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Pool Owner’s Guide · Your Equipment
Pool Heaters: Gas, Heat Pump and Solar Explained
by Spectrum Pool Care
A warm pool stretches the swim season and makes a spa an every-evening pleasure. There are three main ways to get there, and each one makes heat in a completely different way.
Heating water takes a lot of energy, more than almost anything else in a household. The unit for it is the BTU, or British Thermal Unit: the energy needed to raise one pound of water by one degree Fahrenheit. A typical backyard pool holds well over a hundred thousand pounds of water, which is why pool heaters are rated in the hundreds of thousands of BTUs per hour.
A spa is a different story. With a small fraction of the water, it warms up quickly, which is why many owners heat the spa often and the pool only now and then.
Three Ways
Gas, Heat Pump and Solar
Gas heaters
Burn natural gas or propane and warm water fast. Ideal for spas and for heating the pool on demand, in any weather.
Heat pumps
Work like an air conditioner in reverse, moving heat from the air into the water. Slower, but they deliver several units of heat for each unit of electricity, and our mild climate suits them well.
Solar
Water is pumped through collector panels, usually on the roof, and warmed by the sun. Very low running cost, gentle warmth, and at its best from spring through fall.
Combinations
Many pools pair two: solar or a heat pump for steady pool warmth, and gas for a quick spa.
Getting to Know Yours
Why a Heater Turns On and Off
A heater doesn’t run nonstop. Like the thermostat in a house, it works toward a set point, the temperature you’ve chosen. Once the water reaches it, the heater rests. As the water cools a little, it fires up again. That steady on-and-off rhythm is called cycling, and it’s exactly what a healthy heater should do.
Quiet doesn’t mean broken. A heater that’s off may simply have reached its set point and be waiting.
The pump has to be running. Heaters only fire when water is flowing through them, so a heater set to run outside the pump’s schedule will stay off.
The water tells the story. Because a heater rests so often, a heater that’s off at any given moment says very little. The real test is whether the water warms when the heat is turned up.
If you turn the heat up and the water doesn’t warm as it usually does, or the heater shows an error, that’s the moment to give us a call.
Keeping It Warm
Simple Ways to Hold the Heat
A pool cover. Most of a pool’s heat escapes through evaporation at the surface, so a cover is the single biggest help.
A spa cover. Keeps the spa near temperature between uses, so it’s ready sooner.
Calm air. Wind speeds evaporation; a sheltered pool holds its warmth longer.
Automation. A timer or phone app can start the spa heating before you get home.
Clear air around the heater. Heaters need room to breathe, so leaves and stored items are best kept a little way back.
From our routes: spas see their heaviest heater use in the cooler months. If your heater won’t start, shuts off, or takes longer than usual to warm the water, give us a call and we’ll set up a visit.
