Pool heater please be gentle

[Newbie22]

Hi hope you are all well. First time post- so I hope my question isn't daft or will cause argument...

We have purchased a 10ft above ground pool and an additional in-line heater which is rated at 2800w. Have been searching to make sure this is safely plugged in but have a few issues.

-Pool is located approximately 30m from the property which makes power an issue (we have a large garden which extends about 150ft and this is the closest/practical space the pool can be located)
-I am worried about overloading/using an extension lead however I do have a 'heavy duty' one which says it is capable of a total load of just over 3000w when fully unwound. Am I pushing my luck?
-I have thought about a permanent outdoor socket but looks like this will need quite significant groundwork to bury the cable and unsure if this will still be suitable?
-Have thought about a 32a supply? But unsure if this will work or if there will even be space on our consumer unit for this as we already have one outside for air source heat pump
-Its unlikely the pool will be used all year round although we will probably keep it up and 'winterize' it but the heater won't be plugged in 24/7- more likely to be used in the hours/day leading up to it being used if that makes sense?

Any advice gratefully appreciated

 

[Murdoch]

At the very least you need a dedicated circuit. Best get a spark out 2 into quote

 

[johnb2713]

In the world of electric vehicles it's often quoted that a 13A socket is not rated for constant 13A current flow i.e. 24/7. It would be better to hardwire / feed from a 32A Socket.

You should really consider a small heatpump unit. It would pay for itself in no time with this sort of application. With the heater it's going to be sinking £20+ per day to get it up to temp, a heatpump would be less than £5.

 

[binky]

extension leads in a garden with wet soggy people and direct contact to the earth is not a safe situation.

 

[Newbie22]

Thanks all for the advice. Spoke to the electrician who is putting a 13amp supply there. Have ditched the heater and bought a small heat pump instead. The cost of installing and running a 32amp supply just to run an incredibly expensive heater will be significantly more than the cost of the heat pump!

 

[Murdoch]

Still needs to be a bigger cable than you imagine

 

[Newbie22]

Still needs to be a bigger cable than you imagine

We have a 3 core steel armoured cable running down there which I have laid myself (trenched) over the last two days to save costs which will supply a double waterproof socket. Went for the 13amp supply as the heat pump only draws 0.3kw with an output of 3.5kw to water. Electrician coming round to do the outdoor socket and connect up in the house. Hope this is the cable you mean?

 

[Murdoch]

We have a 3 core steel armoured cable running down there which I have laid myself (trenched) over the last two days to save costs which will supply a double waterproof socket. Went for the 13amp supply as the heat pump only draws 0.3kw with an output of 3.5kw to water. Electrician coming round to do the outdoor socket and connect up in the house. Hope this is the cable you mean?

Yes. Who decided the cake size?

 

[binky]

Yes. Who decided the cake size?

Mr Kipling

 

[johnb2713]

We have a 3 core steel armoured cable running down there which I have laid myself (trenched) over the last two days to save costs which will supply a double waterproof socket. Went for the 13amp supply as the heat pump only draws 0.3kw with an output of 3.5kw to water. Electrician coming round to do the outdoor socket and connect up in the house. Hope this is the cable you mean?

).3 kW consumption for 3.5lW of heat sounds very optimistic. I have no experience of heatpumps for a pool but in a domestic heating / cooling situation you would expect a COP of 3.5 of thereabouts meaning your pool heater would take 1kW of electricity for 3.5kW of heat so around 4 amps on the cable / socket arrangement. It is of course entirely possible that swimming pool applications have a much higher COP value.

 

[Newbie22]

).3 kW consumption for 3.5lW of heat sounds very optimistic. I have no experience of heatpumps for a pool but in a domestic heating / cooling situation you would expect a COP of 3.5 of thereabouts meaning your pool heater would take 1kW of electricity for 3.5kW of heat so around 4 amps on the cable / socket arrangement. It is of course entirely possible that swimming pool applications have a much higher COP value.

Thanks for this advice. Have checked the specs and the cop value of the heat pump is 6

 

[johnb2713]

Thanks for this advice. Have checked the specs and the cop value of the heat pump is 6

Ok so if youre getting 3.5kWh heat out you will be feeding 584 w into it, pretty good, definitely better than an electric heater.

 

[Newbie22]

Ok so if youre getting 3.5kWh heat out you will be feeding 584 w into it, pretty good, definitely better than an electric heater.

Thanks for suggesting the heat pump, would never have thought of this for a pool. Lower cost on the electric bill/install. Much appreciated

 

[johnb2713]

Thanks for suggesting the heat pump, would never have thought of this for a pool. Lower cost on the electric bill/install. Much appreciated

No problem at all. I use heat pumps at home for heating and cooling, people just dont realise how efficient they are. With the latest energy prices, I'll be using my heatpumps more and gas much less.

 

[Geoff1946]

use heat pumps at home for heating and cooling, people just dont realise how efficient they are.

John, Can I ask how you use a heatpump, (and what sort of), to supplement rather than replace your gas heating. I've only seen them promoted as a replacement for gas, requiring completely redesigned plumbing. I would happily consider a supplementary system, if economic, but there is no way I'm parting with my gas heating system at the moment.

 

[binky]

John, Can I ask how you use a heatpump, (and what sort of), to supplement rather than replace your gas heating. I've only seen them promoted as a replacement for gas, requiring completely redesigned plumbing. I would happily consider a supplementary system, if economic, but there is no way I'm parting with my gas heating system at the moment.

You can units that fit like a wall mounted air-conditioning system,

 

[johnb2713]

John, Can I ask how you use a heatpump, (and what sort of), to supplement rather than replace your gas heating. I've only seen them promoted as a replacement for gas, requiring completely redesigned plumbing. I would happily consider a supplementary system, if economic, but there is no way I'm parting with my gas heating system at the moment.

That's an air to water heatpump you've seen advertised, existing systems have problems with lower flow temperatures which means bigger radiators are needed etc.
Mine are individual split air conditioning units, mostly Mitsubishi Inverter ones between 3.5kW and 5 kW per room. They can heat or cool and work really well, almost silent in operation. We have used them for heating with outside air temperatures down to -18 degC and they still manage to heat the room efficiently (COP was down to 2.7 or thereabouts). The nice thing is, when it's hot outside, it isnt inside LOL, when we had the recent 40 deg C, the neighbours were round for a cooling down session LOL

Units like this (we were having repairs done following a flood).



Cost circa £550 for 3.5kWh and £750 for 5kWh, I bought 3 second hand hardly used for £250 each and install them myself, you do need a vacuum pump though to do it properly.

 

[awarner]

Thanks for this advice. Have checked the specs and the cop value of the heat pump is 6

What make and model of heat pump is this? Never heard of a cop 6 before, normal is 3-4 for an air source. If your say you will be running at 0.3kw the cop would be closer to 10 than 6