Performance Study of Swimming Pool Heaters

The objective of this report is to perform a controlled laboratory study on the efficiency and emissions of swimming pool heaters based on a limited field investigation into the range of expected variations in operational parameters. Swimming pool heater sales trends have indicated a significant decline in the number of conventional natural gas-fired swimming pool heaters (NGPH). On Long Island the decline has been quite sharp, on the order of 50%, in new installations since 2001. The major portion of the decline has been offset by a significant increase in the sales of electric powered heat pump pool heaters (HPPH) that have been gaining market favor. National Grid contracted with Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) to measure performance factors in order to compare the relative energy, environmental and economic consequences of using one technology versus the other. A field study was deemed inappropriate because of the wide range of differences in actual load variations (pool size), geographic orientations, ground plantings and shading variations, number of hours of use, seasonal use variations, occupancy patterns, hour of the day use patterns, temperature selection, etc. A decision was made to perform a controlled laboratory study based on a limited field investigation into the rangemore » of expected operational variations in parameters. Critical to this are the frequency of use, temperature selection, and sizing of the heater to the associated pool heating loads. This would be accomplished by installing a limited amount of relatively simple compact field data acquisition units on selected pool installations. This data included gas usage when available and alternately heater power or gas consumption rates were inferred from the manufacturer's specifications when direct metering was not available in the field. Figure 1 illustrates a typical pool heater installation layout.« less