What Is A Cop
What does COP stand for? You probably read this quite often on the sides of pool heat pumps and typical air conditioning systems. While conventional heaters only achieve efficiencies of about 75%, a heat pump delivers on average about 5 times the heat absorbed. Nearly 80% of the energy needed to heat the pool comes from the ambient air. With the newest inverter models this efficiency can be up to a COP of 15 depending on humidity and temperature.
A COP is in direct relationship with ambient air temperature and humidity because a heat pump extracts the heat from the air. Here is an Example of a COP chart taken directly from our testing facility of the Elite 11kW
For example, with a COP of 5 – 1kW of electricity consumed, creates 5kW of heat released into the pool.
In an example, if we warm our 40m³ pool by 10 ° C with a running time of 40 hours . For this we need a heat pump with an output of approx. 13.94 kW.
A heat pump should have about 1/5 lower power consumption = 13.94 ÷ 5 = 2.79 kW input
The relationship between the power supplied by the heat pump to the pool and the power it consumes is determined by means of the so-called COP factor . The higher the COP value of the pump, the more powerful it is and the lower your electricity bill.
are increasingly being installed in the private sector in order to achieve an even more cost-effective power supply. Anyone who has such a system can use a heat pump very economically.
How A Heat Pump Pool Heater Works
As the pool water circulates through the pool pump, it passes through a filter and the heat pump heater. The heat pump heater has a fan that draws in the outside air and directs it over the evaporator coil. Liquid refrigerant within the evaporator coil absorbs the heat from the outside air and becomes a gas. The warm gas in the coil then passes through the compressor. The compressor increases the heat, creating a very hot gas that then passes through the condenser. The condenser transfers the heat from the hot gas to the cooler pool water circulating through the heater. The heated water then returns to the pool. The hot gas, as it flows through the condenser coil, returns to liquid form and back to the evaporator, where the whole process begins again.
Higher efficiency heat pump pool heaters usually use scroll compressors versus the reciprocal compressors of standard units.
Heat pump pool heaters work efficiently as long as the outside temperature remains above the 45ºF50ºF range. The cooler the outside air they draw in, the less efficient they are, resulting in higher energy bills. However, since most people use outdoor pools during warm and mild weather, this usually isn’t an issue.
What Pool Heater Size Do I Need
For many, natural gas or propane-fueled pool heaters are an absolute requirement. Adding a heater to your pool ensures you’ll have a warm, comfortable pool to hop into whenever you’re ready to take a swim, but a heater can also drastically extend your swimming season. However, different sized pools hold different amounts of water, and that means they need custom-sized heaters to both raise the water temperature and keep it steady.Obviously, there are two main ways you as a pool owner may opt to use a pool heater. One of these is to let the pool cool down when not in use, then turn on the heater in advance of any swim to bring the temperature back up to wherever you’d like it. The other choice is to run the heater constantly, using it to hold the water at the desired temperature, so your pool is ready for a swim at any time.
A pool heater is well-suited for any of these uses, but if you are planning on letting the pool cool down between uses, you may want to choose a higher-powered heater, as they will heat the water faster. This way, you will not have to wait too long before you can get into the pool.
Determining the actual size heater, you’ll requirements comes down to a variety of different variables, including the size of the pool, starting temperature, air temperature, desired water temperature, and how quickly you want it to heat. By considering these numerous factors, you’ll select the right size heater for your pool and needs.
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Lets Measure Some Things
Well need to collect a few key data points about your pool.
Surface Area
- Rectangular Pool: Length x Width
- Rectangular Pool with Rounded Ends: Length x Width x 0.8
- Oval Pool: 1/2 Length x 1/2 Width x 3.14
- Kidney-Shaped Pool: Length x Width x 0.75
- Free Form Pools: No standard equation, recommend drawing your pool perimeter on grid paper and evaluating how many grid squares are 100% covered or are partial. Break it into small grids to be most accurate.
Volume
If you anticipate on-demand heating being a common need of yours, then lets work to calculate the Total Pool Volume.
Surface Area x Average Depth of Pool x 7.48 = Pool Volume
Temperature Differential
Begin by determining your preferred water temperature this will be unique to you. The American Red Cross recommends a range of 78-82 degrees Fahrenheit. Next, determine your average ambient air temperature. We would recommend taking the average temperature during the coldest month in which you anticipate swimming. Desired Water Temperature Average Ambient Air Temp = 16 degree Temperature Differential
Heat Up Time
For spas in particular, the time to heat the water to the desired temperature is an important consideration. For on-demand heating, it can also be important to understand the amount of time needed to heat up. Most heater sizing charts assume a 24-hour Heat Up Time.
Heater Efficiency
What Size Of Pool Heater Do You Need
Pool heaters allow you to open your pool earlier in the spring, and extend the swimming season well into the fall, but they are a large investment, so before running out to buy a pool heater you should spend a little bit of time doing research.
If you dont choose the size of your pool heater careful you could end up spending a lot of time and money down the line.
What you need to consider
Before buying a pool heater there are five basic things that you need to determine:
- The size of your pool
- Your heating needs and preferences
- BTU requirements
- Whether or not you use a solar cover
- Environmental considerations.
1) Size of your pool
The larger your pool, the more powerful your heater will need to be, so that means you need to calculate the volume of your pool. To do this, youll have to first find the surface area and then multiply that by the average depth.
To find the surface area:
- Square and rectangular pools: simple multiply length by width
- L-shaped pools: break the pool into two rectangles and multiply length and width of each and add the two answers together
- Round pools multiply the diameter by the diameter and then multiply the answer by pi
- Oval pools multiply the longest diameter by the shortest diameter for surface area
- Kidney shaped pools add the longest width and shortest width, and multiply that by the length
For all shapes of pool:
2) Your needs and preferences
3) Know your BTUs
Pool heaters measure their power in BTU .
BTU Needed to raise temperature
Orders
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The Customers Ideal Water Temperature
You need to identify what temperature your customers prefer to swim at .
This establishes what performance you expect your heater to maintain under different environmental conditions. For example, if a pool has an attached hot tub, the maximum water temperature for calculating Btu requirements would be as high as 104 degrees Fahrenheit.
Estimating Heat Pump Pool Heater Costs And Savings
For an outdoor pool, use the following tables to help estimate your annual heat pump pool heater costs and savings compared to using an electric resistance or a gas pool heater.
Table 1 estimates annual heat pump pool heating costs by location, by water temperature, and with or without using a pool cover.
Table 1. Costs by Location of Heating Outdoor Pools with a Heat Pump*
| LOCATION |
|---|
| $200 | $800 |
*Based on an electric resistance heated pool, which costs $1,000 per year at an electric cost of $.1301/kwh, and using a gas pool heater with a 55% efficiency at a cost of $1.09/therm. A seasonal average COP of 5.0 was used to determine heat pump savings.
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What Size Pool Heater Do I Need
For many, a natural gas or propane-fueled pool heater is an absolute necessity. Not only does adding a heater to your pool ensure you’ll have a warm, comfortable pool to hop in every time you’re ready to take a swim, but a heater can also drastically extend your swimming season. But different size pools hold different amounts of water … and that means they require different size heaters to both raise the water temperature and hold it steady.
Of course, there are two main ways you as as pool owner may choose to use a pool heater. One of these is to let the pool cool down when not in use, then turn on the heater in advance of any swim to bring the temperature back up to where you’d like it. The other option is to run the heater constantly, using it to hold the water at a desired temperature so your pool is ready for a swim at any time.
A pool heater is well-suited for either of these uses, though if you are planning on letting the pool cool down between uses you may want to choose a higher-powered heater, as they will heat the water more quickly. This way you will not have to wait as long between deciding to swim and actually getting into the pool.
The heater size should be based on how warm you want the pool or spa water and how fast you want the pool to warm up. If you plan to keep the pool warm all the time a smaller heater will work. The most economical use is to oversize the heater and quickly warm up the pool water before you are ready to use it.
Reflect On The Variables
Before making a decision, think about the different factors that would affect the effectiveness of your pool heater. Some of these factors include climate, frequency of pool usage, ownership of a solar cover, and many more. You can choose to get a solar cover as it helps to account for heat loss at night, which will come in handy if you like to swim at night.
A solar cover is a game-changer for your pool your pool gets heated much faster when you use a solar cover and pool heater simultaneously. Sometimes solar covers are better investments that large heaters.
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Calculate Your Surface Area
When you are determining which size pool heater to buy, the first step is calculating your pools surface area. A lot of pool owners assume that you use your pools gallon size to determine your heater size. In fact, there are some websites that DO use the number of gallons. If you have a pool with a large surface area, the heat has more space to escape and subsequently, more water to heat. As a result, the heater needs to be large enough to compensate for surface area and the pool size.
To calculate the surface area of your pool, multiply the length times the width.
For example: If your pool is 15 x 30, then your surface area is 450 square feet.
Related:Pool volume calculator.
Let A Pool Heating Professional Do The Work
A trained pool heating professional can perform a proper sizing analysis for your swimming pool to determine the correct pool heater size that you need. Well provide you with product features and details on our complete line of heat pumps and heaters. If you have questions, please feel free to call us at 1-800-741-9956. Our team of friendly pool experts will answer any questions you may have and offer technical advice in selecting the model that is right for your pool.
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Rules For Sizing Your Heat Pump Pool Heater
- Size at 4 BTUs per gallon or 1 BTU per litre of water. To heat in normal summer conditions when ambient air temperature average 70°F in a 24 hour period.
- Size at 5 BTUs per gallon or 1.3 to 1.5 BTUs per litre of water. To heat in normal spring and fall conditions when ambient air temperature average 60°F in a 24 hour period.
- Size at 6 BTUs per gallon or 1.5 BTUs per litre of water. To heat in normal spring and fall conditions when ambient air temperature average less then 60°F in a 24 hour period.
We recommend the use of a pool cover during chilly periods.
What Size Pool Heater Do I Need For A 24 Foot Round Pool
| Pool Size | |
|---|---|
| Up To 10,000 Gallons Up To 21′ Round or 15′ x 26′ Oval | 50,000 BTU |
| Up To 13,000 Gallons Up To 24‘ Round or 15′ x 30′ Oval | 50,000 BTU |
| Up To 17,000 Gallons Up To 27′ Round or 18′ x 33′ Oval | 65,000 BTU |
. Regarding this, what size heater do I need for my pool?
Therefore, the minimum size heater that is recommended for a 15 x 30 pool is 150,000 BTUs. Keep in mind, this is simply the recommended minimum size. Meaning, I wouldn’t go lower but I might need to go a little higher. When it comes to gas heaters, you always want to oversize the unit.
Similarly, how much does it cost to run a pool heater per month? For a typical size 400,000 BTU pool heater, that’s 4 therms per hour. Currently, natural gas runs about $1.50 per therm near Tampa. The average cost to heat a pool for one hour on natural gas is around $ 7.00. To heat, an average pool with no solar cover typically takes 8-14 hours.
Also Know, how do you size a natural gas pool heater?
For an average 15′ x 30′ pool , a 300K BTU heater would raise your pool temperature 2 degrees per hour a 400K BTU heater, 2.7 degrees per hour. For a 20′ x 30′ pool the temperature rise for 300K and 400K heaters would be 1.5 and 2 degrees respectively.
Can a pool heater be too big?
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What Size Above Ground Pool Heater Do I Need
| Pool Size | |
|---|---|
| Up To 10,000 Gallons Up To 21′ Round or 15′ x 26′ Oval | 50,000 BTU |
| Up To 13,000 Gallons Up To 24′ Round or 15′ x 30′ Oval | 50,000 BTU |
| Up To 17,000 Gallons Up To 27′ Round or 18′ x 33′ Oval | 65,000 BTU |
Just so, how do I know what size pool heater I need?
Calculations
Similarly, how do you size an electric pool heater? How To Size Electric Heat Pumps
Likewise, people ask, can you put a heater on an above ground pool?
Solar Heaters for above–ground pools can achieve the same kind of heating power as other heater types, but without causing harm to the pool. Above–ground pools can be easily and safely heated using a combination of a Solar Heater and a Solar Cover, keeping your costs down and your family in the pool.
How fast does a pool heater work?
Overall, a heat pump usually requires between 24 and 72 hours to heat a swimming pool by 20°F and between 45 and 60 minutes to heat a spa by 20°F . So now you know some factors that affect your swimming pool’s or spa’s required heating time.
Sizing Your Pool Heater
When I first started working in the pool industry, one of the areas I always tried to avoid was helping customers size their pool heaters. Im not sure what made me uncomfortable about sizing heaters but I avoided it like the plague. One thing I did know was that when it came down to heaters and heat pumps, the bigger the better. Although true, I learned that some pool owners actually prefer efficiency over size. Eventually, I realized that my bigger is better line wasnt always the best advice for every pool set up and sooner, rather than later, Id have to learn how to size a heater for a pool owner.
So, exactly how do you size a heater for your pool? Lets do this together.
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Raypak Residential Gas Heater Sizing
The really cool thing about technology is that it makes all of our lives easier. Raypak has a handy-dandy gas heater calculator that configures your city and state with your desired water temperature, average air temperature, and desired temperature rise. This online calculator allows pool owners to input really specific information about their pool and location and configure what size heater is best, not only for their pool but taking your physical location into consideration as well.
The calculator also has the ability to calculate the cost of natural gas and propane. This tool allows customers to compare energy costs and discover which unit is truly right for them. It goes much further than I could ever tell you, thats for sure.
