Comparing 4 Different Pool Heating Options
We’re here in the boneyard today to go over the different types of heaters that you can use to heat your pool in Florida. There are four different types of pool heaters that we’ll cover. We’ll go through the pros and cons of the first two today, show you how they work, and detail the maintenance costs of each.
We’ll start with the electrical resistance heater. It has two heating elements that stick down into a reservoir and heats water as it flows through. As you apply power to the coils, they glow and heat the water.
They are very susceptible to chemical imbalances, however, so they end up having to be replaced quite often. They produce 37,000 BTUs per hour and a coefficient of proficiency of 1.0. That means for every dollar you spend, you get one dollar’s worth of heat. It’s not a great choice for bigger pools; it’s better for spas.
Next, we have the natural gas and propane heaters. It produces 400,000 BTUs at 84% efficiency. That means you’re only producing 336,000 BTUs per hour. It has a small footprint, and it’s not affected by the outside temperature no matter how cold.
A weakness of this is that as pool water flows through the cupronickel heat exchanger, it’s also very susceptible to chemical imbalances. When the pool water gets to a saturation point, it will stain your pool surface with copper. You have to be extra careful with this one. In a typical residential pool, to heat the pool year-round, it will cost you $6,000 per year for natural gas but $14,000 per year with propane. It does have a small footprint and provides a lot of heat
“Natural gas and propane heaters have a small footprint.”
Stay tuned for part two of our side-by-side comparison, where we’ll go over some more helpful information and the pros and cons of the other two pool heating types. If you’re in the market for a pool heating system. If you have any questions in the meantime, don’t hesitate to reach out via phone or email. We look forward to hearing from you soon.
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