Community pools and green tech: Installing water heating systems to reduce energy and increase reliability

by habiba_abudu | October 30, 2019 11:13 am

By Eliatt Di Lieto Jr.

[1]

An all-inclusive community moving toward higher efficiency and green technologies came to Tom Soukup, owner of Pennsylvania-based Patriot Water Heater Co., and a specialist in hydronic heating across a wide variety of applications, looking for ways to transform their existing pool heating system. They were very mindful and dedicated to bringing sustainability to their facility. The community installed light-emitting diode (LED) lights and even used geothermal heating and cooling for much of their infrastructure.

One thing they were looking to improve in particular with this upgrade was the efficiency of the pools in their community centre. Although a very small percentage of residents used the pools, they did so regularly: for exercise, therapy, or simply enjoying the amenities they paid for. Given the facility’s importance to bathers, Soukup and his team came up with a design, which ensured minimal downtime, redundancy, and energy savings.

Preparing to take the plunge

[2]

The community administration went over a few steps with Soukup to ensure the new, updated design provided maximum comfort to bathers. They also collaborated with an architect to update the face of the facility and its filtration system.

The community housed a 117,348-L (31,000-gal) lap pool, a 79,494-L (21,000-gal) therapy pool, and a 4921-L (1300-gal) swim spa. Although, the view was perfect and the water crystal clear, the pool heating system often ran into issues.

According to the facility’s original layout and engineering, each pool was heated independently. The plan was to replace the existing heaters—one of which was failing—with updated models. This is a standard renovation process, and most communities are willing to reinvest in upgraded equipment.

Along the course of the makeover, Soukup was informed there were further problems with the system. The heaters broke down often, requiring costly, unexpected maintenance every now and then. The system had no backup either. If the lap pool heater failed, the pool had to be shut down, which in turn led to unhappy residents.

The facility’s existing system contained proprietary direct fire heaters. This meant the equipment parts were specific to the brand, and it was difficult to find local suppliers to provide those on short notice. As a result, equipment malfunctions led to longer downtimes.

After hearing about these problems, Soukup knew it was time to think outside the box. Not only was it important to help the client upgrade their heating system, but it was also necessary to provide them with the peace of mind and efficiency they were looking for. That said, hydronic heating seemed to be the answer.

Regular pool heaters do not complement cold-climate pools. If a standard unit heats water at a low temperature, the system can fail prematurely. With an indirect hydronic solution, water temperatures are irrelevant—if it is in a liquid state, it can be heated.

The science behind the solution

[3]

Simply put, hydronics means heating water. This concept is widely used in commercial buildings and residential homes. It allows for greater efficiency by using condensing boilers. The physics does not change just because the application is different.

The better the insulation, the less energy is required to heat the water. In an aquatic facility, one is heating an open container. The temperature of a large surface area eventually needs to meet a different temperature. So, the first variable to consider is: What is the desired pool temperature when compared to the existing air temperature? The second variable is: How fast should the body of water be heated? Does it need to go from 16 to 27 C (60 to 80 F) in an hour, or can it be done in 24 hours? Standard accepted practices are one degree per hour.

There were a few other requirements that had to be taken into consideration. First, the facility contained three separate bodies of water, each serving a different purpose. Due to local health regulations, it was mandatory to drain the spa every two weeks. This was an area of concern. They had to figure out where the spa would be drained, cleaned, or filled, and how the water temperature could be recovered within 24 hours.

To resolve this issue, Soukup and his team decided to go with a high-efficiency boiler solution. This system would use readily available Mod Con boilers. It would also be set up in a manner so it could heat different zones—bodies of water in this case. Each zone would have its own heating loads and set point requirements based on the application, desired temperature, and the volume of water needed in the pool.

The next step in the process was mathematical calculations. Keeping the bather load and required pool temperature in mind, the team figured out how they were going to transfer the heat from its source to the pools. They also gathered other necessary information—the total volume of water needed, surface area of the pools, and the ambient temperature of the facility.

Next was the variable information: What was the desired recovery time? What temperature would the water be maintained at and what was the desired temperature variance? This variance was the acceptable change from the set temperature. In this case, the pool needed to be 27 C (80 F), but they could allow a difference of 0.5 to one degree.

Implementing the design

[4]

With the engineering data on hand, a special, custom-tailored design was created, which integrated the fixed and variable needs of the facility with the modern technology desired. The fuel savings were significantly high once the new heating system was installed. The gross input reduced from 750,000 to 360,000 British thermal units (Btus). This meant the system would burn 52 per cent less fuel per hour if the units were running at full capacity.

The previous units were 250,000 Btu each. The way they worked—on and off—they either produced full input or no input at all. This wasted a lot of energy as a small body of water, such as a spa, does not need full input. The units would short-cycle or continuously turn on and off, wasting fuel and creating undue stress on the mechanical systems.

While the energy savings and associated costs were integral to the upgrade, there were some other nuanced aspects that proved equally beneficial. The modern design also reduced the parasitic or wasted electric cost.

Additionally, the esthetics and equipment placement were crucial to the project. For instance, the units were no longer placed on the floor, but mounted above. Also, since the mechanical room was a wet environment with the potential of damaging leaks, it was critical to install the heating equipment off the floor to prevent the entire system from failing before the damage could be contained.

It was important the best and most commonly used products were installed, so if something were to fail, the facility would not need to wait weeks for a specific part or replacement. Being able to procure an equipment piece in a timely manner was crucial to the upgrade.

Also, maintaining a pool’s temperature requires much less energy than recovering it. With this new installation, the facility could recover the temperature of one body of water (out of the three) by simply shifting the heat energy from one zone to another.

Thinking outside the box

Heating a pool and a bathtub is the same—just on a different scale. By thinking outside the box, one can ensure customers receive better efficiency, greater reliability, and higher availability with their products. For this, one needs to move beyond water chemistry and look at other disciplines. Working co-operatively with other trades can take one’s projects to the next level. A coalition of professionals from different fields can help expand one’s horizon. For example, if one knows a local, high-quality electrician, working together might help in bringing more educated applications to the project. Just as it takes a village to raise a child, the same applies to creating truly appealing pool projects.

Conclusion

The system has now been installed for more than six months and the pool manager has reported the temperature variance has been no more than a third of a degree. The facility has noticed a significant reduction in energy usage.

Pre-planning stages are crucial to any project. By planning the design and installation ahead, Soukup was able to anticipate unforeseen issues and complete the project successfully without any delays. It saved him a large amount of on-site time. This translated into less interference of the modelling schedule and minimal downtime for the pool.

A large complaint Soukup often hears is clients having to call back companies multiple times due to a problem that cannot seem to be fixed. Forward thinking helps remove that issue.

Pool professionals must take their time to understand the project, listen to their client’s needs, and plan accordingly. The more communication and preparation one can bring into their project, the better the results will be. Finding the best solution to a client’s needs is fundamental to the success of any project. Not only do the results help build a customer’s confidence in the brand, but also guarantee their loyalty.

[5]Eliatt Di Lieto Jr., works as a content writer for Patriot Water Heater Co., and reports on its interesting and unique hydronic projects. With 15 years in information technology (IT), he aims to bring into focus the impact of new technology into the hydronic field. He studied journalism and electronic media at Long Island University (LIU) Post and runs an IT consulting company on Long Island, NY. He can be reached via e-mail at eliattd@patriotwaterheater.com.

 

Source URL: https://www.poolspamarketing.com/trade/features/community-pools-and-green-tech-installing-water-heating-systems-to-reduce-energy-and-increase-reliability/

---