Yes, that's how it started. TOH plumber, Richard T meets the homeowner and the discussion is about heating the pool. The HO says it's been hard keeping the pool warm enough, the backyard is shady, that he has researched other pool heating systems, wood burning, solar, hasn't got a roof with exposure for solar, etc. Richard adds the benefit of making the AC more efficient when he describes to the HO how the thing works.
And then to confuse things even more, Richard also says that the AC will use the same electricity as before, but you'll be getting heat for the pool too. So, which is it? That it improves the efficiency of the AC, or not? I think it does. One thing I think everyone agrees on is that when the pool is heating you could turn off the AC condenser fan. That for sure saves money. But, I wonder if they even do that? It would save energy, but it would also complicate the install because now you have to modify the AC equipment to selectively kill the fan. What about things like AC warranty? What about that for the system anyway? I mean if say the compressor fails, what if Trane says the system was modified, screw you? Maybe that wouldn't happen, because the servicing company would just put it in as a warranty claim anyway.....
Yeah, I was wondering where it was located too. I came to the same conclusion, that it was probably NE.
The big thing missing here is any report on how well it worked. You would think they would come back after a week to see the results. I don't doubt that it will heat the pool some. The real question is whether it's enough to make the whole thing worthwhile.
I think we're on the same page with regard to that. Around here a typical inground pool has a 200K to 400K btu heater. And if you've used one, you know that it takes it many hours running full blast to heat the thing. With say a 3 or 4 ton AC, you're getting what, 45K maybe 55K btus? And most of the time the typical AC is not running anywhere near constant. Mine on typical summer days runs maybe 25% of the time, from 11am until 8pm or so. And very little at night. So, you get it part time.