stavpeter Posted October 25, 2009 Report Share Posted October 25, 2009 I have a Teledyne 400 propane pool heater for an enclosed, inground pool. Does anyone know whether there is a product made that will allow use of the huge amount of wasted exhaust heat from this heater to be used to heat the air in my 30'x50' unheated retractable Libart enclosure without asphyxiating anyone? If a product is not made would a contractor be able to fabricate an effective space heater with a heat exchanger of some sort that would use the exhaust heat from the Teledyne Lars propane pool heater? Climate is cold, pool heater is located 10' outside pool enclosure. Thanks for any insights anyone may have on this odd query. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ps558 Posted October 27, 2009 Report Share Posted October 27, 2009 I have a Teledyne 400 propane pool heater for an enclosed, inground pool. Does anyone know whether there is a product made that will allow use of the huge amount of wasted exhaust heat from this heater to be used to heat the air in my 30'x50' unheated retractable Libart enclosure without asphyxiating anyone? If a product is not made would a contractor be able to fabricate an effective space heater with a heat exchanger of some sort that would use the exhaust heat from the Teledyne Lars propane pool heater? Climate is cold, pool heater is located 10' outside pool enclosure. Thanks for any insights anyone may have on this odd query. NO, No pool heater should ever be modified to anything else except what it designed to do. A Modified heater will restrict the proper air flow and will shorten the life of any heater Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stavpeter Posted October 27, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 27, 2009 I have a Teledyne 400 propane pool heater for an enclosed, inground pool. Does anyone know whether there is a product made that will allow use of the huge amount of wasted exhaust heat from this heater to be used to heat the air in my 30'x50' unheated retractable Libart enclosure without asphyxiating anyone? If a product is not made would a contractor be able to fabricate an effective space heater with a heat exchanger of some sort that would use the exhaust heat from the Teledyne Lars propane pool heater? Climate is cold, pool heater is located 10' outside pool enclosure. Thanks for any insights anyone may have on this odd query. NO, No pool heater should ever be modified to anything else except what it designed to do. A Modified heater will restrict the proper air flow and will shorten the life of any heater Thanks for the info. I kind of suspected this wouldn't be feasible since no such product appears to be made. I still don't see why, though, it would be theoretically impossible to harness the exhaust heat from a pool heater without impeding the air flow. Just running a single walled vent pipe thru an unheated area creates a lot of heat, so why couldn't blowing air across a single walled vent pipe from a pool heater give you some heat, and why wouldn't a single walled vent pipe with metal fins give you more heat, etc. etc. etc.? http://www.poolspaforum.com/forum/style_im...cons/icon14.gif Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Spa Posted October 27, 2009 Report Share Posted October 27, 2009 The problem is that if you cool the air in the vent, condensation will occur (the reason why single waled venting should NOT be used). The condensated water is VERY acidic and will rot out the vent pipe and if it drips back down to the heater will rot it out as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idnmadt Posted November 2, 2009 Report Share Posted November 2, 2009 Do not attempt this. Buy a Jandy Hi-E instead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stavpeter Posted November 2, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 2, 2009 The problem is that if you cool the air in the vent, condensation will occur (the reason why single waled venting should NOT be used). The condensated water is VERY acidic and will rot out the vent pipe and if it drips back down to the heater will rot it out as well. Thanks for the info. I figured there must be a reason this idea isn't being used. I'll just go for a propane space heater if we decide we have to warm the air in the enclosure Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperchargedRS Posted May 26, 2010 Report Share Posted May 26, 2010 Sorry for resurrecting this thread, but I am debating somewhat the same thing... I have a Pentair Thermal Max 400k gas heater; the unit is installed in a pool room so I have an exhaust duct going up to the roof. The spa has a booster pump and an air inlet inside the pool room as well. When the spa is turned on the valve actuators re-direct the water flow isolating the spa, the heater kicks in to raise the temp up to "spa mode". Now presuming the pool is at its natural temperature (i.e. in a un-heated state) when the spa is turned on it has to go from pool temp to heated spa temp, thus requiring more energy to get up to temperature. My thought is to install a shroud AROUND the exhaust duct pulling cool air around the hot exhaust duct, thus heating it and through a duct piping to feed the air inlet for the spa. This means that the air injected into the spa would be heated, resulting in a lower work load for the heater. This is the same principle as how most piston powered aircraft heat the cabin, they have a shroud that goes around the engine exhaust, utilizing the heat radiating off the piping creating heat for the passengers in the cabin. Anyone done this before???? Here is a photo of a exhaust shroud for an aircraft (same principle), the exhaust pipe would run through the center, the outside air would go to one of the ducts, the other duct would go into the cabin and provide heat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txpoolguy Posted May 28, 2010 Report Share Posted May 28, 2010 One of the reasons that I stay away from trying things like this is, when one person designs it properly & uses it successfully, another person will design it poorly & hurt themselves or their family while using it. I'm sure someone has done similar things, but I wouldn't make a recommendation. The principles are sound, but most people don't want to invest the time, trouble & dollars to engineer it correctly. Heater venting has injured or killed many people, so normally I don't go much further than that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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