Heater alternative questions

[TXHeat]

Hi all......inquired with our PB last year about adding a gas heater and was quoted around $3500, not to mention the cost of the NG to heat. Just wondering what other options (if any) are out there that would be effective. We're not really looking for year round use, but more to extend/start the swimming season by 1-2 months on either end. Right now, we usually swim from mid May to mid September on average.

I've heard of solar heaters and maybe some others. Any economical alternatives that would work well for what we're wanting?

 

[RLT0227]

I love, love, love my solar heater! Keeps my Upstate NY pool at 85-90 degrees all summer. For free! They do spring leaks from time to time and are a fair amount of work remembering to turn to bypass when cloudy/rainy, etc. And they're ugly. But still, I recommend to anyone who'll listen. It works great. You do have to have a sunny backyard without a lot of trees or shade.

 

[CJadamec]

I love the solar panels I installed they do a great job.

You will end up spending over 1k by the time you have everything you need to have a solar panel system that will do what you want it to do. That's just in material. Installation will be extra if you aren't doing the work. If you are installing on the roof of your house I would spend extra money on the panels to get ones with more durable construction. That will increase your upfront costs considerably. I wouldn't be shocked to have somebody quote you 4-5k to have a system installed.

Sadly when it comes to heating pools there are no cheap solutions. You either end up paying upfront for equipment and installation like with solar panels or you end up paying a little less up front but have a monthly utility bill for the life of the heater with heat pumps and gas heaters.

 

[pooldv]

Our pool is partially shaded. We started with a small solar set up right away. We didn't have room to install enough panels and didn't get as much extension of the season as we wanted. But, solar does a great job of keeping the pool warm in season. We added a small heat pump and a solar cover last September and that did the trick. Solar plus the cover does most of the work for free and the heat pump gives us those few degrees when we need them or when it is cloudy or rainy for a while.

Bought our solar from Solar Direct and I installed it. 240sf for a 700ish sf pool. Normally, 50-100% solar coverage is recommended. We have a clear 8 mil solar cover and it heroes the heavy lifting of keeping the pool warm by slowing overnight heat loss. And finally we have a Hayward HP50HA heat pump that is 50k BTUs that I installed last September.

Last year we swam all of October and we started swimming March 13th this year. Pool was 90 yesterday and 88 today with solar heat and cover only.

There is more about our pool and heating it in my pool thread, link in sig.

 

[LFrankow]

#1 is the solar cover, no use making it if you cannot keep it.
Solar is nice added a lot more swim days to my pool over the last few years.
If you decide to go that route definitely look into getting a solar controller.