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What is the best way to use a heat pump on an outdoor swimming pool?
By admin | December 16, 2007
melissaepell asked:
I have just purchased a 3kw electric heater for my outdoor pool. Two specialists have told me a different way of keeping the pool warm? Do I heat it on a thermostat or put it on a timer for a couple of hours each start/end of the day. What do you recommend and why?
thank you
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2 Responses to “What is the best way to use a heat pump on an outdoor swimming pool?”
December 20th, 1998 at 3:57 am
If the outside air drops 10 degrees and your water temp starts falling faster, then it would be best to keep the thermostat “on”, yet you should set it at that temp which would take 2-3 hours to raise to your standard for your swimming, for which you could readjust for raising and then allowing the temp to lower after use back to the thermostat’s set temp.
We have our indoor A/C with an automatic device to lower temps such as 72 at 4am till 9 am, when it raises to 76 at 9am when we are away from the house till 5pm when it goes back to 74.
They cost more, but you probably can find such a device for your pool.
Also, keep a record of when your heater is on for several months and the cost of extra energy used compared to previous months without the heater.
Or, write down the electric meter dial indicator each day or before you turn the heater on, compared to the time the heater stays on when either used with the thermostat or without.
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December 20th, 1998 at 8:16 am
A 3 kw element is actually pretty small. I wouldn’t expect much performance from 3 unless you get into the habit of keeping a solar blanket on the pool constantly, to minimize heat loss when you’re not using the pool. Most especially at night when you get quite a large temp difference between air and water surface. You’lll be using the thermostat if you actually want it to keep heat. Constantly turning it off and then on again by timer, actually will use up more juice if you’re trying to keep it warm for swimming on demand. If that pool is a 12 foot above ground, you may actually get it to heat within a reasonable amount of time. If it’s a much larger pool…good luck, that heater wouldn’t put much of a dent in heating a 16 X 32 inground, for example. The heat loss would outstrip the gain if this is a pool in an area with moderate outdoor temps and that size. You’d need at least a 15kw.
If you post back the pool size under additional comments I may be able to help you further.