I am asked every week if it makes sense to repair 15 to 20 year old swimming pool heat pumps. Since I come from a service background it gave me great pleasure to keep pool heating equipment running efficiently for as long as possible if the repair is reasonable. I was thrifty property managers best friend when I could make a long term repair instead of replacing equipment for a reasonable cost. I was never a fan of replacing good running equipment with higher efficiency models as the payback was usually a long time and my customers could hopefully invest their money elsewhere for better returns. When there is a big repair on an old piece of swimming pool heating equipment then I am all for getting the highest efficiency (COP) new models so that they will have the lowest electric bills. Things are a bit different now that old heat pumps made before 2010 use the discontinued Freon 22. If you have a bad Freon leak maybe it is time to get a new heat pump instead of paying for expensive new or reclaimed Freon 22 or paying to convert the heat pump to a newer Freon. You also want service to be easy for mechanics down the road who might not know what was done to the old heat pump. Also some utilities are giving large rebates for new swimming pool heat pumps so that makes the decision harder if money is available for higher efficiency equipment. PSEG on Long Island in New York is giving $600.00 in 2021 for many new heat pumps swaps and installs. You need an authorized contractor to do the job to get the rebate, but I am told it is simple for them to get approved and the contractor even gets $100.00 for their trouble. So if you are thinking of repairing or replacing your heat pump and are not sure what to do just send me an e-mail or text and I will try to help out. Recently I had a guy with an old 17 year old Kopec 650 with a rotary knob thermostat that failed. He put in a new digital board from a new heat pump and now has an upgraded digital heat pump for another few seasons. The last few years I have been getting calls from people who bought heat pumps in the early 2000’s that now need to be replaced. Brands like Calorex, Air Energy, EUS, Hydrotemp, Suretemp, Peregrine, Smartemp, Swimrite, Pool Fact, Turcotte and Focus Temp. The owner of Peregrine was a buddy of mine. He designed some amazing heat pumps. One of his would heat and cool the pool. Heat and cool the house. And also heat the domestic hot water. He was a green kind of guy that was ahead of his time. Many of the old heat pump didn’t use titanium heat exchangers and didn’t last long if the pool chemistry was off. If one did last 18 years then you know the pool owner was on top of their PH and kept the pool chemicals just right. Titanium solved a lot of problems except for them freezing with water in them in the winter. Usually I tell people to keep the filter pump on 24 hours a day if you are going to get a freeze and the pool isn’t yet shut down for the winter. Last season my customers in Texas couldn’t do that because they had a deep freeze and also lost the power to run the water pump. In those cases you have to run out and drain the heat pump ASAP. Most of them had other more pressing problems though like pipes breaking in their walls and the homes getting too cold. So if your heat pump is not running let me know and we can troubleshoot a bit to see it it might be an easy fix.
Have a great season,
Best,
Marcus
It is late February and my cherry trees are flowering. I have not seen any bees around yet so this isn’t a good sign. It is still getting below freezing at night and that can’t be too good for this years fruit crop. I wonder how my green house buddies are doing who can more closely control the environment. We send many heat pumps to heat the air and the ground in green houses. Many flower growers in Texas and South America use them so they can grow petunias all year long. It looks like I will be spending a lot of time this spring staring at my trees and not leaving my yard as the first Coronavirus death in the USA just happened close to my town. I have been avoiding traveling and especially airports this year so I didn’t come in contact with other travelers but, now it seems people will be avoiding people from my area. I feel bad for my hotel / motel / campground and resort clients. They are taking a hit and many good people depend on that industry for employment. Not happy with all these markets in China that mix so many different species & foods. I am sure other countries are just as bad and have issues too. Maybe this will be the age of AquaCulture, Aquaponics and Hydroponics where they can control the environment and avoid this type of disaster. We are not living in the middle ages. If you are at your market stall playing on your smartphone then you can make sure you are also able to keep things clean and sterile. I would love to hear from all my agricultural buddies in that field on their views. Looks like there will be more Stay-cations this year. I hope that my pool heaters and heat pumps can help people enjoy their homes more. People with warm pools stay fitter and have great family togetherness occasions. If you need to heat or cool water or air with a gas, electric or heat pump please let me know. If you need to repair your old pool heater we can help with parts and troubleshooting. This months advice is to wash your hands for at least 20 seconds & call your Mom more. She loves you.
Best,
Marcus
