Many homeowners cover their pool when the temperatures begin to drop, which can mean up to three months or more are lost. Heated Swimming Pool can help extend your swim season by months, all thanks to the (free) radiant energy of the sun.

Why install pool heating?

The main reason homeowners install pool heating is to make more use of their swimming pool.

This is especially true for Australia’s temperate southern states, where pool heating can help extend your swimming to eight months swim per year. It will also enable you to swim from early morning to late evening and into the night. For more temperate states, pool heating can have your swimming all year. And if you are currently using electrically powered pool heating, switching to gas, heat pump or solar can also help you reduce your energy consumption significantly.

Your Heated Swimming Pool options

There are three types of conventional pool heating on the local market:

Gas
Gas pool heating is relatively energy efficient and fast way of getting the temperature swimmable in your pool.  It is also relatively energy efficient when compared to electric.

Solar
Solar pool heating is an energy efficient alternative to electric and gas pool heating, which is why it has become Australia’s most popular form of pool heating. While relatively expensive to install, in the long term it works out be cost effective. The systems use a system of glass collector tubes or PVC pipes, which are mounted on your roof, with your pool water pumped through it continually. It can still heat your pool water if it is cloudy, though not to the same temperature as full sun.

Heat pump
Heat pumps work by drawing warm air from the ambient air and transferring this to the water. It is a very efficient and cost-effective system and can use as little as a third of an electrically powered system. They are often used as a backup for a solar collector system, where they can kick in when it is cloudy or in cooler weather.

Electric
Electric systems are very expensive to run, and consequently, less people install then today.

Which pool heating option is best?

It really does depend on what climate zone you live in and what your needs are. Start by asking yourself:

• What is the volume of water in my pool?
• What is the lowest outdoor temperature you experience?
• How often do you use your pool in autumn/spring/winter?
• How often do you swim, daily/weekly?
• How long do you use your pool for when you swim?

 

If you live in an area where you get a lot of sunshine then solar is most probably your best bet. For cooler climates zones gas is the most efficient for getting the water warm as quickly as possible, while a heat pump makes the most sense if you are in a temperate zone where it never really gets too cold.

For many homes, the perfect fail safe may be combining solar with a heat pump as a backup. This, combined with the further heating it receives in the heat pump, will make the pool warm enough to enjoy in most Australian climate zones.

Solar pool blanket or cover

Considering that 75 percent or more of the heat in your pool is lost through evaporation, using a pool blanket begins to make sense. These are a thick plastic based cover of varying thickness and act like a giant solar energy collector.They allow the sun’s energy to pass through the blanket, heating your pool water and trapping the heat there. They can also be used in conjunction with heaters, and ensure maximum heat retention. Its as easy pulling it over when you are not swimming, and rolling it back when you want to swim.

Looking to heat your swimming pool? Ask Fantasy Pools Gold Coast for more information.