Solar heating - MD/mid-atlantic region

[jeffr47]

Has anyone in the Maryland/VA/DE/DC region put in a solar heater? We've got a great location for it, and I'm curious about what it cost. The pool looks very inviting this Memorial Day, but it's struggling to breach 60F right now.

I'm pretty sure we don't want a gas heater due to the ongoing cost.

 

[ajw22]

@PoolGate is in your area. Let’s see what he thinks.

 

[PoolGate]

Solar isn't going to do anything for you with these nighttime temps. At best you'll get a degree a day and probably not even that. There is nothing cheap about solar either. I would suggest looking into a heat pump. Heat pump owners are just now getting their pools up to temp. My neighbor's pool is in the mid-80s. Of course nothing compares to gas heat! We were in the pool last night and had the temp at 91. My take is if you want a heater, you want a heater. Gas is on-demand swimming. You can swim in the winter if you want. At best it takes a day to get to temp. I went from 62 to 87 in under a day. Yeah, it cost me $100 though. I am on the budget plan with the gas company so I don't see any high bills. But after the pool the bill went up by $100/month.

 

[jeffr47]

Thanks, I appreciate the input! The low operating cost of the heat pump is attractive, and I've read they have a long lifespan as well. I just know that if we got a gas heater, my wife would demand an 88F pool from May to October, and that'll cost us a pretty penny...