What Size Swimming Pool Heat Pump Do I Need?

Soon the summer ends and there may be some nice fall days warm enough to use the pool, but eventually temperatures begin to drop. You are pressed with two choices: wait for the temperature to warm up again and heat the pool naturally or, look for an affordable Swimming Pool Heat Pump.

What is a Pool Heat Pump?

A Pool Heat Pump works almost like a reverse air-conditioner. Instead of exchanging warm air for cold air, they put all of that heat generated in the process into the pool’s water.

Unlike an air conditioner, pool heaters do not need to work so hard for instant results. They implore a slow and steady technique that draws less power and costs you less money. For this reason, heat pumps have the highest coefficient of performance or COP rating of all types of pool heaters. Want proof? Every hotel that has a heated pool uses a heat pump to save on their pool heating efforts.
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A study done by the U.S. Department of Energy on pool heaters ultimately recommends using heat pumps as they perform the best and draw less power. After the study was published, the number of heat pump pool heaters sold in Florida alone grew by a staggering 480% year over year. Hotel chains rushed in to save thousands per year on pool heating.

What measurement is used?

In pool heat pumps, two values that we have to take note of are the COP and the kW output. These two numbers, coupled with the air temperature can give you a good picture of how much power and time is needed to heat up your pool.

How large should my heat pump be?

Without getting too much into the scientific computations, the easiest way to do this is to assume (well, it’s not really an assumption, this is a number supplied by the manufacturer) that it takes 1.16 Wh to heat one litre of water up by one degree. Taking this number, we know that it takes 11.6kWh to heat up a 10,000 litre pool by one degree Celsius in an hour.

To further simplify things, we have created a table that can give you an idea of how fast (or slow) different sized pool heat pumps can raise the temperature of your water so that you can have a rough idea of the size you’ll need for your pool before going to look at the specific models.

Now you may think to yourself, wow, that looks like a lot of power, and yes it does look like it until we apply the COP factor. Let’s take for example the Water Technix Paradise heat pump with an average COP of 14, so if we have a model that’s outputting 18KW, we’re actually only using 1.8KWh because of the COP factor of 14! (Output divided by the COP Factor).

Other Pool Heating Considerations

With a heat pump pool heater, maintaining your water temps will reduce the amount of electricity that you will use. Here are some recommendations:

1. What months do you use your pool?
‍Heat pumps work best in warmer temperatures. Keep in mind that if you are using your pool in January or February, you will need to run the pool heater for about a week or 10 days to bring that water temp up to a swimmable level.

2. How often do you use the pool?
You should aim to only leave your pool uncovered a maximum of 2 hours per day. If you are using your pool for more than 2 hours consider that you will be losing heat and will need to keep your pool heater on a bit longer.

3. How much are you willing to pay?
‍Heat pumps are a much cheaper option than a gas pool heater. We’ve found that they are half the price at least. But heat pumps do cost a bit more up front. The savings in the long run make gas pool heaters a very expensive option when compared to a heat pump.

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