Heaters

Raypak heaters are the leading name in pool heaters for a variety of reasons, and the ONLY heaters 4074 Pools and Spas recommends to our clients. They are estimated to hold around 40% of the total market share of installed pool heaters. Raypak is a heater company! Not a pool company making a heater. Raypak heaters use cutting edge technology that produces a great product that is safe, efficient, and reliable! Raypak's digital heaters have an on demand ignition. When there is a call for heat, safety sensors are checked, an electric ignition ignites the pilot. Once the system acknowledges the lit pilot it opens the main gas valve for full burner ignition. There is no HSI or element to burn out over time, reducing maintenance cost. Additionally Raypak is now using cupro-nickle heat exchangers in all of their heaters instead of copper heat exchangers which are more durable and necessary for high corrosive environments like saltwater pools. Additionally, they now include a sacrificial metal anode on the header which offers a water bond, which provides further protection of the heat exchanger. Because there is not a sealed combustion chamber like competitors models (mastertemp, jxi, Sta rite max E Therm), the sulfuric acid created through the burning of natural gas, mixed with the condensation of exhaust gas, never drips down and gets captured on the heat exchanger, doing significant damage, and shortening the life of the heater. It is able to drip through to the burn pan and give the heater a long lasting reliable heater, with less long term maintenance costs. They have "high wind stacks" for applications that produce a high wind issue causing down draft and rollout issues in the heater. Additionally for indoor installations, they can be paired with the D-2 Power Ventilator which forces the exhaust gases out of the flue pipe quickly, making these incredibly versatile units as well! This reduces the chance of condensation forming, as the hot exhaust gases travel along the cooler duct pipe, causing condensation to drip through the sulfur dioxide in the exhaust, causing sulfuric acid to damage the heat exchanger. They are available in natural gas OR propane models. High altitude models are all we use in Denver and surrounding areas. Compatible with all automation controllers. ASME models available for commercial use as well as X94 models for high efficiency heating requirements.

Pentair Mastertemp heaters hold 2nd place with around 25% of the market share. They have become a very popular option in the industry. Pentair is a big name in the industry. This heater design was to provide a different option than the Raypak. Instead of the atmospheric design of the Raypak, the Pentair Mastertemp uses a sealed combustion chamber, and a gas fed blower design for the flame. They use a copper heat exchanger, as opposed to the upgraded cupro-nickel in the Raypak making them more susceptible to corrosion and electrolysis. They are not as flexible with gas input adjustments. The Raypak gas valves are adjustable for a higher or lower line pressure. This can not be adjusted with the Mastertemp series style heaters. The reason is because the combustion requires a specific air/fuel mix for proper combustion. The adjustment of the gas valve in that style system, would cause the flame to become "rich" (too much fuel) or "lean" (more air than fuel) which can damage the heater. Pentair heaters work great when paired with Pentair automation systems, but not well with 3rd party units, such as hayward omni logic. 

The Jandy JXI is responsible for about another 15% of market share. The ironic part is, that the JXI is widely considered to be like the Pentair Mastertemp 2.0. It's a little bit smaller, a little bit lighter, has an adjustable manifold that can be easily moved depending on the specific pad spacing and availability. The exhaust manifold can also be moved as well for the same reason. It also has a "versa flo" manifold which can help to automatically control bypass flow through the heater's own header, which helps with flexibility of variable speed pumps. However the JXI still uses the same sort of hot surface ignitor to light, same blower system for combustion as the master temp.  They both still utilize the plastic housing for weight reasons. 

Hayward H series heaters are responsible for about 15% of heaters. They are closer to the Pentair Mastertemp, Jandy JXI, or Sta-Rite/Max E Therm heaters than the Raypak as well. It ALSO features a blower style forced induction styled burner setup. The shape and layout is unique to Hayward, however it functions in the same way as a Mastertemp/Jxi. The main advantage with the Hayward is, like Raypak, they have upgraded their internals from a copper heat exchanger to a cupro-nickel exchanger that is more durable. Additionally the heater cabinet is made of a galvanized sheet steel, much more like the Raypak than the Pentair or jandy versions. This makes the heater a bit heavier, but a bit more robust as well. It's ease of accessibility is probably one of the more difficult to access and its plumbing layout doesn't match that of the Pentair, Jandy OR Raypak!

Sta Rite has been bought out by Pentair, so this is technically now a pentair heater. It is a different shaped housing, however it functions just like a Pentair Mastertemp heater. It has the same forced blower design. The plumbing is in the same place/configuration as the Pentair Mastertemp as well as the Jandy Jxi.