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New Pool Heater in Southern Ontario

15 years ago

We're refusing any further repairs on the Laars Lite gas heater (9 yrs old). We moved into this house 5 years ago and every year have spent nearly $300 on repairs, even with professional opening/closing - in hindsight we should have bought something new the first summer! Oh well, we had never owned a pool before and it's definitely been an expensive learning curve. Anyway, complaining aside, the next step is to figure out the best replacement pool heater. We have a big pool, nearly 20 X 40, with a large deep end. With no heater this summer, we can't bring the pool up above 77, even with a solar blanket and solar fish. Local pool dealers are suggesting either the Raypak Digital (266,000 or 332,500 BTU) or the Hayward (300,000 BTU). I'd love to hear your pros or cons for these heaters and any suggestions for another brand. We have a short swim season and the heater lets us enjoy our pool. We want to find a good reliable replacement heater.

Thank you!

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Comments (2)

repair_guy
15 years ago
The Raypak digital is a reliable heater. The number one repair we make on it is the replacement of the thermostat board due to a failed LCD screen on the board. That can be pretty pricy and failures occur fairly early in my opinion. Operationally, it's a good heater. Not sure what you have in that area but in Southern Cal, we have the Rheem (RayPak) Low Nox which is a great heater. Raypak is a heater company only so you get their best effort in production.

I would avoid any Hayward heater. They are very repair prone and the failures can be anywhere in the unit. Hayward has never been a heater company and in my opinion, still is not.

If you can get a Pentair MasterTemp, this unit is an extremely reliable and efficient heater in a small box. It is the former StaRite Max E Therm (still manufactured) once it was purchased by Pentair. It is a totally different design compared to other heaters. About the only repair we make to that unit is a temp sensor after several years.
Rack Etear
15 years ago
"About the only repair we make to that unit is a temp sensor after several years."

You havn't experienced massive control board failures with it like I have. I think I have to replace 50% of the control boards in the first year. Oddly enough we should trade problems, because I have never had to replace a Rheempak board.
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