How to Heat a Swimming Pool with an Air Conditioner | Ask This Old House
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Published 2015-12-31
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Richard installs a new device that will heat a swimming pool for free using the excess heat produced by a central air conditioner.
Shopping List for Heating a Swimming Pool with an Air Conditioner:
Heat exchanger [amzn.to/2O4C6Uy]
PVC pipe, unions, and assorted fittings [amzn.to/2NVt1O3]
PVC primer [amzn.to/2PZfLud] and cement [amzn.to/2LHo2h8], for gluing together plastic pipe and fittings
T-fitting [amzn.to/2NZNfGm] with adapter [amzn.to/2ZT0VKt] and sensor well [amzn.to/31iPKax], used to regulate water temperature
Tools List for Heating a Swimming Pool with an Air Conditioner:
PVC saw [amzn.to/2ZPYXdI], used to cut plastic pipe
Pliers [amzn.to/2N9XzMm], for tightening threaded connections
Steps for Heating a Swimming Pool with an Air Conditioner
1. Turn off the power to the pool filter.
2. Use a PVC saw to cut out a section of plastic pipe leading from the pool filter.
3. Thread an adapter into a T-fitting, then insert a sensor well into the adapter.
4. Cut and dry-assemble the PVC pipe and fittings to connect the pool filter to the heat exchanger, and from the heat exchanger to the water pipe leading back to the pool.
5. Once you’re satisfied with the fit of all the parts, glue the pipe and fittings together with PVC primer and cement.
6. Connect the pipe ends to the heat exchanger using threaded unions, not PVC cement.
7. Hire a licensed refrigeration technician to connect the air-conditioner refrigerant lines to the refrigerant lines on the heat exchanger.
8. Once the lines are connected and pressure-tested, the refrigerant lines must be recharged.
9. Hire a licensed electrician to install the master controller to the exterior wall of the house. The controller acts as an interface between the pool pump, heat exchanger, and air conditioner.
10. Turn the power back on.
Richard installed the HotSpot FPH pool heater, manufactured by HotSpot Energy [www.hotspotenergy.com/].
Expert assistance for this project was provided by Alternative Creative Energy & HVAC Inc of Blackstone, MA [www.aceandhvac.com/].
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How to Heat a Swimming Pool with an Air Conditioner | Ask This Old House
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All Comments (21)
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This was an exact replacement for the old one that lasted about 10 years. youtube.com/post/Ugkx7yWIKcrbA9KMHkGSfcgxW2lsjHT6B… The top of my mitigation tube by my roofline was just a 90 elbow which allowed too much debris to fall down into the fan, eventually ruining it. Without this issue, I bet it would have kept running another 10 years. When I replaced this fan, I added an extra elbow joint so the top tube now it does a 180, which should solve that problem. The radon guys around here wanted to charge me a $300 diagnostic fee, then parts/labor (probably close to $600 total). I installed this all by myself in about an hour for the cost of the fan; it would probably be even easier/faster with two people. FYI the manufacturer's warranty greatly differs depending on whether you install it yourself (1 yr warranty) or have a licensed installer do it (10 yrs).
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No clue why I'm watching. I have no pool 😆
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I onced stayed in a hotel in Thailand that used the air conditioner to heat the shower water. Made so much sense... you get super cool AC and super hot water.
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Yea it was straight forward, with 20 + years experience it was a piece of cake.
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I had a heat exchanger for 17 years on my heat pump. It made hot water for free and made the heat pump very efficient.
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Imagine how even more efficient it would be if he cleaned that condenser!
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This is an amazing upgrade.
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David's so cool that the whole screen went blue!
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I’d like to hear or see a follow up. How efficient is the AC running and what kind of temperatures are you getting in the pool water. Is there enough heat in the pool to take the chill off is it actually heating the pool on its own?
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Man, the one time I would love to see one of his famous “cut away” props!
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Very nice job, Richard. We LUV you guys!
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That’s brilliant, using tech that oil refineries have been using for years.
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We have the Hotspot exchanger for our hot water and our pool. The condenser fan never even has to run and we’re recouping all of the heat we use to waste. It’s complex but not nearly as complex as having separate dedicated heat pump water heaters and heat pump pool heaters.
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Did it YEARs ago. Dale... Works great. In FLA with a pump I could reverse it to coo it in a hot streak. Lovely.
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I really want one of these for my pool. It is so amazing to be able to use that waste heat in this manner.
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It's great in theory to transfer heat or cooling to save energy. I always scratch my head in winter when running my refrigerator in my heated kitchen when it is -20 outside. But this after the fact retrofit looks every expensive and complex. Much better if it could be installed when new.
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It is a better idea to use sweep elbows (gradual bend) than those sharp 90's. High volume pumps strain with sharp bends, ball valves or any type of flow restriction for that matter.
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Sounds like an excellent idea. Including the added coil heat.
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i love it. great idea. great invention.
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Brilliant. I love innovation 💡
