Heating the pool
Heating the pool
Please can you guys tell me what systems you use for heating your pool and if possible a rough estimate of cost? We really do want to get this done for next season but can't decide what route to take.
We have a PSA Optimac heat pump which works in a similar way to a fridge, except that it transforms the outside air into hot instead of cold air. Water from the filter pump passes to the heat pump then is recirculated into the pool, so the filter has to be on for the heat pump to function. It cost about £4000 5 yrs ago to buy and install and requires a triple phase electricity supply. It doesn't work in a temperature of less than 3°c and we have only ever had one problem with it, I am very happy with it.
Susan...we've installed a similar type of pool heater to yours. At the moment we have it running (with the pool pump) 8am-8pm and the temperature is set to 26C (we have a south facing garden and the weather at the moment is very warm). Just out of interest how long do you have yours running for? Do you know roughly what it has cost you in keeping the heat pump and pool pump running? We were told that the heat pump should use approx 40 euros worth of electricity per month (12 hours running per day)..but I'm just dreading our electric bill, because I'm sure the pool pump uses alot of energy!
Hi Crystal,
I'm not sure I can be very helpful with the cost of electricity as my pool heat pump, filter and 2 gites, one of which has electric radiators are all on the same counter, so it is difficult to seperate out electric consumption! For 2006, the monthly cost in electricity for the period April - June was approx 150€ (average cost per unit 0,034€). This was starting with a pool temp of 13°, heating up to and maintaining a temp of 26°c and the weather was pretty cold here from 1st April - 1st June last year, so the heat pump would have been required most days to keep the max temperature. I also run the filter and pump 24h/24h - once it has started there is no point in stopping it really (or at least that is what the pump maintenance engineer told me!).
The gite with electric radiators was occupied for at around 7 weeks during this period and the radiators would have been on, so that in itself would have probably cost at least 80€ per month - so maybe the pool heater and filter pump aren't that expensive after all.
I'm not sure I can be very helpful with the cost of electricity as my pool heat pump, filter and 2 gites, one of which has electric radiators are all on the same counter, so it is difficult to seperate out electric consumption! For 2006, the monthly cost in electricity for the period April - June was approx 150€ (average cost per unit 0,034€). This was starting with a pool temp of 13°, heating up to and maintaining a temp of 26°c and the weather was pretty cold here from 1st April - 1st June last year, so the heat pump would have been required most days to keep the max temperature. I also run the filter and pump 24h/24h - once it has started there is no point in stopping it really (or at least that is what the pump maintenance engineer told me!).
The gite with electric radiators was occupied for at around 7 weeks during this period and the radiators would have been on, so that in itself would have probably cost at least 80€ per month - so maybe the pool heater and filter pump aren't that expensive after all.
Susan thanks for that.
Just a thought re. your filter pump, before installing the pool heating we used to have the filter pump come on 2 hours morning and 2 hours in the evening (Winter) and 4 hours am, 4 hours pm during the Summer. That's with the pool being maintained twice a week and the water has always been crystal clear (apart from the usual floating leaves and insects), so perhaps you may not need to have your filter pump on 24/7 especially during the low season...just saving you a bit of electricity?
Just a thought re. your filter pump, before installing the pool heating we used to have the filter pump come on 2 hours morning and 2 hours in the evening (Winter) and 4 hours am, 4 hours pm during the Summer. That's with the pool being maintained twice a week and the water has always been crystal clear (apart from the usual floating leaves and insects), so perhaps you may not need to have your filter pump on 24/7 especially during the low season...just saving you a bit of electricity?
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cromercrabholiday
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I agree - 24/7 seems OTT. Also, unless you have a quiet pump, it could be annoying in the small hours of the morning for a light sleeper.Crystal wrote:Susan thanks for that.
Just a thought re. your filter pump, before installing the pool heating we used to have the filter pump come on 2 hours morning and 2 hours in the evening (Winter) and 4 hours am, 4 hours pm during the Summer. That's with the pool being maintained twice a week and the water has always been crystal clear (apart from the usual floating leaves and insects), so perhaps you may not need to have your filter pump on 24/7 especially during the low season...just saving you a bit of electricity?
John
The pool is far enough away from the gites and the filter pump is very quiet - so noise isn't a problem. I also think that once you have started heating the pool, why then switch everything off so that any temperature increase you gain then disappears? In high summer when the heat pump isn't required, maybe I'll switch it off, but my pool company said there was less wear and tear on the pump by leaving it on than switching it on and off all the time.
Incidentally, we are nearly fully booked in May 2007 in all the gites and half booked in April, so the bookings I get, mainly due to having a pool that is heated to such a degree that it is 'swimmable', more than compensates for the cost of electricity during this period!
Incidentally, we are nearly fully booked in May 2007 in all the gites and half booked in April, so the bookings I get, mainly due to having a pool that is heated to such a degree that it is 'swimmable', more than compensates for the cost of electricity during this period!
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Alan Knighting
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Susan,
It is just my opinion but as a fellow pool owner you might agree.
I think the financial costs involved in running swimming pools tend to be greatly exaggerated. Putting aside the substantial capital cost of installing a pool, some people seem to imagine it runs into thousands of pounds a year but it doesn’t; it’s a few, a very few, hundreds of pounds a year.
Circulation pumps, filtration pumps and heat pumps are simply driven by electric motors and electric motors do not use a significant amount of electricity. On the other hand, electric heaters eat the stuff at an alarming rate.
In any case, if having a heated pool extends one’s season and increases one’s bookings by a single week in the year the additional running costs of a heat pump are totally insignificant.
Unless the pumps are in the guest bedrooms or the guests have to sleep in the pump house (that’ll make a change from them sleeping in coal holes) the pumps should be “invisible�; if they’re not there’s something wrong with the pumps and new bushes and bearing will fix that.
Fluffy
It is just my opinion but as a fellow pool owner you might agree.
I think the financial costs involved in running swimming pools tend to be greatly exaggerated. Putting aside the substantial capital cost of installing a pool, some people seem to imagine it runs into thousands of pounds a year but it doesn’t; it’s a few, a very few, hundreds of pounds a year.
Circulation pumps, filtration pumps and heat pumps are simply driven by electric motors and electric motors do not use a significant amount of electricity. On the other hand, electric heaters eat the stuff at an alarming rate.
In any case, if having a heated pool extends one’s season and increases one’s bookings by a single week in the year the additional running costs of a heat pump are totally insignificant.
Unless the pumps are in the guest bedrooms or the guests have to sleep in the pump house (that’ll make a change from them sleeping in coal holes) the pumps should be “invisible�; if they’re not there’s something wrong with the pumps and new bushes and bearing will fix that.
Fluffy
Alan,
I do agree. Since starting to heat the pool earlier in the year and keeping it heated until later in the year (1st April - 31st October) which having an abri permits me to do (with a different cover much of the heat would disappear overnight during the shoulder months and it would be impossible to keep the pool at 26°c) - my off peak lettings have increased dramatically. I worry more about the costs of heating in the gites themselves during these periods than about the costs of the pool, which as you say, are minimal in comparison to electric heaters.
I do agree. Since starting to heat the pool earlier in the year and keeping it heated until later in the year (1st April - 31st October) which having an abri permits me to do (with a different cover much of the heat would disappear overnight during the shoulder months and it would be impossible to keep the pool at 26°c) - my off peak lettings have increased dramatically. I worry more about the costs of heating in the gites themselves during these periods than about the costs of the pool, which as you say, are minimal in comparison to electric heaters.
This looks promising for us thenmy off peak lettings have increased dramatically.
The main reason we installed pool heating was to attract guests during low season i.e. Nov-March...so hopefully we too should see a rise in our off peak bookings.Susan, didn't mean to 'question' your 24/7 pump cycle, so hope it wasn't taken the wrong way
Luckily for us our pool is south facing so gets the sun on it for most of the day, so a 12 hour heating cycle seems to works for us and has kept the temperature at a steady 26C.Alan, thanks too...your comments have also reassured me re. running costs of pool heating (which for some reason I thought would be alot higher than it really is).
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Alan Knighting
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I didn't mean to get defensive, sorry if it came over that way Crystal! I'm sure it isn't necessary to filter the pool 24/7 in high summer, but it doesn't cost a lot on my electricity tarif and the pool is kept very clean, which is the most important thing for me with guests here!Crystal wrote: Susan, didn't mean to 'question' your 24/7 pump cycle, so hope it wasn't taken the wrong way
Susan, I would say that your abri probably makes the world of difference to the temperature of the pool. We heat ours using fuel oil, but only 1st may to the end of Sept. Outside of that we would just be burning oil for the sake of it. The problem with the fuel oil is the recent price rises, which have made 2006 an expensive year to heat the pool.
I may look into an abri in the future, but with two large pools, not a standard rectangle I fear the cost would be prohibitive.
Ju
I may look into an abri in the future, but with two large pools, not a standard rectangle I fear the cost would be prohibitive.
Ju
Ju,
you are right, before we got the abri, there was no way the pool could keep a temp of over 20°c before mid May. There are many disadvantages to an abri - the one I have is not telescopic and has to be raised or lowered by me (and it isn't light!) or removed by 2 people, I also think it is ugly. The big advantages is the money it has saved me on heating the pool (it retains the heat overnight and the pool is on average 8°c higher than it was before) and of course more bookings in the shoulder season.
you are right, before we got the abri, there was no way the pool could keep a temp of over 20°c before mid May. There are many disadvantages to an abri - the one I have is not telescopic and has to be raised or lowered by me (and it isn't light!) or removed by 2 people, I also think it is ugly. The big advantages is the money it has saved me on heating the pool (it retains the heat overnight and the pool is on average 8°c higher than it was before) and of course more bookings in the shoulder season.