Solar Hot Water Systems Heating Swimming Pools Swimming Pools by Heat Pump
Swimming Pool Heat Pumps
Do I need to heat my pool?
After the investment of paying for, building and then maintaining a pool don't be stuck looking at a cold pool. If you find that you're not able to enjoy your pool as much or as often as you'd like, heating it will increase your usage and the pleasure you get from owning your pool.
How does a heat pump work? Where does the heat come from?
A pool heater works on a simple process just like an air conditioner in reverse, which begins by transferring any available heat from the air into the heat pump. The evaporator coil, or ribbed "fins" that wrap around the unit draw this heat from the air. This heat is introduced to refrigerant liquid and pushed through a compressor where it gets super heated. The heated refrigerant then passes through our rifled titanium heat exchanger. Here is where your pool water then passes over the titanium tubing with a rushing, turbulating effect in our "tube in tube" configuration. ALL of the pool water is exposed to the super heated titanium tubing, which heats the pool water. From there it flows back into your pool and you can begin enjoying and relaxing in your comfortable, heated pool.
What is the difference between a heat pump and other ways to heat your pool?
There are various ways to heat your pool and it's important to understand your options so you make the best choice for you and your family's swimming needs. A heat pump - considering cost, reliability, efficiency and usage tends to be the most cost effective and dependable. Other options include solar energy, also a reliable and very cost effective way to heat a pool.
It involves installing several solar panels on your roof and is subject to the presence of the sun. Natural gas or Liquid propane heaters heat pools and spas quickly and under any weather conditions. The cost to operate these however is very expensive, costing 4-7 times more to operate than a heat pump. There are some scenarios where it makes sense to utilize a combination of heating methods, depending on your needs and pool usage.
What does COP, or Coefficiency of Performance mean? What does that number mean to my operating cost?
COP is a term specifically used in heat transfer to describe the efficiency of any device transferring heat. All heaters are compared to a standard form of heating called resistance heating. Resistance heat is transferred by passing water over a red-hot coil (like in your hot water tank or toaster oven). This form of heating is constant and has a COP of 1 (one). The COP of all heaters is compared to this standard, so a COP of 6.21 means that the heater is 6.21 times more efficient than resistant heating.
Why does my pool "lose" heat? Can a blanket help retain heat?
Your pool's heat loss is directly related to its surface area due to evaporative heat loss. By using the pool cover your operational cost of using a heat pump can be cut in more than half. It will also reduce evaporative loss of water out of your pool.
