Blog Tag: geothermal pool heating

An update on the current and future tax credits in the GeoThermal industry.

On August 16 of this year, the president of the United States signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law. That means a change in the tax credits available to both the residential and commercial markets.

I’m pleased to announce that tax credits for GeoThermal heat pumps went from 26% to 30% this year. Also, they’ll go through 2032 without change in the residential sector. Moreover, the tax credit will drop to 26% in 2023 and then to 22% in 2024 on the commercial side. This is all good news for the GeoThermal industry—it truly helps offset the cost of the equipment itself. On the commercial side, tax credits went from 10% to 30% in 2022, so I suggest speaking with your CPA about this.

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Are you considering switching from propane to GeoThermal pool heating? This article from the Six Lakes Country Club is a must-read.

Skyrocketing propane costs caused Six Lakes Country Club in North Fort Myers, who uses propane pool heaters, to consider other heating methods. Since meeting Board Treasurer Tom Goldsmith at an HOA tradeshow, we’ve been working with the Six Lakes Board of Directors on a plan to exchange their propane pool heaters for a GeoThermal pool heating system. The board carefully weighed the costs of propane vs. GeoThermal. They concluded that the GeoThermal system will pay for itself in three years or less and continue to provide energy savings in the future.

Mr. Goldsmith wrote the following article, The GeoThermal Solution, to inform the Six Lakes HOA members of the reasons behind the board’s decision to go GeoThermal. The article provides a brief but excellent overview of GeoThermal technology, as well as an authentic cost comparison of GeoThermal and propane pool heaters. In presenting the benefits of GeoThermal, we couldn’t have said it better ourselves.

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In order to know what size of heating system you need for your pool, you will need to know how many gallons it holds. For the equations you’ll need to use to estimate this amount, please refer to the video above starting at 0:15.

After you know how many gallons your pool holds, you can then find the BTUs that your pool will need each day. You can see the equation for this at 0:37. This calculation requires using a recovery factor, which is the number of degrees that the heating system must be able to raise the pool each day to maintain a temperature when heat is lost overnight.

As I mentioned before, a pool that is not heated would match the outside average air temperature. So, if you wanted to keep a pool heated to 86 degrees in January when the average temperature is only 60 degrees, you will have to raise it 26 degrees just to counter the air temperature.

To calculate the recovery factor after this temperature difference is considered, there are many factors to evaluate: Average wind speed, shade from trees and buildings, if a blanket is used, where return locations in the pool are located, and depth, which is a large factor.

The pools that you see in the video at 3:00, although they look much different in terms of surface size, only have a 200,000-gallon difference. The depth of the pools greatly impacts the number of heaters required for the competition pool versus the diving pool. This is because there are less BTUs needed to heat a deeper pool with a smaller surface area compared to a shallower pool with the same volume. In this example, the competition pool requires eight heaters while the diving pool requires only three.

If you have any questions about this, please feel free to reach out to me. I look forward to speaking with you soon.

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When comparing the differences between air source heat pumps and water source heat pumps, what is the first thing that comes to mind? The answer is simple: One uses air and one uses water. Yet there are even more differences between these two heat sources that may not be so obvious.

During my recent lecture about swimming pool heating systems, the room was set to a comfortable 75 degrees. However, this same temperature would be far less comfortable if you were in a pool, because water transfers heat more efficiently than air. A lack of humidity translates to a lack of efficient heating.

When you use a water source, the temperature is more consistent. Bodies of water experience temperature change less rapidly than air. So which heating method is most beneficial for maintaining a pool’s temperature?

Geothermal heat sources are a very effective option for heating pools, because they can be installed indoors while an air source cannot. Since they don’t need any air flow, you have more options of where to position the system.

Geothermal heat sources also offer great performance, low operating costs, and a life expectancy of up to 15 or 20 years if serviced regularly. They are also capable of cooling.

The primary drawback to this heating method is that it has a higher installation cost.

If you have any additional questions about geothermal heating, please feel free to contact me. I look forward to speaking with you soon.

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Geothermal pool heating has taken the lead as a clean, environmentally sustainable alternative heat source for swimming pools and spas. Using the year-round consistent temperature of groundwater in lakes and aquifer wells, geothermal energy keeps pool and spa water warm without combustion or the inherent inefficiencies of a gas-fired heater. It produces no CO2 gases and employs long-lasting, low-maintenance equipment.

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As any geothermal installer can tell you, geothermal systems are the fastest growing alternative energy source to heat houses, household water and swimming pools and spas. It’s clean, environmentally sustainable and offers efficiencies of over 400 percent, depending upon the locale. No wonder so many are jumping on the geothermal bandwagon. However, it hasn’t always been so. 

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When you’re looking for an HVAC company, technician training is one of the most important factors to consider. Thorough, quality training lets a technician accurately troubleshoot a malfunctioning system, suggest the right equipment for your needs, prevent problems during installation and correct errors made during previous installations.

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While the water temperature in your pool varies with the seasons, the temperature of water in lakes and aquifer wells in coastal Florida remains very consistent. Geothermal pool heaters utilize a water-source heat pump to take advantage of that free, steady underwater temperature and heat your pool all year long.

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