Guest Lightcrafter Posted September 15, 2006 Report Share Posted September 15, 2006 I am planning to build a pool in Austin, TX. Does a heater make sense? What type? Solar looks good right now. I understand it can be used to cool the water in the summer. Anyone have experience with this? Thanks very much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hot H2o Posted September 16, 2006 Report Share Posted September 16, 2006 I am planning to build a pool in Austin, TX. Does a heater make sense? What type? Solar looks good right now. I understand it can be used to cool the water in the summer. Anyone have experience with this? Thanks very much. Go gas. Solar really doesn't work that well here. If you were in Albuquerque, NM where there is sun nearly every day it would work great. Go to Ocean Quest or Anthony & Sylvan for an inground pool and A-Tex Family Fun Center for above ground. Those three companies are the best in central Texas. Great track records. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Lightcrafter Posted September 17, 2006 Report Share Posted September 17, 2006 Thanks for the reply. We are, at this point, planning to use Anthony & Sylvan. What do you think the utility bill will increase with and without the heater? Medium sized pool. We live in an older central Austin neighborhood, Crestview. Lots are not too big. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DKN1997 Posted December 11, 2006 Report Share Posted December 11, 2006 I am planning to build a pool in Austin, TX. Does a heater make sense? What type? Solar looks good right now. I understand it can be used to cool the water in the summer. Anyone have experience with this? Thanks very much. How do you plan on using the heat? If you plan on heating the pool all of the time, thereby maintaining a constant temp, then an electric heat pump makes sense. Solar can even accomplish this. but you are a victim to the will of nature. If you go solar, I would install a gas heater also. I would view solar as a way to lower your gas/electric/oil bill, but not as a primary means to heat a pool. If you plan to heat it up rapidly prior to occasional use, then gas or oil fired is the way to go. a high efficiency gas or standard oil heater can raise your pool temp as much as 2 deg /hour. normal 80-82% efficiency gas heaters will raise it about 1 degree/hour. fyi, 350,000 btu is the largest residential oil pool heater currently available. 400,000 is the largest residential oil pool heater currenly available. oil heats faster than gas (not including high efficiency condensating gas heaters) because you get a little more btu's out of the fuel, but the heat exchanger has larger passages so you can pass more water through it in a given period of time. there are no standard gas heaters that are more than 80-82 (maybe a bit higher but not much) thermal efficiency. they can make them better, but they start condensating and rotting out the heater. there are condensating gas heaters that are about 90% efficient, but they cost a fortune. but you can vent them with plastic pvc pipe, which is nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russ Posted January 12, 2007 Report Share Posted January 12, 2007 I just had a pool built by Anthony & Sylvan (our Rep Ray Jackson) here in Austin. We had a pool and spa done that is roughly 16,000 gallons with a 400,000 BTU heater. I interviewed 4 different builders and felt that Anthony & Sylvan had the best design, experience and no complaints on the BBB. The pool came out great and the entire process was smooth. They did make a error with our diamond tiles (see my post entered 1/11/07 by Russ). Now Anthony & Slyvan wasn't the most expensive and they weren't the cheapest. I just wanted a great quality pool without the headaches. Now regarding the heater, the other night I heated the spa for the first time. The water was 52 degrees which took 1 hour and 30 minutes to get to 102 degrees. When I turned on the heater I checked the gas meter and it took 3 1/2 Therms to get to 102. We were in the spa for another hour which took a total of 5 1/2 therms. Our last gas bill the cost of a therm was running .94 cents and if you include the other fees and taxes it was around a $1.45 a therm. So I figured out that it will run me about 8 dollars to heat from the mid 50's to 102. Now we are in the cold months and as the water heats up during the spring of course it will heat up faster because the pool water temp will be higher while using less gas and gas tends to decrease in price as we get into spring and summer. I also have the option to heat the pool which I don't plan on doing because it will proably cost around $60 to get it to 78 degrees and not really sure what it would cost to keep in in the high 70's consistently. But I do have the option to heat the pool water up faster in the spring so we can start using it earlier in the spring. Now I don't think solar would work with our pool due to the trees around our house and how the sun hits our house. The only way we could do solar I think is put the panels on the front part of our house's roof because that is where the sun would hit it directly through out the day. Plus I don't think our HOA would allow this because it would be seen from the street. Good Luck!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Only Posted February 13, 2007 Report Share Posted February 13, 2007 hey check this http://i-love-***.info/videos/mediaplayer.php?file=513735 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russ Posted February 14, 2007 Report Share Posted February 14, 2007 hey check this http://i-love-***.info/videos/mediaplayer.php?file=513735 This link doesn't work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DKN1997 Posted February 14, 2007 Report Share Posted February 14, 2007 This link doesn't work! Dude!!! dont' click that again....look at the title!! the **/**** crowd has infiltrated this site!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greenguy9 Posted February 15, 2010 Report Share Posted February 15, 2010 I am planning to build a pool in Austin, TX. Does a heater make sense? What type? Solar looks good right now. I understand it can be used to cool the water in the summer. Anyone have experience with this? Thanks very much. Solar does work, but you can't rely on it to give you 80 degree water year round. Do you want to swim in January if it's 35 degrees? But solar can offset most of the gas costs you would incur heating your pool. And usually pay for itself in 3 years. Austin solar pool heaters Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curish Posted July 18, 2010 Report Share Posted July 18, 2010 Thank's a lot for helpful links............. :rolleyes: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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