Wednesday

Electric Pool Heater

Using electricity for heating your pool works out cheaper than using propane gas because energy consumed is less. Further, you are helping to keep the environs relatively clean because you are not burning any gas.

Nevertheless, the system has its own limitations. Here, let’s examine the advantages and the limitations of using such a system and find out the best system for heating your pool. You will also come to know where to look for the best offers of electric pool heaters on the Internet, enabling you to make substantial savings while buying such a pool heater for your pool.

electric pool heater

The principle of operation of electric pool heaters, often referred to as heat pumps, is to suck out heat from the surrounding area and transfer this heat to the pool-water. The air that is sucked in is compressed; thereby raising its temperature while water is circulated thru a heat exchanger to gather this heat. In the not so cold months of the year, there is plenty of thermal energy present in the air and the same is captured in this way to heat pool-water. But, the problem arises during peak of winters when you won’t get enough heat to raise the temperature of pool-water because all around the air is much colder for getting started.

Of course you will get some heat but that won’t be enough to raise the temperature of water to a comfortable level unless you install a very big and powerful electric pool heater. Now, the problem is that it will be more powerful than what you would require for the rest of the year. Plus, the cost goes up in direct proportion to its size.

Operation of an electric pool heater is much cheaper than a propane gas heater. They burn too much of gas and annually you’ll be spending about $3000 just have a warm pool. That’s the figure for Florida and if you happen to be in living in colder climate, you may expect more. Well, there are a few things you can do to bring down your heating cost without making any changes in the system, yet it works out more economical to have an electric pool heater.

You must be wondering that despite having a low cost of operation what keeps people away from having heat pumps. The main reason for their not being so popular is that their initial cost and the installation expenses are quite high. Their initial cost is three to four times that of a gas-powered heat pump. Now, a majority of buyers won’t find that very encouraging. But, the operational or running cost of these heaters is very low as compared to the gas-powered heaters. The savings thus made compensate for the initial cost and in about five years. Therefore by fifth year you are beginning to make savings by using such heaters. A swimming pool in itself is a long-term investment and the cost of heater should be added to that to derive long-term benefits.

Now you can appreciate that there are good and strong reasons favoring the installation of an electric pool heater, bur it has a big drawback as it unable to delver the desired results all the year round. Whereas, gas heaters give the desired level of performance for any part of the year, be it summer or peak of winters. That has prompted many users to have a combination of both the types of heater, wherein primary source of heating is an electric heater that provides most of the energy with gas heater being used in the coldest months to raise the temperature to a comfortable level.

The above solution is again not viable for everyone as everyone is not likely to use the pool all thru year. Some people just wouldn’t like to use a pool in cold weather even if the pool water is hot to the desired extent. And, mind you, for such people the amount of energy consumed and the expenses incurred for raising the temperature of water is not an issue.

In the long run it is right to conclude that an electric pool heater is a very viable proposition for heating pool water as it offers very efficient and effective means of heating pool despite initial high cost that pays for itself in a reasonable time after which you are really saving money. To bring down the cost of installation, I’ll let you know of a website that offers the lowest price for all the pool equipment and accessories. They guarantee the lowest prices in the real sense of the word, for if you find a lower offer, they will further lower their price.