Electric Heat Pumps for Swimming Pools

Electric Heat Pumps

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An alternative to solar pool heating that is also far more cost effective than gas or electric resistance units is a dedicated heat pump.

These units are essentially air conditioners that run in reverse. Instead of removing the heat from inside a house and dumping it outside, heat is removed from the outside air and transferred to the swimming pool water via an exchange mechanism.

The Basics
Yes indeed, it does look like an air conditioner. A fan pulls warm outside air past the freon gas, transferring the latent heat in the outside air to the freon gas being pumped through the condenser coil. The heat is then released to the water from the pool as it passes by the freon gas in the evaporator coil. this exchange process depends in it's efficiency upon the amount of latent heat in the outside air and the relative humidity. The cooler the outside air and the lower the humidity, the less effective the unit is in heating the swimming pool. A typical 100,000 Btu/Hr. unit will only produce 83,000 Btu/ Hr. when the air temperatures drop to 65 Deg. F. When sizing a heat pump pool heater it is important to provide a unit that is large enough to heat the pool during the typical 8-9 hour run time for the pool pump. If this run time is also during the daylight hours the efficiency of the unit is greatly enhanced. (See chart below for Cost per Degree Rise.)

Typical Swimming Pool Assumes Average Depth of 4.5 Ft
SURFACE AREA	CUBIC FOOTAGE	GALLONS	BTU PER DEG. RISE	COST/DEG. H.P.
250	1125	8438	70369	$0.35
300	1350	10125	84443	$0.42
350	1575	11813	98516	$0.49
400	1800	13500	112590	$0.56
450	2025	15188	126664	$0.63
500	2250	16875	140738	$0.70
550	2475	18563	154811	$0.77
600	2700	20250	168885	$0.84
650	2925	21938	182959	$0.91
700	3150	23625	197033	$0.99
750	3375	25313	211106	$1.06
800	3600	27000	225180	$1.13
850	3825	28688	239254	$1.20
900	4050	30375	253328	$1.27
1000	4500	33750	281475	$1.41