Re: Pool heaters

[Sebbo]

Re: Pool heaters

Aloha we live in Waikoloa at about 1000' and are trying to determine our best bet for heating our yet to be built pool. Last year our condo spent $10K to solar heat our condo pool, and a friend in my neighborhood spent $12K to do the same thing.

A pool guy was very opinionated that propane was the best bang for the buck, but that was in conjunction with a hot tub. It does heat quickly. But I am leaning towards a heat pump now, though I don't know anybody on island that has one. It seems like a heat pump and solar power is possibly the way to go. With a heat pump temperature changes are not quick, however.

We live on the southern tip of the Big a Island of Hawaii. We get lots of sun but get some days with clouds and rain, as well as trade winds every afternoon. We just filled our pool but the water is biting cold. We are trying to determine how to best heat the pool a few degrees so it's more comfortable. Do the solar rings you toss on the top of the pool work at all? We've also been told to buy several black hoses and lay them out where the sun will him them and run the water through them. If that works how would you hook them up to the pump to do that? Or should we get the panels of water tubes that go on the roof? Or should we just get regular solar panels? We're just trying to determine the most cost effective way to heat the pool a few degrees. We'd like to avoid trying useless products.

 

[pooldv]

Re: Pool heaters

Welcome to TFP!

Propane or gas heating is generally best for a hot tub. And a heat pump is generally more efficient for heating a pool, especially if air temps are 70 and up. Solar is cheapest to operate if you have a south facing sunny place to mount the panels.

I am not familiar enough with HI climate to say for sure, but my impression is that it is generally tropical, warm and sunny.