The fastest way to heat your pool is to use a gas pool heater and a solar cover. It's like heating up your coffee in the microwave and putting a lid on it. No matter how you plan to heat your pool, you should at least have a solar cover (or liquid solar cover) to help you retain the heat.
The Cost of a Gas Heater vs Electric Heater
Gas is typically cheaper than electric when it comes to the initial cost. However, it relies on the prices of natural gas and propane, meaning that despite the equipment being a bit on the less expensive side, the cost to operate a is usually more expensive in the longer run.
Since you lose more heat energy from a hot pool than from a cool pool, the most efficient thing you can do is keep the temperature as low as possible for as long as possible. The most energy efficient thing to do is always to turn off the heater.
If you want to get as much time as possible out of your pool, however, a heater is a good investment. With a pool heater, you can easily be swimming May through mid-October, giving you a good five months of use out of your pool. That's literally double the amount of time you'd get without one.
You should never leave your pool heater on overnight. Doing so is not efficient and will cost you more than it would if you just turned the pool heater off. While many of us know that heating a pool can take up to several hours, running it overnight defeats the purpose of heating it at all.
Propane is the most powerful way to heat your pool, and is the most effective option for heating a pool in areas where the temperatures can drop below 60 degrees. The heating capacity of propane pool heaters outperforms any electric heaters, solar heaters, solar covers and heat pumps.
So, how much electricity does a pool heat pump use? About 5 kilowatts per hour per 100,000 BTU heat pump. For a general 100,000 BTU pool heat pump, the power you`ll utilize is approximately 5,000 Watts per hour. Typically, the National average for power stands at 13 cents for every kilowatt-hour.
On average, natural gas burns about 1 therm per 100,000 BTUs per hour (British Thermal Units). Meaning, an average pool heater between 300,000 and 400,000 BTUs will cost anywhere from $3.30 to $4.40 per hour to heat your pool.
Conclusion. Solar rings not only keep your pool water warm but also reduce the amount of dirt and debris that might end up in your pool. With solar rings, you won't have to worry about any chemicals or electricity to maintain the temperature of your pool.
Yes, as black color is a great absorber of heat. You can use black PVC pipes, black plastic garbage bags, and even duct tape to heat your pool. But the preferred method would be to place large black plastic sheets on your pool. They will absorb the heat and you will get the warm water.
Outdoor wood boilers are an excellent renewable alternative energy for hot water, especially for those energy sucking hot tubs and pools that everyone loves to play in but hates to pay to heat.
The 10 rings covered about 80% - 90% of the pool and did exactly as they said. They reduced the evaporation substantially and warmed up the pool nicely. Because the temperature here is not super hot they did not make the pool too warm but just comfortable, and certainly better than no cover.
The national average cost for installing a solar pool heater is between $3,000 to $7,000 on average, with most people paying $5,000 for a glazed solar-panel pool heater for a 12-foot x 24-foot in-ground pool.
Electric heaters might cost between $175 and $600 per month to run, and electric pumps could cost around $120 to $200 per month.
A 100,000 BTU heater uses 1 therm of natural gas per hour, so a 400,000 heater consumes 4 therms an hour. 4 therms an hour x $1.67 = $6.68 per hour. So the magic number based on the most common 400,000 BTU pool/ spa heater is $6.68 per hour in gas cost to run your heater.
Here's why: the average propane pool heater burns about 1 gallon of propane per hour per 100,000 Btus. Since a propane pool heater for a standard-sized pool (~21,000 gallons) outputs 400,000 Btus, you will burn about four gallons of propane per hour.
Since prices do fluctuate be sure to check with your provider. Typically, one hour on propane will cost $ 18.00. To heat, an average pool (10-12K Gallon) with no solar cover typically takes 8-14 hours.
HOW LONG WILL THE TANK LAST? 100 gallons of propane will last approximately 25 - 30 hours of run time.
The best time to heat your pool is during the day at least several hours before you plan on using it. The risk of running your pool pump overnight is that the outdoor temperature might be too low for the pump to efficiently warm your swimming pool.
It is not advisable to heat your pool at night because of the time and energy it will consume. You're advised to heat your pool during the day for more efficiency, and if you can, buy a solar blanket to retain the temperature of your pool.
The size of your pool also matters, with larger pools costing more to heat than smaller ones. On average, however, a gas heater costs around $200 to $400 a month to run. Electric heat pumps cost less, coming in at about $100 to $200 a month.
We have found that turning the heater off at night allows the water to cool rapidly. The heater then has to burn at a higher rate in the morning to make up the lost heat. The higher you turn the burner the lower the heating efficiency and the greater the heat loss from the exhaust gases.