What’s the Real Cost of Oversizing in Pool HVAC Design?

The Airstream unit will only require the full boiler/heat pump load during heat up of the pool water. Once the pool water has been heated to the desired temperature (usually 29°C), the boiler/heat pump doesn’t require this large duty anymore. Therefore, when you sensibly size boilers and heat pumps, this ensures lower capital and operation expenses.

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Once the pool water is up to the correct temperature, boilers and heat pumps reach the set temperature point too quickly, which means they shut off and restart after. This is called short cycling.

Short cycling can cause the following:

- Increased wear and tear on components like compressors and pumps

- Higher maintenance needs and a shorter lifespan

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When heat pumps or boilers are oversized, they rarely operate in optimal conditions, which means they give unnecessarily higher energy bills and poor seasonal efficiency (SCOP) for heat pumps. This means that lower efficiencies are achieved and the heating source rarely operates in its optimal conditions.

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Larger, oversized components result in a higher capital cost, as well as potentially being more complex to install and commission. Not only does the larger component cost more, but this means bigger pumps, valves and pipe sizes will significantly increase costs when installing.

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Precious space can easily be taken up by larger equipment, which could also contribute to oversized plantrooms, or even having to move other plantroom items such as the pool ventilation unit to the roof or mounting externally in an unsightly position.

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When correctly sized heat pumps and boilers are utilised:

- It prevents short cycling, meaning less wear and tear

- Higher efficiencies to give lower running costs (OpEx)

- Lower capital costs to prevent unnecessary upfront expense (CapEx)

- Extended equipment life due to the unit running optimally 

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Get in touch with Airstream today at info@airstreamtech.co.uk to see how we can ensure heating sources are sized correctly for your application, reducing CapEx and OpEx.

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