Heating a pool

[Jeanneclaire]

What information is there out there about the merits and otherwise of heating a pool. Does anybody have any cost implications; is solar heating a viable option?

[Poolguy]

Jeanneclaire

Certainly heating the pool can be expensive as the is usually a lot of water

involved and if you pool does not have a cover then a lot of that energy will

go to the heavens above.

Generally there are three systems you might consider, the first is a passive

system and the other 2 are active systems.

The first is to construct an abri over the pool. This warms the water by

'greenhouse effect' and will ensure that there is little or no cooling from the

wind or re-radiation during the night.

The Second is heating using solar absorbers, where you pump water quite slowly

though a system of tubes inclined at about 30% to the Horizontal and facing

South or Southwest.

the Third method is heat pump, where by reverse refrigeration a machine will

catch and compress heat from the air and deliver that to your pool water. In

essence it will deliver about 4 kw f heat per 1 kw of electricity.

They all have capital cost but only the last has a significant running cost.

For my money No 2 is the best as you get to vary the energy you can absorb to

suit your desired swimming temp and there is next to no running cost

(electricity to run a pump). In general terms you could consider that this

option will cost from 2500 euro to about 5000 euro depending on the surface are

your buy.

But all of the three solutions have their advantages. PM me if you want more

information

Andrew