Pool Heating Recommendations: Gas, Solar or Electric Heat Pump (house, costs)

[jjphillips48]

I'm looking into having a pool (with a hot tub) put in this year and want to better understand my heating options. The pool company I spoke with explained it this way:

Gas - Connected only to hot tub. Will head up hot tub very quickly for intermittent use. Can be used to heat main pool area by allowing hot tub to waterfall into main pool, but would take several hours and could be very expensive allowed to do this for an extended period of time

Electric - Connected to pool and hot tub. Takes much longer to heat up hot tub. Would need to plan ahead a few hours before using hot tub. Less expensive to heat main pool area but could take several days to heat to desired level.

Solar - Didn't discuss

Personally, I feel like I won't get much use out of the main pool outside of peak summer months if it isn't a at least a little warmed up. Any suggestions on the best route?

[hotkarl]

Spillover shared pool/tub or separate pool/tub?

[jjphillips48]

Spillover tub into pool.

[hotkarl]

Ok. Heat pump with some automated controls to switch from pool to spa mode.
With shared filtration you would be heating all water but when you turn it to spa mode it would adjust the valves and up the temp on the heat pump and divert all to the hot tub.
If you have the pool heated already at say an average 85 degrees it would take long to bounce up the spa to 104.
The plumbing is a little complex and with the controls and automated valves it will be a little more pricey but I think that's the best way to go.

[PacketHauler]

I can't speak to electric, or solar for pool heat, but the house we rented had a gas heater for the spa/pool, and the spa had a spillover option.

It takes a very long time to get the pool heated to whatever temp you want it to be and is very expensive. My gas bill jumped from $35-40 a month when using the spa once a week, to $150 when heating the pool for 7 days just to get it to 82 degrees. I never attempted that again.

That being said, the spa did heat up very quickly with the gas heater. It was usually ready within 10 minutes during the coldest months of the year.

[hotkarl]

Heat pumps are pretty efficient.
Set it and forget it.
All my customers said it was the best upgrade they ever did when converting from gas or oil heat. Solar sucks unless you want to spend a fortune on the right equipment.

[SuiteLiving]

They can be unattractive and bulky to handle but solar covers are a great way to preserve heat and to heat up a pool quicker in the non-summer months.

[ImmerLernen]

So, if you're putting in a new pool, the recommendation (consensus?) is that a heat pump is best/most efficient?

What about an existing pool? What's involved in converting (time-wise and money-wise)? And what's involved in adding a heat pump if the existing pool isn't heated at all (if those even exist)?

On a related subject, can an existing pool be "remodeled"...for example, if it's too small and there's room for expansion, what's involved (time/money) in enlarging it?

[hotkarl]

You can do anything if you want to pay for it.
Adding a heat pump is normally pretty easy. I think the biggest obstacle has been getting the power run under certain circumstances, but that is the electricians problem! Ha ha.
It's really not a big deal.

You can renovate a pool, it costs money.
A steel wall/vinyl liner is normally the least expensive and easiest to renovate.
Gunite/concrete is more expensive.

[markjames68]

I agree with hotkarl's points. I have a spillover spa/pool, around 6,000 gallons and use a heat pump with variable speed pool pump. My electric runs around $30 to run the pool without heat, and probably about the same to heat the pool/spa when needed.

The disadvantage about heat pumps is that they get less efficient the cooler the weather is. In SWFL this isn't much of a problem, but might be more of an issue in Brevard.