Heating Your Swimming Pool with Electric: Good or Bad?
Recently, I gave a seminar about different types of heating methods for swimming pools that I thought I would share with you. We have previously discussed the pitfalls of using gas. In this section, I will be discussing electric heating.
Among the multiple types of pool heating methods for commercial and residential pools, some are more popular than others. Electric, solar, air source heat pumps, and geothermal heat pumps are all used.
Electric heating works a lot like a toaster. There are electric coils in it where water runs across it. This creates a little bit of heat from the small box. Because of the size of the heater, it is not a good application for a commercial pool. For residential pools or residential spas, you can see electric heaters like that.
You can think of an electric heater like your water heater. It is an insulated, contained tank that is about 50 to 80 gallons. Meanwhile, spas average 500 gallons with no cover, so it takes a lot more heat than the little electric strip can do.
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Electric heating works a lot like a toaster.
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With electric heating, for every kilowatt you pay FPL, you get one kilowatt in the form of heat. So, your efficiency is still 100% compared to 82% for gas heaters mentioned in my video here. You also need a 60-amp breaker for that 11 kW heater at 240v. So that’s a lot of electric just for 37,000 BTUH.
You’re not getting a lot of bang for your buck there on that kind of a small system. But, there are some pros of the method. It is a small physical footprint and it can be installed indoors or outdoors.
The cons, however, are high. It has a super high operating cost, and the performance and electrical demand that you need is quite a bit.
If you have any more questions about electric as a method for heating a swimming pool, please don’t hesitate to ask. I would be happy to speak with you.
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