5 expert tips to help your customers choose heat pumps for their pools

During Piscine Connect 2021, Warmpac led a webinar to share invaluable tips to pool professionnals based on its experience.

Picking a heat pump for a swimming pool is a delicate moment for customers who all have a host of questions to ask. And finding the right answers is not always easy! To help the pool and spa professionals, specialist Warmpac led a webinar at Piscine Connect 2021 during which it shared invaluable tips based on its experience.

Check out the ambient heat before each sale

Warmpac and of many other manufacturers and suppliers already use this method as it is essential to choose the right heat pump for the job! Heat need is calculated by measuring three factors:

The characteristics of the pool to be heated i.e., its depth, if it is an overflow pool and does it have a tarpaulin cover, shutter or shelter?
Pool use: does the customer swim from March to October or want to bathe all year round?
The geographical location: is the pool in the shade? Is it near the Mediterranean or in the north of France?

This approach positions you as an expert and helps you sell more expensive pumps.
With these arguments, customers can be convinced that their basic budgets may not be coherent with their needs or that they should look to amortize a more expensive but more powerful heat pump over time.

Four ventilation systems for a customized approach

The heat pump ventilation system to pick basically depends on the characteristics of the habitat, as Guylene BONTRON-GROS and Bernard PHILIPPE from Warmpac explained.

Horizontal airflow: the heat pump extends 50 cm to the rear and 3 m to the front.
Ideal for big spaces around pools.
Vertical airflow: the heat pump needs to have a 50 cm space on each side and 3 m above. Ideal if your customer does not have much space and that there is no porch or vegetation over the pump.
Rearwards airflow: this solution is less cumbersome, but has a drawback as the air flows directly onto the evaporator, which in some models causes a drop in performance.
Sideways airflow: ideal for compact spaces, the pump extends 50 cm to the front, above and behind and 70 cm on each side.

Find out the latest innovations in pool heat pumps

Exceeding performance standards

Although standards exist for pool heat pump performance ratings, they do not include the complete cycle (in particular de-icing) nor variations in weather (wind, seasonality…).
So take account of these factors to boost performance and save on long-term pool heating costs.

Concerning environmental conditions, the FPP estimates that the best performances are reached with an ambient air T° of 15°C, water inlet at 26°C and outflow at 28°C.

If the evaporator is under-dimensioned, the heat pump may have to execute up to three 10 to 15 minutes de-icing cycles every hour. With an evaporator of the correct size, de-icing cycles can be reduced to a few minutes per hour. This means the heat pump will run less to heat the pool water.

Maximizing a heat pump’s performances from the outset

In this webinar Warmpac insisted on two key heat pump installation phases which guarantee good performance.

Ensure condensation drainage: to prevent the heat pump from becoming ice-bound, install it out of doors on a 15 cm high base, if possible on “big feet” supports which also reduce vibrations.
Regulate the valves correctly: Warmpac recommends leaving the main valve half-open to collect part of the flow. The inlet valve must be fully open. The outlet valve must be 70% open to control the flow and avoid flow-rate detector errors.

Control the compressor noise level

Pump noise is an important factor, especially if your client has neighbors likely to complain. Warmpac states that if the difference between the initial temperature and the desired temperature is small, the compressor functions at 20 Hertz, which is equivalent to a whisper or the noise from a refrigerator.

To improve user comfort, it is possible on some models to limit compressor noise. Warmpac also suggests comparing noise levels at 1 m, 5 m and 10 m when choosing a pool heat pump.

Anticipate the evolution of heat pump regulations

Pool heat pump regulations evolve over time and quite soon, French customers will have to plan maintenance and check-up every two years. Anticipate your clients’ fears by proposing a wifi connection to make these checks remotely! You can deliver a certificate proving that the pump is not leaking, which saves time for everyone. Your clients appreciate your foresight and you can intervene at once if a problem occurs and know exactly what material and human resources you have to mobilize.

How to sell pool automation to your customers

Connectivity is now an important decision factor in purchasing and often makes the difference between two similar products. If your customer has connection problems, you can suggest the installation of Carrier Current nodes or a wifi repeater.

We would like to thank Warmpac for sharing its field-experience feedback with everyone in the profession. The pool and spa sector has a host of enthusiastic experts who will meet up at the end of 2022 for a new edition of Piscine Global Europe. This ultra-high quality trade show is a “must”!!!