| Sean Winters |
| | 08/13/11 at 09:47 PM | Reply with quote | #1 |
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Good day. When I installed my pool three years ago I only ran a three wire 120V circuit, about 60 feet of which is buried. The wife now wants the pool heated so I think a heat pump is the best way to go. I am planning on getting about a 50000 btu unit ( 18 foot above ground with solar blanket). My pump and clorinator are 120v, no 220 option. To avoid running a new cable I was planning on changing the circuit to 220 and getting a 3000W step down transformer ( about 100$) for the pump and clorinator put it in a enclosure and run the heat pump, clorinator and pump off one 220 outlet.
Any issue with this or should I just bite the bullet and run a second dedicated 220 feed ? Another option would be a spa panel with two breakers but I would still need the transformer since I don't have a 4 wire circuit.
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| Marc Miller |
| | 08/16/11 at 03:17 PM | Reply with quote | #2 |
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Dear Mr. Winters:
Thank you for writing to us. You need a good electrician to look it over. All heat pumps are 208 / 240 volts, single phase 60 hertz in the USA that are used on residential homes. Some commercial installations use 3 phase and higher voltages. I am not a big step down transformer fan. I would rather see a dedicated 208 / 240 line for your heat pump. They run 3 wires. 2 hot wires and a ground. And then they run another bonding wire to the equipment. Maybe it won't be so hard for the electrician to run a bigger wire if your old wire is in a conduit underground. Then they just attach the new wire to the old wire and when they pull the old wire out it pulls the new wire in. A fast job if the conduit is big enough. Then you get a breaker panel and you can have your 110 volt equipment and your 220 volt heat pump. Maybe your wire is not run in a conduit? That will be harder and somebody will have to dig I guess. Some Chlorinators and pumps can use 220 volts. They will say on them if this is possible. On the smaller HP pumps that come with 18 foot pools though I doubt that it can be done though. Whatever you have to do make sure a licensed electriction does it as that is what all the manufacturers want to see and they can void a heat pump warranty if they find out other wise. Also get 2 or 3 quotes. Lately I have seen the exact same job be quoted at $225.00 and $1850.00. Some electricians seem to be more proud of their work than others I think. Sincerely,
Marcus |
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