heating ideas for large pool for club Tim

tim smith

I work on lots of pool heaters, not a big fan. They don't hold up well over a decent period of time. Also regarding condensing temps, we will modulate this system based on degrees off of set point so a lot of the time we will only run on 1 of 3 boilers and it will mod down also. Heat x is way oversized to get water temps down to condensing levels. Further input regarding this is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

tim smith

heating ideas for club pool, Seattle, Tim

I have a client, big multi estate club house that they want me to get rid of old fin tube boilers they have for pool. They want a very good system. Open to my ideas. Well let's call it the wall's ideas. I have some ideas already but trying to figure the best I can. My thought is to put in 3 Prestige modcons and a shell and tube or braze plate heat x. Heat x oversized so my hot side tarets are 140 in 120 out and pool side being 75 in and 90 out or so. Pool is 75 x 25, 8ft deep one end and 3 at the other. Cover will be on during night hrs. Also on mech. shed, I have a roof of appx 25 x 12 area facing south, southwest. pretty good exposure. Thought maybe add solar panels also at some time. What do y'all think. Thanks in advance, Tim

Mike Thomas_2

Simple Might Be Better

A pool heater must be able to dump lots of btu's into a large body of water. Think of the pool like a storage tank. A modulating boiler is going to fire at max rate, so why modulate? Pentair/Starite has a nice pool heater. A StaRite Max E Therm comes in 200,000 or 333,000 or 400,000 btu. No heat exchanger needed. Warranted for a pool environment.

Solar is a reasonable choice. Most installers never consider the roof needs. Questions to ask your self: Does it face the right direction? Can it be installed so that the owner doesen't mind the looks? Remember, the piping and controls can be a thing of beauty to guys like us, but to others it just looks like a bunch of pipes they would rather not see. Can it be installed over the existing roof and not cause it to leak? Is the roofing material going to need to be replaced in the next 5 - 10 years? If so, the solar equipment will have to come off to do the roofing job.

[Deleted User]

Words of caution....

If I may suggest, go with a Titanium heat exchanger. TTP makes a nifty one that can be paralleled to give you the required surface area for low temp heat source application, or there are some FPHXers out there that can be made of Ti.

Make DARNED sure that the air you draw in for combustion is not picking up ANY of the pool chemicals, lest your warranty be VOID.

Pick up energy is overstated by the pool heater manufacturers. One degree per hour is a BUTT load of BTU's. Talk to the consumer, and give them this scenario... "If, for whatever reason, you have to completely drain the pool for service, repair or whatever, what are your expectations as it pertains to bringing said pool back up to useable temperatures?" Start with 2 days, three days... Don't let them drive the bus too fast.

Actual maintenance BTU's are very small in comparison to pick up BTU's. Typically half depending upon surface area, exposures and water features. (sprays, waterfalls etc)

I agree with the application of unglazed, or glazed solar pool heating systems. They just make good sense, but can't be depended upon for sole source energy needs.

I also thoroughly agree with the use of modcon devices in this application. There is a LOT of energy wasted in this world due to 80 percent pool heaters that are grossly oversized to begin with, that short cycle to beat the band.

Good on you.

ME