I am getting quite a few people telling me they are going to buy a Chinese pool heat pump because they are are a couple of hundred dollars cheaper then a USA or Canadian brand of swimming pool heat pump. Many people don’t even know that they are buying a Chinese or other countries products as the manufacturers or distributors make it almost impossible to tell where the heat pump is made. Even if you call them or e-mail them a few try to hide the origin of their heater. With all the uncertainty in the world with trade issues, tariffs and political conflicts it is safest to go with a North American pool heat pump. With most of the USA manufacturers I can call the head engineer or even the owner of the factory to help out a customer if they need me. I know how long a company has been in business and also what their customer service is like. People buy a heat pump from me because I know what is going on in the industry and they know that I will be there for them for years to offer help and advice if they need anything. When you buy a foreign heat pump you are going to be on your own. An exception to that rule is that Hayward and Raypak are using Chinese heat pumps for their smaller pools and they will stand behind them. Even Jandy, Built Right and Zodiac Pool products are not USA owned anymore. Lots of transition in the industry. Hayward is not a privately owned company anymore as they are now a public corporation answering to stock holders. How are you supposed to know that? Pool heat pump reviews are worthless if they are over 2 years old. Everything has changed. You need someone in the trade to help you get the best reliable swimming pool heat pump at the most competitive price with the highest efficiency, a long warranty from a company that is doing everything right with the highest chance of their still being in business in 10 or 15 years. Do you want to buy a heat pump from a company that also makes pool toys and umbrellas or do you want to own a heat pump from a factory that only lives and breaths heat pumps with engineers staying up late at night thinking of ways to make them as reliable as possible? I have been also hearing customers say that they can’t find enough reviews on some brands of heat pumps so they don’t want to take a chance. I heard that on a brand that has been around for over 25 years last week. Folks, this industry isn’t Amazon with 1000 reviews on a product. Sometimes not finding bad reviews is a good thing. If you are not finding enough recent reviews on the product to satisfy you then I suggest the old standby BBB for the company. Yelp and Google reviews can’t hurt either. Even if you have the greatest pool heater in the world and the company doesn’t care about you then you can do better. If you have questions about a brand or company please send me a text or e-mail and I will tell you my opinion. Oh, and a shout out to all my friends on Long Island, New York where you have the utility PSEG. Right now they have a rebate program of up to $1,000.00 back on a swimming pool heat pump. That is as good as it gets in the heat pump world and it is an amazing program. I know what models qualify if you have any questions.
Have a great season and as Steve Austin says: I hope to see you down the road.
Best,
Marcus Miller President
Some swimming pool contractors are heroes. One of my pool buddies that installs my swimming pool heat pumps was asked to resurface a pool that after 20 + years looked really bad. He hired a subcontractor that he had used for years to do the cement work. They drained the pool to condition and then resurface the walls. The drain was plugged while they worked. Then before the job was completed, they didn’t visit the site for a few days, and didn’t open the main drain. It rained very hard during that time and the water table rose under the pool and popped it out of the ground, destroying it. Pools turn into big boats when the water table gets too high and the pool has no water in it. The company that was responsible for opening the drain washed their hands and refused to take responsibility. My buddy then tried to collect from his insurance company. He had paid for pool popping coverage for many years and thought that his foresight was finally going to pay off, as now he really needed help. The insurance company refused to pay for some technicality. To pay for the new pool my buddy who is at a retirement age, raided his IRA retirement money to pay for a new pool out of his pocket and that guaranteed that he would have to work for a few more years to make back the money. I am sure it was close to $60,000.00. I didn’t want to torture him asking for an exact number. He had to tear up the pool and lawn to make it like new. That was some Florida pool magic. I think they kept the old Gulfstream HE125RA heat pump that was still working well. He is a stand up guy who took care of business and took responsibility to make things right, without having to get sued or waiting to sue someone else or dragging his feet while he looked for money or just disappearing, like I have seen over and over on other big jobs. I get calls every week from a new pool customers who are trying to finish a pool that somebody else started and then abandoned. They are learning real fast what parts they need and I try to help them if I can but I am mostly a pool heater, Aquaculture and Geothermal guy. Not sure what the lesson is here. It is good to hang out with honorable people. Standard advice I would say; don’t just take the cheapest quote without researching who you are doing business with and getting as many referrals and finding as many reviews as you can. That wouldn’t have helped my buddy but if you can at least check if your contractor has current insurance and sit down with them and see if you like them at least. If you want to know about me you can Google the words “heat pump” and my name to see what I have been up to. If you need a swimming pool heat pump from Key West to Haines City and from Haines City to Pensacola please let me know.
Be safe out there.
Best,
Marcus Miller Cell 360 348 7574
I received a call yesterday from a pastor at a bible camp requesting parts to repair his swimming pool heat pump. 15 years ago he had bought a swimming pool heat pump made by one of the largest pool equipment company in the United States. At that time they were happy to see him buy it from his computer. The camp is on a tight budget and they needed all the money possible for activities and quality counselors. He did his homework and bought what he thought was a good heater. It proved to be a good choice at that time as it lasted for many years. Recently he had to replace it due to age and the fact that his camp is near the ocean and subjected to salt and harsh weather. He bought another heater made by the same manufacturer because the old heat pump had given him good service and he liked to stay with what worked. He didn’t buy it from me as I would have advised otherwise now. The new heat pump failed quickly after he bought it. He called the factory to arrange warranty service as it was well within the time period printed in his owner’s manual. They asked him if he had put the heat pump in himself and he answered truthfully, that yes he did glue the pipes and set the unit, but he had a licensed electrician transfer the wires from the old one to the new one. The well-know factory then thanked him for calling and told him that they were voiding his warranty. Their new business model is that now only want local pool companies to install heat pumps. That is their new marketing strategy to get more pool contractor business. There is no school that gives diplomas for gluing 2 PVC pipes and putting a heat pump on a hand truck to set it on a concrete slab. He was loyal to the company for 15 years, and bible camp or not, they treated him with no respect or courtesy. Broke my heart to hear this story. Especially that kids are involved. I ordered him the parts, but that will take time and the camp pool is cold during their short camp season. If you want to know what company it was, give me a call. It seems some other companies are looking for lame excuses to void warranties too. I won’t let that happen to you. I know which companies want your business and then they stand behind their warranties because they care about you and also their reputation. Get a heat pump made in North America with a long warranty that has high efficiency and a good reliability record and you will have the highest chance of many years of trouble-free service. It just so happens that I know a few. 🙂
