Solar Panel Pools Heating

Too many times consumers go without using their pool much of the year because of the high cost of keeping it warm enough to be comfortable. On an average, it costs several hundred dollars each and every month you use an electric or fossil fuel pool heater. At one point in time natural gas was the cheapest source of heat but in recent years even the cost of natural gas has gone sky high. While it is true that the installation costs involved in solar panels pools heating systems is higher than in the installation of conventional heating systems be savings over the long term are monumental. That being said, even the cost of solar panels pools systems has come way down.

How Many Solar Panels Does It Take to Be a Pool?

On an average it takes at least enough solar panels to heat a pool that have a combined area totaling at least 50% of the area of the pool to be heated. Or in other words, if your swimming pool has an area (length x width) of 450 sq. feet then you would need to have at least 225 sq. feet of solar panels to bring the water temperature up at least 10°. However, there are other factors which may come into play necessitating more solar panels to bring the temperature up by that amount.

Factors Which Affect Solar Panels Pools Heating

One of the greatest factors which affect how much heat a solar heated pool can hold is whether or not you provide a way to keep the heat in the water. The best way to understand this is to think about what it would be like trying to heat your house and keep the heat in the house did not have a roof on top. All that heat that you produce and pump into the home would be lost up through where the roof should be because heat rises. For this reason when installing solar panels pools heating systems is always in your best interest to also purchase a thermal cover for your pool. Also, it stands to reason that if you add more solar panels totaling up to 100% of the area of your pool you will be providing that much more heat.

There is no reason not to have a heated pool if the cost of energy is an issue because solar panels pools heating systems cost absolutely nothing to operate. The only cost involved will be the initial installation cost and what it costs to run a pool pump to circulate the water. It is estimated that based on the size of your pool, the annual cost to run a pool pump would run between $25 and $100. Most often this amount is on the low end of the spectrum. Whether you are looking to cut costs or reduce the amount of fossil fuels being burned in order to do something good for our planet, solar panels pools heating systems can play a significant role.