I am not sure about Mass, but the power cost in SoCal makes it kinda expensive for the use of heat pumps.

i would think that if you had a good solar source of heat (high end) that you were using for your home , you could also use for the pool with the use of a true heat exchanger. I have been trying to get some of my customers to do this , but so far no luck.

Thanks for your thoughts. I am not sure how well solar would do here. I should clarify that the heat exchanger would be connected to our boiler that heats our house in the winter and our hot water year round.

Why would you pay the same ammount for a heat exchanger as pool heater?

The boiler for the house may not be big enough, and especially not during the winter while it is heating the house.

We won't be heating the pool in the winter, just trying to extend the season a bit. The pool builder believes the heat exchanger is more efficient than the separate gas pool heater, which is what we are trying to figure out. Thanks.

Hey Kim did you ever decide what to do for heat?
I also am considering a Heat Pump or Heat Exchanger for my pool. Just not sure of the electricity vs oil usage cost differential. Seems based on your post...the install price is similar.

Mitch

I have a heat pump in No Cal.It works good to get to temp.What a lot of people don't realize is how important it is to retain that heat with a cover. I use solar sun rings at the moment and they work great.For a free cost analysis I went to Heat Siphons web site, but first you need to get your unit rates from your gas and electric company.It made my choice a no brainer.I didn't by from them though.I bought a Jandy AE2000 from poolheatpumps.com.They were very helpful in my decision.Gas is too expensive.Be warned the up front for a heat pump is high but I thought it was worth it.

WAIT... check this out. Try this link to compare fuel cost for a given amt. of heat. Fill in the rates for your area & % eff. Here propane costs about $2/gal. Not sure what natural gas runs now, anyone?

Based on the numbers I put in, vs. a heat pump with a COP of 5.7: Natural gas is 2nd best costing 60% more, oil cost 300% more, propane costing 360% more, and electric resistance at 400% more... used on hot tubs, don't laugh! ;)

Now I don't know if fuel oil really costs $2.63/gal. That is what some news article said about the avg. delivered winter cost of fuel oil is on the east coast. Sounds high but it won't be low enough to match a heat pump unless you have a free oil well onsite. Price is equal when oil cost is about $0.65/gal. In CA you would want natural gas for sure. Electric @ $0.20/kwh about matches gas. I think some out there pay 35 cents/kwh!

Cost per 100,000 btu of useable heat
Corn Pellets: $3.20 @20 cents/lb
Electric baseboard: $2.95 @11.2 cents/kwh
Heat pump: $0.58 @5.7 COP& 11.2/kwh
Oil: $2.33 @$2.67/gal.
Propane: $2.67 @$2.00/gal.
Natural gas: $0.95 @$0.008/cu ft. ??

http://www.warmair.com/html/fuel_cost_comparisons.htm

Here is a link that might be useful: fuel cost comparison btu oil gas propane

I only pay 11 cents per kw avg. 9 cents base 11 cents overage. Based on the calculator you linked to here are my results.The gas suggested starting per cu. ft is very low.Average per therm is 1.30 which converts to .013 approx per cu ft. input that for the following

Heat pump: $0.46
Oil: $0.81
Propane: $1.23
Natural gas: $1.30

That's why I suggest having a free analysis done by heat siphon once you get all your rates.There anaylysis is very detailed.It was the best choice for me as you can see.Even at 20 cents per kw it's cheaper for me.Remember you will be using gas as it gets cold and that average spikes higher when demand goes up more so that electricity.