Overall, buying a heater that is too small for your pool is counter productive. Even if only for monetary purposes, it’s a good idea to know how long it will take to heat your pool.
Are You Purchasing a Heater Or a Heat Pump?
Determining how long it takes to heat your pool depends on a couple of different things. Have you determined if you are purchasing a heater or a heat pump? Sure they both heat your pool, however, they do so in very different ways. Let’s dig a little deeper.
Heat pumps are unique pieces of equipment in the sense that they don’t create their own heat. Instead, it pulls heat from the ambient air and uses it to heat your pool water. If you live in a colder environment, you can see how this may present a problem. Heat pumps operate best when temperatures are above 50 degrees Fahrenheit. In temperatures below that, heat pumps cannot efficiently perform. As a result, pool owners need to run their heat pumps longer in order to heat their pool. That is why it is crucial to consider the average temperature in your area, especially during the cooler months, before purchasing your heat pump.
An undersized heat pump must run longer in order to heat the swimming pool. Longer running times mean a decrease in efficiency and higher operating costs. In short, it’s an all around bad situation and purchase a gas heater instead.
Heat pumps and heaters, alike, are sized according to the British Thermal Units (BTU) per hour. One BTU raises one pound of water by 1 degree F. One gallon of water weighs 8.34 pounds. So, 8.34 BTUs raises one gallon of water by 1 degree F.
You have a 20,000-gallon pool and use a 125,000 BTU heater. Your water is currently 70 degrees F but you would like it to be a minimum of 80 degrees F. How long will it take before the pool water reaches 80 degrees F?
10 x 1.33= 13.34 hours of heating before the pool reaches 80 degrees F.
In most cases, calculations for a heat pump and heater are optimistic. For heat pumps, the efficiency varies depending on the air temperature and therefore the calculations cannot account for cooler temperatures. The listed BTU size is when the air is quite warm.
Gas heaters are more consistent, however, they are also less efficient. They are only about 80% efficient, which needs to be factored in. Also, you can always expect to lose heat overnight, increasing your overall heating time. After using this formula to calculate how long it takes to heat up your pool, it’s always a good idea to round up to account for heat loss and efficiency. The formula gives pool owners rough estimates, not exact times.
Typically, I’m not a huge fan of online calculators because they’re usually not very user-friendly or accurate. However, the heat pump calculator on the Pentair website is user-friendly and provides everything you need when purchasing a heat pump. The Pentair calculator tool captures information about a pool’s location, size, and configuration to provide the right heat pump solution to fit a pool owner’s specific needs.
Here is a screenshot of a pool owner in Florida. The chart shows the average air temperature for each month, the running time, and the overall costs of consumption. Access Pentair’s Heat Pump Calculator here.
The best thing about heaters and heat pumps is that it allows pool owners to take full advantage of their swimming pool, even when the weather is not ideal. What isn’t ideal is having your party guests arrive at an ice cold swimming pool. We always recommend planning ahead. It’s imperative to remember that even after you have completed your calculations and have a good idea about how long it takes to warm your pool, you are still unable to account for other variables such as the outside temperature, efficiency, and heat loss through evaporation. It’s always a good idea to round up when determining how long you should run your heater or heat pump. This gives you a little cushion room for the unpredictable variables.
Heaters and heat pumps are big expenses. As a result, pool owners are very careful and strategic about the use and operation of their heat pumps or heaters. However, it’s not uncommon for pool owners to run into issues concerning their heaters. To better assist pool owners with their heaters, here is a list of other informative blogs related to heaters.
What is known about uv/ozone good or bad? For a In ground pool?
I’m interested in a pool heater. Please send some info.
I have an above ground pool, 27′ round, 4′ deep. What can I do to heat my pool?
Has anyone used a Heat Exchanger connected to their home air conditioner to heat your pool? We are considering going this route. Once you have the initial investment of the heat exchanger; it is free to heat your pool because you are using the hot air from your air conditioner to heat the water.
Just wanted to know if anyone has experience with this method.
where you able to install the heat recovery? About to install one myself.
The correct term I should have used is Heat Recovery. It is a unit that connects to your house air conditioner unit and heats your pool.
My pool deep end is about 8 feet deep. Would that make a substantial difference in the heating time?
i am having my pool replastered by a local company that claim it would not.
I do not believe it would have an effect, as long as you size the heater correctly for the gallonage.
If I put a patio heater near my heat pump will that improve its performance during cold months?
It may, but honestly, I have not tried that. You might want to talk to a manufacturer to see if it is a viable workaround for cold weather.
First, what is the make and model of the heat pump? Also, how old is it?