Real Estate, Finance and Home Articles of Interest


Swimming Pool Heat Pumps - A Great Way to Heat Your Pool

by Ryan McCall

It's a fact - most swimming pools are never at optimal swimming temperatures, and while much of the time the cold shock of the water can be an exciting part of the fun, it's also great to have the option to warm things up a little. This is where swimming pool heat pumps come in - they're an opportunity to invest in your home while adding to the fun of family memories, as the kids will never want to leave the healthy fun of the water behind.

There are a number of ways to heat a pool, including the use of swimming pool heat pumps, gas or solar panels. Swimming pool heat pumps don't generate heat. Instead they use electricity to capture heat and move it from one location to another. As the swimming pool's water is circulated by the pump, it is passed through a filter into which a heat pump is incorporated. The heat pump's fan draws outside air in, directing it over an evaporator coil containing a liquid refrigerant agent. This agent absorbs the air, becoming a warm gas that then passes through a compressor, becoming hotter as its particles are pushed more closely together.

The now hotter agent passes through a condenser, which transfers the heat of the gas to the relatively cool pool water circulating through the other end of the heater, returning to the pool where it increases the overall warmth of the pool, even as the gas returns to liquid form and goes back to the evaporator for its next cycle.

Now what all this science winds up meaning to you is that while a swimming pool heat pump might cost a bit more to install when you initially buy it, it's less likely to be affected by shifts in the weather or the absence of sunlight than solar-paneling solutions, and will be more energy efficient than the majority of heating pump systems out there - the simple fact is that, since they've been around for so much longer than other forms of inground pool heater technology, they've matured in their design and are now better thought out and put together.

The biggest concern when installing swimming pool heat pumps is whether the job's being done by a qualified professional - obviously any device involving gas and heat coils is not one you want poorly installed, especially if you have kids running around. Also, proper installation can optimize the functionality of the pump.

After this concern, you need to consider whether, regardless of the initial price of installation, you can afford to have a swimming pool heat pump running and eating up electricity. As efficiently as it may operate, if your kids are left unchecked running the heater they could well rack up phenomenal bills unless you establish some way to regiment the amount of power the device uses. Consider buying a pool pump timer to cut off power use at a particular number of kilowatt hours.

For more information on Swimming Pool Heat Pumps check out the following link at www.BestSwimmingPoolShop.com.

Published May 30th, 2009

Filed in Home