Best way to heat

[phipsi1237]

I've heated my 14k gallon pool with a Hayward H400 NG heater. I have about 70-75% of the pool covered with solar sun rings. The weather is about 50 degrees at night/75 degrees during the day. I have family in town for the week and want to be able to swim everyday. I like the pool to be above 80 degrees. Pool temp is about 75 degrees right now, which the kids don't mind. A little chilly for my taste. So, the question?

Would it be cheaper to leave the heater and pump on all the time to kick in when the temp drops? That way it's only heating a couple of degrees at a time. Or just run it prior to using it? Then it might have to heat about 10 degrees?

Thanks.

 

[Ohm_Boy]

I'm no expert in this particular field, but I'm pretty sure that the heat loss will be the same either way, and therefore the heat gain needed to offset it will also be the same, whether it's 1 degree per day for 10 days, or 10 degrees in one day.

 

[phipsi1237]

That's kind of what I assumed as well. Thanks.

 

[Brentr]

You can also reduce your heat loss by covering 100% of your pool. We have a solar pool cover and loose about 1.5 - 2 degrees during the nite. It also depends how cold it gets duiring the nite, Hope this helps.

 

[phipsi1237]

We could get a few more solar rings in there, but they say not to cover more than 80% because it needs some actual sunlight.

 

[Speedo]

what about taking the rings out and using a regular solar cover during the night to retain more heat..? I noticed a huge difference when we cover ours overnight.

I hope it gets warm enough next month to open!! Looks like the low of 27 overnight in the extended forecast has changed to 38.