[Juliewaters]

Does anyone have a heater/ chiller for their swimming pool?

Does it make your pool comfortable to swim in when the weather is the hottest ?

Do you ever need to use the heater?

[Toymeister]

We have both a solar and gas heater

We use gas on the spillover spa on an as needed basis. Solar heating is set to stop at 90 degrees.

Heat adds months to our season. While solar does have it's limitations it is not 400 additional per month as a full time gas heat can be in the coldest months.

[PoolBrews]

Originally Posted by Toymeister

We have both a solar and gas heater

We use gas on the spillover spa on an as needed basis. Solar heating is set to stop at 90 degrees.

Heat adds months to our season. While solar does have it's limitations it is not 400 additional per month as a full time gas heat can be in the coldest months.

Coming from GA where we had a pool that got too hot to swim in during July and August (shade sails fixed this!), I too was concerned about pool temps in the summer. Having a screened enclosure over your pool significantly decreases the amount of sun that hits the pool - you wouldn't think it would, but it lowers pool temps by as much as 10 degrees vs a pool in the open (i.e. Villages community pools). My pool has never been warmer than 90 in the summer, so I don't think you need a chiller. 90 feels pretty good when it's 100 degrees out!

For heat, we have a heat pump (electric), use our pool year round, and keep it at 88. During the coldest months this adds between $30-$40 to our electric bill. During early spring and late fall, maybe $10-$20, and during late spring through early fall $0. Natural gas will cost far more than electric (~2x-3x), while propane brings a whole new level to costs. If you are going electric, get the biggest heater you can get. The bigger heaters are more efficient, heat faster, and last longer.

Do your research carefully. Solar heats best when it's really hot out (when you don't need it), and works worst when you do (Dec-Feb). Even if you put in solar, you'll still need a heat source for those days/months when solar can't provide the heat you need - so you'll be paying for two heat sources. The average solar system costs ~$4K installed. If you have to have a heat pump anyway, why pay another $4K? Based on my yearly heating costs, it would take between 15-20 years to recoup the cost of the solar system. By then I guarantee you will need to replace multiple components on the system, if not the entire system.

[Juliewaters]

Thanks so much. Your reply was very informative!

[tophcfa]

Our pool water is very comfortable in the summer months as is. During mid December through mid February the solar is not enough, so we cover the pool when not being used and run a heat pump. The heat pump is much slower to heat the pool than gas, but also costs way less to run. When we got to our home this winter, it took a day and a half running the heat pump to get the pool up to 90 degrees, but once there, the combination of covering the pool and periodically running the heat pump allowed us to swim all winter. Once March rolled around, on most sunny days the solar got our pool up to a too hot 94 degrees so I had to turn down the solar setting. So in summary, you need either a heat pump and a cover or a gas heater during the coldest couple of months (when the days are short and the sun is low). From early March through May and again from October through early December the solar is all you really need. Between June and September the water will be just fine with no heat source besides Mother Nature.