Swimming pools are a great way to cool down and get together with family and friends. Yet, many of us want our pool to be functional during the cooler months. Pool heaters are a great solution to cooler months and allow you to get near year round use out of your pool. Worried about the cost? Consider switching to solar energy.
How Does Pool Heating Work?
To understand how switching to solar heating makes sense, one must first understand what kind of swimming pool heaters exist and how they work. A popular choice is a gas or oil-fired thermal system, which heats the water through convection, warming the air and blowing it into the pool. There are also electric-powered heaters that use similar means to warm up the water in a swimming pool.
With these types of heating systems, there is one problem: energy loss. For water to be heated by convection from warm air or electricity, some energy must go to waste. This makes such systems far less efficient. Some systems will even lose around 50% of their heating capacity because only half of their heat reaches the water itself. Other losses occur within the pipes.
Another type of heating is called solar thermal pool heating. It involves using solar energy trapped in water to heat the pool without needing conventional fuel. In this type of heater, a panel with an absorber and a storage tank are positioned on the roof of the building or the house. The sun heats the water inside that tank through convection, and then it gets circulated to warm up the swimming pool water via pipes. These systems offer heating capacity close to 100%, making them highly efficient and affordable in terms of their long time running costs.
Why are Solar Heaters a Good Investment?
You Reap Long-term Savings
These systems may seem quite expensive at first, especially if you compare them with some of the cheaper gas-fired heaters. But in the long run, switching to solar will be more affordable. Paying off their initial expenses will take a few years, but after that, you can enjoy your pool for much longer without having to spend money on repairs or maintenance.
Using the savings, most households who install such systems can increase their savings in other areas of life, like travel, vacations, or even just paying off debt.
They are Perfect for Any Climate
Unlike some types of heaters where performance may deteriorate due to demanding weather conditions like rain or snow, solar-powered systems will continue working regardless of how bad it gets outside.
No matter where you live in terms of climate and weather conditions, there is always a type of heater that will work best for your pool. There are types of solar thermal heaters explicitly designed for colder climates, consisting of a collector and storage tank designed to withstand colder weather conditions.
There are also smaller, cheaper installations designed for warmer climates, such as solar covers that radiate heat from sunlight. The disadvantage of this type of heater is that it can only be used when there is plenty of sunshine to get it warmed up enough. But, apart from this drawback, they work very well for most outdoor pools.
No Fuel is Used
A significant advantage of using solar panels to heat your swimming pool water is that they don’t require fuel. They use the sun’s energy as their primary source of power. This means that you won’t ever have to worry about running out of gas or running to buy more propane to heat your pool during bad weather conditions.
They are an Environmental-Friendly Option
Solar heaters are a clean and environmentally friendly option. They reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere indirectly as no fossil fuel generated electricity is needed. That means it is safer for the environment compared to its counterparts. It also produces no greenhouse gases helping to lower air pollution. They also help households become more energy independent as to heat the pool they need no energy from electricity companies.
They are Easy to Install, Maintain and Use
Compared to other systems, solar thermal pool heaters are very easy to install. Most types of installations only require you to place the panels on your pool with some support structure (such as poles), put a storage tank somewhere where it will be able to get warmed up by the sun throughout the day and connect both pieces with pipes.
Finding a suitable position for all these components and figuring out how much piping you need may be time-consuming. But after that, everything should go smoothly. Once everything is in place, just an occasional cleaning of your panels will be enough.
Solar heating systems are an excellent investment because they can help reduce energy costs. With the right system, you will also be able to use natural sunlight as an alternative form of power that is less expensive and better for the environment than fossil fuels or electricity from traditional sources. To find out more about how solar water heaters work and why they make such a good long-term investment, contact us today.