My pool and spa heater was lost in winter storm 2 years ago and wife and kids are wanting a new one and I sorta do too.

Pool is about 18K gallons and it will mainly be for hot tub but def want something that will heat the entire pool.

Gas and already gave the connections from the old one.

Curious for any recommendations and even better what the current going rate might be for one, including install. I hate to reach out to groups until serious because they can get annoying with all the "you still interested" emails/text/calls.

I had a Rheem 400k BTU heater installed for $3900.

Recent? If so that's not too bad.

In Dallas area? If so, mind sharing the company? I for some reason thought it could go north of $5K.

Mine is due to crap out on me in the next 6 months too.

Custom Pool Care out of Richardson is a quality company.

planoaggie123 said:

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Recent? If so that's not too bad.

In Dallas area? If so, mind sharing the company? I for some reason thought it could go north of $5K.

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Yes, replaced in Dallas in early summer. It is an individual, but he did a good job. David Slaughter two14-six29-three394

As a pool builder, that's a great deal on a heater. He only made money on the install at that point.

Next question…Jandy Versaflo vs Hayward HC series?

400K natural gas.

Both are within $100 of each other around $5,700.

Tiny bit more than I wanted. Did not yet call the previous referral but might. Would prefer to use my pool guy but also don't want to significantly overpay.

If your installer is certified with one or the other and will offer a 3 year warranty then go with that one. If not then I'd get a cheaper Rheem like the poster above

It is a certified installer with warranty.

I assume you think pricing not too bad?

Any thoughts on Jandy vs Hayward?

How long do pool heaters last? Ours came online about a year ago.

planoaggie123 said:

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It is a certified installer with warranty.

I assume you think pricing not too bad?

Any thoughts on Jandy vs Hayward?

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I'm a Jandy dealer/builder so my vote is Jandy. They're typically pretty easy going with warranty calls. You should get a 3 year warranty on the heater and a 5 year warranty on the heat exchanger.

I would say he's making a pretty decent mark up on the heater but if he's plumbing it, hooking up the gas/providing a regulator, and programming it I'd say it's a decent deal.

Mateo84 said:

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How long do pool heaters last? Ours came online about a year ago.

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Should last 10 years or more in my opinion but that's provided you keep your chemicals well balanced. Bad chemical balance can eat up the inside of the heater quickly.

So I got another guy. He bid $4500 all in…he did the Jandy, but without versaflo (5700 in previous post is versaflo). His opinion is it's not really necessary unless salt water. This is a guy that does a lot of repair and replace work but not with a major group like my pool cleaner so his overhead is less. He has done other stuff for me and very straightforward. Having my pool guy quote without versaflo just to see the difference. Seems like the diff should only be like $200 or $300 so saving quite a bit on install potentially. Other guy is certified. Also realize there is a diff in warranty between the units.

Just make sure the bids are apples to apples and you should be fine. Make sure the bids both include hooking up the gas, hooking up the communication cable, hooking up the plumbing, etc..

Thanks! Will do.

Any thoughts on the Versa vs non-Versa? Not much price difference but Versaflo does increase warranty. Seems like there are occasional issues with the "technology" based on what i see online (knocking, stuck, etc). Probably not super common as rarely do people go online to state how a product works "as expected"....

Only issue I've every had with the versa flow is that when you're gluing up the unions and you drop glue into the heater head and it typically lands perfectly on the versa flow actuator and no one notices and then it doesn't work.

So you have to unscrew the union, get a screwdriver and scrape off the glue to free it and it works after that.

The idea of the versa flow I believe was to lower your head pressure when running the pump by effectively bypassing the heater.

Does it work? I'm honestly not sure.

So the company said just $100 more for the Versaflow version....seems like the warranty increase (5 years vs 1 year) is def worth it...just worried a bit as the "tech" seems to have issues which could maybe cause more labor repair costs over the years....