Our two core values are to do the right thing and maintain a symbiotic relationship with our clients. Today we want to urge you not to procrastinate installing your GeoThermal pool heaters. We want to ensure you’ll be ready to heat this winter and let you know what’s going on so you can make an informed decision.
A look at two more of the most popular pool-heating options.
It’s time for part two of our side-by-side comparison of all your different Florida pool heating options. If you missed part one where we covered the pros and cons of electrical resistance heaters and natural gas/propane heaters, check it out here. This time, we’re focusing on the air source heat pump and the PH90 GeoThermal pool heater.
The air source heat pump has an evaporator coil that is susceptible to damage from the salt air. If you have a pool on the coastline, you may not want this type of pump. However, it is a pretty efficient option.
Here’s how it works: It takes in air through the coils, sucks the heat out of the air, ejects the heat through the coil, and the condensing coil has a titanium tube heat exchanger that produces about 150,000 BTUs per hour. For every dollar you spend on heating, you’re getting six dollars worth of heat. To heat your average pool, it only costs around $1,300 to maintain 84 degrees. That’s much lower than the $6,000 average for pools heated with natural gas or propane systems.
We’re here in the boneyard today to go over the different types of heaters that you can use to heat your pool in Florida. There are four different types of pool heaters that we’ll cover. We’ll go through the pros and cons of the first two today, show you how they work, and detail the maintenance costs of each.
We’ll start with the electrical resistance heater. It has two heating elements that stick down into a reservoir and heats water as it flows through. As you apply power to the coils, they glow and heat the water.
They are very susceptible to chemical imbalances, however, so they end up having to be replaced quite often. They produce 37,000 BTUs per hour and a coefficient of proficiency of 1.0. That means for every dollar you spend, you get one dollar’s worth of heat. It’s not a great choice for bigger pools; it’s better for spas.
Next, we have the natural gas and propane heaters. It produces 400,000 BTUs at 84% efficiency. That means you’re only producing 336,000 BTUs per hour. It has a small footprint, and it’s not affected by the outside temperature no matter how cold.
A weakness of this is that as pool water flows through the cupronickel heat exchanger, it’s also very susceptible to chemical imbalances. When the pool water gets to a saturation point, it will stain your pool surface with copper. You have to be extra careful with this one. In a typical residential pool, to heat the pool year-round, it will cost you $6,000 per year for natural gas but $14,000 per year with propane. It does have a small footprint and provides a lot of heat
Geothermal systems are an ideal choice for heating and cooling your home or business. Across the country, the temperature below the ground hovers between 45 and 75 degrees, and geothermal systems take advantage of this untapped source of energy directly beneath your building.
The heat to warm your swimming pool is all around you. Better yet, it’s entirely free. Even on cool days and chilly nights, the air in southwestern Florida contains enough latent heat to be converted to more than 100,000 BTUs with an air-source heat pump system.
The appliance that Floridians rely on to get through the summer is an air conditioner — 85 percent of which use R-22 Freon. Prices are rising because this refrigerant is being phased out and R-22 shortages are expected. By 2020, its production will cease completely.
If you’re considering upgrading your HVAC system and want an option that will save you money and use less energy at the same time, a heat pump may be the perfect solution. In spite of the name, a heat pump both heats and cools a home. As a bonus, it does its job in a more energy-efficient manner than a traditional HVAC system.
Understanding how your heating system works can help you increase your home’s energy efficiency. Winters throughout Florida are typically mild, but it’s not uncommon to want to take the morning chill away or heat the house during an occasional cold snap. Many HVAC systems in Florida are heat pumps, since these are the most cost-effective ways to heat and cool homes. In the heating mode, both heat pumps and furnace systems operate basically the same, although the fuels to create heat differ.
When you reduce energy consumption in your home, you are also reducing extraneous energy costs and improving your home’s level of comfort. A variable-speed blower motor allows the air in your home to be precisely controlled and circulated at various speeds, thereby regulating temperature control and cutting down on energy costs.
You may feel like you’re behind the eight ball if you haven’t been fully briefed on the basics of a 