Hayward W3HP21404T HeatPro 140,000 BTU Pool Water Heater Heat Pump for In-Ground Pools

Received this heat pump slightly ahead of estimated time. It was well packaged, with the typical "truck bump" bruising on the box, but nothing affected inside. The box was tightly packaged with plenty of bumper padding. It arrived strapped to a pallet. The packaging also had a "tipping" meter that allowed you a visual of any improper shipping techniques. A nice visual to have, as I discovered after unpacking - once you tip the meter, it is very obvious and impossible to "fake" the status. Nice touch. The overall unit is large, but it's right-sized for the BTU and job. Comes with everything you need to plumb into your existing setup, or prepare for new rough-in. 2" PVC inlet and outlet. The unit should be wired to local codes, and expects a 50 AMP breaker circuit. The unit came with hold-down hardware. I installed on a freshly poured 6" concrete pad, used the anchors as directed to secure the unit. Unit needs proper airflow spacing, mine is installed to required spec. The front panel controls are very easy - my unit is a pool/spa heating unit. You have the options to turn on/off, set pool heating temp/mode, set spa heating temp/mode, and unit of measure F/C. After completing the install per the manual instructions, the startup test was flawless. The temperature reading is very accurate, measuring my setup from 3 points - all within 1 degree of each other. The SPA mode heats the hot tub very quickly, no issues. The pool was initially at 73 F, set unit to 84 F - was at temp within 8 hours and an air temp avg of 80, humidity was approx 70%. Pool size is approx 20k gal., salt. So far, I have had the unit up and running for 1 month. Tampa, FL area. No issues.

Don’t waste your money. This product has only a one year limited warranty. Over $5,500 purchase price and it becomes a problem exactly a few months after the one year warranty is over. Even though I had it installed professionally with a licensed electrician and plumber it still doesn’t turn on. Now I have to keep chasing some servicemen to fix it at my cost. I don’t know why Amazon even sells that garbage.

I have been using this on a shaded inground pool in Souther Alabama for a number of months now. The only hiccup was the first time I powered it on, it threw a code that was promptly fixed by cycling the circuit breaker. Since that initial start, it starts and stops daily keeping the pool at 85. The day I turned it on, it took the pool from the low 60's to 86 in about 25 hours. The fact that we were in our pool in March, with the tree cover we have, was beyond words. I can't say what it cost to run, as I cool my house, a 42 foot RV, and a 1200 Sq. Ft. shop, so my power bill is already high. But I did not see a huge spike the month I started using it, and my power bill this year over last has not caused us to apply for a second mortgage...

Setup: Pretty easy, if you ignore the size and weight which makes maneuvering a bit awkward (I recommend having help placing this unit). Set it on a level pad, hook up the electrical, bonding wire, and plumbing. Regarding plumbing: have a means of isolating it (directional valve + check valve, bypass, etc.) Turn it on, heat up the pool! We have an old gas heater that still functioned, but since we had solar panels installed it was a foregone conclusion that we were heading this direction. I'd read horror story reviews about this unit, and I'm still concerned about longevity, but so far it's been a pleasure to use and really warms the pool up quickly (although or pool isn't terribly large, about 20k gallons). NOTE - we keep a cover on the pool when not swimming.

The heater does work, but there are some major shortcomings to keep in mind if you are considering it. I regret my purchase and will probably be going to gas soon. I originally chose a heat pump because I thought it would save me money and be efficient. Doesn't seem to do either, and it's a big pain in the behind. Pool heat pumps in general are NOT good for weather like we have in Northern California (or colder). They can only raise the temp under ideal conditions about 30 degrees. Which means if your overnights are 45 degrees, the max this unit will raise your temp is about 75. And keep in mind that your efficiency goes WAY down when the ambient temp is below about 65. This thing only works because it is removing heat from the air - if there's not much heat in the air, you aren't getting much heat in your pool. I've found after using it for a year that it doesn't really extend our swimming season - just allows me to make the pool like bath water during the summer when it's hot out. For my 15x30 pool it only heats about a degree an hour under ideal conditions. Here in CA it is costing me about $2/hr to run. So it get my pool to 75 (from about 65 ambient), it costs about $20 and takes 10 hours. To top this off, the pressure gauge is really finicky. Maybe I have a faulty one, but the pump will often just turn off whenever it wants, claiming "low flow". I have a pressure gauge outside the unit so I know the PSI is consistent, but the pump will sometimes just stop working. I have adjusted the gauge as specified in the manual several times - it just seems to be an unreliable aspect. It might work great for your purposes, or work great in a different climate. Here I feel like I wasted a lot of time and money on this thing and regret it.

I debated buying a pool heater for over a year. After extensive research and reading reviews, I decided a heat pump was the type of heater for me. My filter is far from gas line and I was not comfortable running over 100 feet of gas line. Although heat pump is higher up front purchase cost, my monthly electric bill did not go up enough for me to even realize. I have a 22000 gallon pool and live in central NJ. This heat pump is AMAZING! Heats my pool up and barely has run in the month of July due to the temperature outside. There has been times I raised the temperature of my pool to 95 to make my pool a hot tub at night! HONESTLY THE BEST PURCHASE EVER. I have never used my pool as much as I do now! I do not write reviews but had to write one about this. GET THIS HEAT PUMP if your debating it. Seller was also awesome and answered all my questions!

The heat pump came with a defective sensor. Hayward requires that you use an authorized service technician in order to keep the product on warranty. That is a sweet gig, considering the county I live in is one of the 10 most populous in the US, yet there was only 1 tech designated as authorized by Hayward in the 30 mile radius (and I live in the center of the county). The tech, who was very professional, was able to diagnose the lack of a functioning sensor in approximately 30 seconds, and then charged me for a 10 minute repair $140. Now, I agree that I wouldn't want him to take longer just for me to feel I got my money's worth, but the fact is, I was sold defective merchandise which came with a faulty sensor. The product was broken from the outset and I already spent the money to have it installed, so the sunk cost did not allow me to return it rather than pay to fix it. And the tech was able to diagnose it so quickly because apparently this is a common, known defect. I would not be surprised if Hayward was getting a kickback from their sole authorized tech. The more products they sell with known defects, the more work their sole designated tech gets. This is like a self-licking lollipop. There is literally no way to know if the product is working until you install it, and by that point, you've either spent hundreds of dollars (for me it was over $1,000), or you've probably got yourself a hernia and some electrical shock from moving a large item. Only at that point would you even realize it came broken.

Live in Buffalo, NY and have a 17,000 gallon inground, 8ft deep in deep end. So far so good. Day we hooked it up pool went from 68 to 81 in less the 25hrs. Put solar cover on at night and really hasn't kick on much this summer yet. Initial electric bill wasnt as bad as expected. Very good investment so far for my family.