thing a lot of people do is use one of those bubble wrap "solar" covers. They don't add any heat to the pool but they do prevent most heat loss at night. They can make a considerable financial difference!
What size is your pool? It would help if you could fill out your sigline. Here-> https://www.troublefreepool.com/account/signature If you go heat pump typically you'd get the largest one you can find which will be northward of 140k btu.
Greetings from the other side of the county. I have your sized pool and a heat pump. It will work great 95% of the time from June to the end of September. May and October don’t work so well.
The problems are the air temperature and the shear amount of gallons needing heating. When the air temps get into or below the 60s for over a few days the BTUs of the heat pump (1/3 that of the biggest gas heater) simply can’t overpower the heat loss on 33k gallons. If you had a 10k pool, it might work for another 2 weeks in both directions.
The problems are the air temperature and the shear amount of gallons needing heating. When the air temps get into or below the 60s for over a few days the BTUs of the heat pump (1/3 that of the biggest gas heater) simply can’t overpower the heat loss on 33k gallons. If you had a 10k pool, it might work for another 2 weeks in both directions.
Thank you so much for your response. I am very new to all this heater stuff. I am trying to figure out how the different systems work. Can you give me an idea as to how long it would take from opening my pool to the pool reaching 85 degrees? I would open it at the end of May. Then does it maintain 85 until approximately the end of September? Is it running every time my pool system is running (right now I have it run 8 hours a day). Would I need to increase that? Is it going to be 85 degrees at like 10pm? If we have a cool week, would it at least stay in the 80s? If you are able to answer any of these questions I would be so appreciative! Thank you
- Jun 7, 2017
- 9,950
- Pool Size
- 29000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Jandy Aquapure 1400
If you get a heater at this time of year, you'd probably be a week or so to get to 85 assuming your water right now is around 60. Probably sooner if it is sunny. Your pump would need to run whenever the heater is running. The heater has a water flow detector so it would not run without water flow. Heat pumps maintain whatever you set them at. Set at 85 it will maintain it until the outside air temps fall to a point where they no longer can produce enough heat to make up for daily losses. For heat pumps I believe that would be in the 60s. But it also heavily depends on humidity. Higher humidity is better for heat pumps. Do you have any automation? If not, you'd need to set your timer for whatever you think is needed for the heater to run to maintain your set temp. This will mean some trial and error to see how much it needs to run. I would think in season running 8 hours a day would be enough to maintain temps.