Pool Heat Pump breaker size and wire size. General question.

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Mojo8672

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I'm going to try and wire in a Hayward HP50HA2 50,000 BTU Heat Pump for our above ground 21' pool(10,000gal).
I have a 100amp subpanel in my garage that is 50' from my pool. Lots of room in the subpanel.
The wire will be run through the garage and then about 25' underground through conduit to the pool.

I can't figure out what size breaker I need or what size wire is appropriate.
Based on the attached pictures, can you give me some advice?
Also, I think I would like to run the wire to an outdoor outlet and buy a plug for the heater, so I can bring it indoors in the winter. Is that a good idea? And if so, what size outlet and plug would I need to have based on the specifications?
Thank you in advance!!

!
IMG_20220503_173416160_02.jpg
IMG_20220423_111527147_01.jpg
IMG_20220423_111519720_00.jpg
 

wwhitney

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So, it goes like this:

- The name plate says "Min Circuit Ampacity" 22A. That means you need conductors rated for at least 22A. #12 Cu has a 60C ampacity of 20A and a 75C ampacity of 25A. That means that if the load terminals are 75C rated (I think that is typical but it needs to be checked), the breaker terminals are 75C rated (very typical, but verify) and you use a 75C rated wiring method (e.g. conduit in the ground with say THWN conductors), then you only need #12 Cu conductors. If any of those elements is only 60C rated, you need #10 Cu conductors. Given the 50' distance you might just use #10 Cu to play it safe.

- The name plate says "Max Fuse Size" 35A. That means you will need a fused disconnect at the load, since it specifies Fuses rather than Breaker. But fused disconnects are commonly available and inexpensive. You could use a 30A fused disconnect with the factory 30A fuses. Or you could get the next size up fused disconnect, 60A, and replace those fuses with 35A fuses. The 30A option has a small chance of nuisance tripping. So the 35A option is a littler safe but probably not necessary.

- Back at the panel you can use a breaker to match the fuses in size, either 30A or 35A. Note that the usual limits of "20A max breaker for #12, 30A max breaker for #10" don't apply to motors and motor-driven HVAC equipment.

- For a plug and receptacle, the rating is determined by the branch circuit size (fuse rating). So if you use 30A fuses you can use a NEMA 6-30 receptacle (or L6-30), but if you use 35A fuses you'll need a NEMA 6-50 (or L6-50).

- Note that you'll also need a regular (NEMA 5-15) receptacle within 25' for servicing the equipment (NEC 210.63). If you have an existing receptacle on the outside of the garage that's close enough, that works. Otherwise you'll need to run another circuit out to the disconnect (or to a close enough location on the garage) to provide the required receptacle. That receptacle will require GFCI protection. The heat pump receptacle won't (unless you are under the 2020 NEC, but I don't think PA is).

- All the receptacles should have "waterproof while in use" covers.

Cheers, Wayne
 

Mojo8672

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So, it goes like this:

- The name plate says "Min Circuit Ampacity" 22A. That means you need conductors rated for at least 22A. #12 Cu has a 60C ampacity of 20A and a 75C ampacity of 25A. That means that if the load terminals are 75C rated (I think that is typical but it needs to be checked), the breaker terminals are 75C rated (very typical, but verify) and you use a 75C rated wiring method (e.g. conduit in the ground with say THWN conductors), then you only need #12 Cu conductors. If any of those elements is only 60C rated, you need #10 Cu conductors. Given the 50' distance you might just use #10 Cu to play it safe.

- The name plate says "Max Fuse Size" 35A. That means you will need a fused disconnect at the load, since it specifies Fuses rather than Breaker. But fused disconnects are commonly available and inexpensive. You could use a 30A fused disconnect with the factory 30A fuses. Or you could get the next size up fused disconnect, 60A, and replace those fuses with 35A fuses. The 30A option has a small chance of nuisance tripping. So the 35A option is a littler safe but probably not necessary.

- Back at the panel you can use a breaker to match the fuses in size, either 30A or 35A. Note that the usual limits of "20A max breaker for #12, 30A max breaker for #10" don't apply to motors and motor-driven HVAC equipment.

- For a plug and receptacle, the rating is determined by the branch circuit size (fuse rating). So if you use 30A fuses you can use a NEMA 6-30 receptacle (or L6-30), but if you use 35A fuses you'll need a NEMA 6-50 (or L6-50).

- Note that you'll also need a regular (NEMA 5-15) receptacle within 25' for servicing the equipment (NEC 210.63). If you have an existing receptacle on the outside of the garage that's close enough, that works. Otherwise you'll need to run another circuit out to the disconnect (or to a close enough location on the garage) to provide the required receptacle. That receptacle will require GFCI protection. The heat pump receptacle won't (unless you are under the 2020 NEC, but I don't think PA is).

- All the receptacles should have "waterproof while in use" covers.

Cheers, Wayne
Wayne, first of all, I am very appreciative of your detailed response and advice. I can't say that enough! I'm about 50/50 on my confidence that I can pull this project off at the moment.
-I think I'll just go with #10 wire and a 30amp breaker at the sub-panel. That part I understand.
-With the "fused disconnect",, I only found a couple marketed as "outdoor" online and they seem a bit pricey?. The first pic attached is a pic of one of these from Amazon.com. Does it resemble what you are referring to?
-For a plug and receptacle, were you referring to something similar to pictures #2 and #3? with an outdoor box (picture #4)?
-I wanted to run a normal outlet too(for the pool pump(12amp)) so would Picture #5-7 work for that?
-Finally, what size conduit would I need to run both the #10 and #14 wire in together?
fused disconnect-amazon.PNG
L6-30 plug.PNG
receptacle R6-30.PNG
outlet box.PNG
GFI.PNG
single outlet cover.PNG
single gang outlet box.PNG
 

wwhitney

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Pools have a lot of special rules for safety, do you have the requisite perimeter bonding? Now that you mention a pump (vs just adding a heater to an existing professionally installed pool), I would say that a whole pool is generally not a DIY electrical project.

On the pool pump, you need to post the spec plate like you did for the heat pump pool heater.

If you need to run 3 branch circuits (pump, heater, and service receptacle), you might want to run a single feeder to a larger panel.

For the fused disconnect, you don't need a safety switch, you can use the pull out type, eg:


Cheers, Wayne
 

Mojo8672

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Thank you Wayne. Yeah I think I'm in over my head. lol. But I did learn a bit just from your responses alone. Think I'm gonna call a few electricians tomorrow and pray they don't have me waiting for months. Have a good weekend and thanks again!
 

PerestonMenol

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My brother works as an electrician, and he taught me one rule - always leave a power reserve for the conductors and if you're pulling wiring somewhere, think about the possible need to add something else to it. I'm grateful to him for that. When I decided to add an inverter heat pump to my pool filter pump, taken on the advice of the same brother through the sprsunheatpump.com platform, the extra capping pipes and power left on the electrical panel allowed me to hook up the new equipment without any problems. So if you're not stingy, make a power reserve in the conductors.
 

Afjes

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WWhitney has given excellent advice here and mojo8672 I am so glad that you realize your limits and understand the dangers of this project. Swimming pools can end up being death traps if not wired and bonded correctly and unfortunately sometimes you don't get a second chance. Water and electricity do not play well together.

I am now retired but even when I was working I did not wire swimming pools. I could wire an entire house from scratch and pass inspection no problems. Wiring pools above and in ground take a certain type of knowledge because of the dangers involved. I always left the pools (turned down those jobs) to the ones that had the specialized knowledge and experience needed to wire the pool safely and of course correctly. This goes for spas also.
 

Liamburns14

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I'm going to try and wire in a Hayward HP50HA2 50,000 BTU Heat Pump for our above ground 21' pool(10,000gal).
I have a 100amp subpanel in my garage that is 50' from my pool. Lots of room in the subpanel.
The wire will be run through the garage and then about 25' underground through conduit to the pool.

I can't figure out what size breaker I need or what size wire is appropriate.
Based on the attached pictures, can you give me some advice?
Also, I think I would like to run the wire to an outdoor outlet and buy a plug for the heater, so I can bring it indoors in the winter. Is that a good idea? And if so, what size outlet and plug would I need to have based on the specifications?
Thank you in advance!!

!View attachment 83223View attachment 83224View attachment 83225Hey how did this end up working out for you? I’m pretty confident in my plan but curious to see how yours went? I’m wiring the same model. Thanks!
 

Fitter30

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Specs read 35 amps 220 vac
8 gauge copper 85' wire
10 k gallons of water = weight 84,300 lbs
To raise the water temp 1° takes 84,300 btu's not figuring in any temp lost.
 

wwhitney

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Specs read 35 amps 220 vac
8 gauge copper 85' wire
Not sure where 85' came from?

As to the current to use for voltage drop calculations, 35A is the maximum overcurrent protective device. The circuit should never see that much current other than during starting, so that's an excessively conservative number to use. The minimum circuit ampacity of 22A is more reasonable, although that it likely still quite conservative.

Cheers, Wayne
 
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