pompe a chaleur

[candide]

We are building a 10m x 5m pool, volume 75m3 and will need a pompe a chaleur.  We are receiving conflicting advice on which brand / model heat pump to get.  I just wondered whether anybody has any experience of heating a similar sized pool and/or experience of heat pumps currently on the market which they would be willing to share with me?  Thank you in advance for your help !

[Poolguy]

Is there reason for eample that you want a Heat pump as opposed to solar heating for example.

Had you not considered getting the energy to heat your pool for free rather than paying EDF for the privledge?

Andrew

[candide]

What form would solar energy take?  Roof panels?  The pool is only near a small (20m2) roof?  Is there another sort?  How much does it cost to install?

[Poolguy]

Candide

 

Solar heating can take many forms and can be sited on a roof or on the ground, vertically, horizontally or at the optimum 40degrees. It’s a question of efficiency, or put it another way, the maximum heat for the minimum initial outlay.

The question of how much, depends on how much temperature increase you want. That is to say how late or early in the year do you want to swim. With all the sunshine around today for example it would be feasible to swim with a pool having about 60 - 80% of its surface area equivalent in solar absorbers, it would give you about a 15 degrees heat benefit. If it’s later on that you want to start then 50% is adequate. If you go below that percentage then you will need to consider some of the higher technologies, some of which will serve with 10% or less.

What is to be achieved here is to raise the water temp between 5 and 15 degrees - more than that is uneconomic.

The panels are either a mat with a series of tubes moulded in or a sheet of plastic with the same. Prices range from about €80/sq meter up to €160 /sq m (HT) depending on the brand and the fixing mechanism. These mats will be supplied mostly in Black for maximum heat gain or its possible in Terracotta colour to blend in with a tiled roof or a green to blend into the ground cover. With the later two colours there is a lower efficiency of heat gain and so more area needs to be added for the same output.

The principle of this system is that you pay once to have it installed and from there you have only to pay a little electricity to run the circulation pump but the rest is free. Its so good at its job that I cannot imagine how anyone would choose a heat pump in preference, save perhaps that there was no surface south facing to mount the absorbers.

If you want to know more details then PM me and I'll be happy to chat.

Andrew

[candide]

If anyone has any insights into the relative merits of the PSA Edenpac brand versus the Climexel brand of heat pumps, I would still be very interested.

[Phoenix]

I am also interested in this subject and wondered if you were abel to take advantge of the advice Andrew gave regarding solar heatingor waht you eventauuly chose. 

[nimportequoi]

I can only comment on the PSA which I've had for 6 years with no problems. We have an abri, so save quite considerably on heating costs there. If we were further south, I'd definitely consider solar heating, but I've been told it isn't really feasible if you are north of Nantes.

[Poolguy]

Susan

It sounds to me as though the person who told you that 'you can't use solar

south of Nantes' really wanted to sell Pompe a chaleur.

I say that because they are not really telling you the truth as there are many

instances of Solar systems working quite satisfactorily in Brittany, England,

Ireland, Wales Scotland, even Shetland (all of which are north of Nantes).

Its all a matter of how they are designed and the area or panel versus the heat

gain required.

Don't get me wrong, I am a fan of heat pumps, and regularly sell them to

customers who do not want solar for one reason or another, but Location in

France is not a issue that I would cite as worthy of consideration in the

comparison. The calculations are not that difficult, the most important factor

is what temperature you want and when!!!

I have installed PSA/Zodiac but  I find

them very complicated as a Rule, I much prefer Heat Perfector as they are

cheaper and less complicated, so I figure that there is less to go wrong -

maybe I am wrong in that but I prefer the systems that don't give my client

trouble, so they don't give me phone calls looking for help.

The main issue in the comparison is that with solar you pay once - then its

free.

With a heat pump you pay to install it and then pay to use it. (But you only

have to tolerate a bit of noise (45Db) and not a larger area of black panels

somewhere)

It’s a matter of choice.

Andrew

[nimportequoi]

Andrew,

The pompe à chaleur was already installed and had been working for a few years when I made the enquiry about solar, so I don't think the advice was based on what they could sell me! But I appreciate what you have said - solar should work in most places now. If I wanted a temperature of 27°c from 1st April to 31st October, would this be possible do you think?

You are right on the noise too - we have never had any complaints from the people staying in gites as ours is far enough away, but noise could be an issue to some people.

[Rodie]

the only good this is the compresser unit blows out cool air in the summer so if you are too hot you can cool down