What’s The Best Way To Heat A Pool?

Definition

Pool heating refers to a process of increasing or maintaining the water temperature in the swimming pool by the use of specially designed heating devices, solar activity or the chemical ingredient, or the combination of such.

Purpose for heating a swimming pool

  1. Extended swimming season
  2. Comfortable swimming season
  3. Recreation
  4. Health benefits
    • heated water = to more of swimming season
    • extended season = to more swimming
    • more swimming = to more exercise
    • prevents chilling due to excessive body heat loss

Pool heater types

There are five basic types of pool heating systems:

  1. Solar Heater
  2. Electric Resistance Heater
  3. Gas Heater
  4. Air-Source Heat Pump
  5. Water-Source Heat Pump

The Ideal Heating System for a Pool

Ideally, the best heating system for the pool should be determined by the

  • Geographical location of the property (weather patterns)
  • Distance between the pool and the heater installation pad.

Brief introduction to all heater types

Solar Pool Heating

Solar swimming pool heating systems obtain their heat from the sun and mostly benefit consumers who live in very sunny areas. Environmentally friendly solar heating is a popular solution due to utilizing free energy from the sun.

Electric Resistance Heaters

Electric Resistance Heaters use electric currents to create heat. Because electric resistance heaters consume large amounts of electricity, they are primarily used to heat spas and small therapy pools and are rarely used to heat Swimming Pools.

Gas Heaters

Gas heaters burn either natural gas or propane to create heat. Gas burns inside a combustion chamber, which contains a series of copper coils. As the gas burns, water passes through the coils and heats. Gas heaters have historically been the most widely-used swimming pool heaters, though their popularity is decreasing due to high gas prices and the advent of and efficiency of heat pumps.

Air-Source Heat Pump

Heat pumps use electricity to transfer heat from the air to a swimming pool. They are most effective in warmer climates and when used regularly.

Greatly benefit consumers who live in climates where the average air temperature exceeds 60°F (15.5°C) and consumers who use their swimming pools year-round. Heat pumps typically cost between $50 and $150 per month to operate.

Water-Source Heat Pumps

A water-source swimming pool heat pump is a newer technology, also referred to as a geothermal heat pump, transfers heat from a water source to your swimming pool water and is considered to be high efficiency and low operating costs.

Coefficient of Performance

Coefficient of Performance is used to determine the energy efficiency of air conditioners, space heaters, swimming pool heaters, and other heating and cooling devices. It measures the ratio of energy output to the energy input. The higher the Coefficient of Performance, the higher the energy efficiency of the device.

References