However, which type of heating or system should you choose? There is a wide choice and the ideal choice depends on numerous factors such as the type and size of the pool, the existing residential heating system, how often you wish to swim, and at which temperature and in which period you wish to swim. A number of popular pool heating systems are briefly discussed below.

Solar panels produce energy instead of heat. This is the biggest difference from a solar boiler. The energy is totally environment-friendly and is used to heat the home and the pool with an electric heating system.

To quickly heat up your home or pool, it is best to combine solar panels with an electric heating system such as a heat exchanger.

The price of such solar panels depends on the number of panels, the type and quality of the solar panels, the capacity of the panels, and the size of the family. The larger the family, the more energy has to be generated. The purchase of solar panels will quickly set you back around €10,000.

Solar panels, too, require a large surface area, which should preferably be south facing.

Heating your pool with solar panels is perfectly possible. It is environment-friendly and the energy is completely free. You do, however, need a considerable budget and surface to install the solar panels.

These solar mats are commonly used to heat small swimming pools that are taken down in the winter. In a pool heating system based on EDPM or solar mats, the water is pumped through the mats. There it is heated by the sun. The sun causes the solar mats to become warm. The mats then transfer the heat to the pool water.

As indicated earlier, this solution is intended mainly for smaller pools. First of all, because a large-volume pool requires more time to pump the entire volume of water through the solar mats.  As a result, it takes a very long time to completely heat up a large pool with these mats.  

In addition, you need a large area to install the mats. The area of solar mats should preferably be as large as the area of the swimming pool. These heating mats are usually installed on a flat roof. This means, however, that the pump must have sufficient capacity to pump the water all the way up to the roof. If the pump is not powerful enough, the water will heat more slowly.

A serious disadvantage of these EPDM or solar mats is their weather dependence. Without sunlight, the mats will not transfer enough heat to the pool water.

The price of such mats amounts to around €50 per square metre (without installation). For an 8 m by 4 m pool, this yields a purchase cost of approximately €1,600. 

A heat pump uses electricity to extract heat from the outside air and distribute it into the water. The heat pumps do not generate any heat themselves.

Heat pumps are therefore dependent on the outside temperature. Heat pumps are efficient so long as the temperature is higher than 10 °C. They generate up to 5 kW of heat for 1 kW of energy.

If the outside temperature falls below 10 °C, it is best to shut off the heat pump. That is why heat pumps are ideal for those who want to swim from April until the end of October. There are, however, specific heat pumps that can be used at lower temperatures. If you want to swim the whole year round, you can use a heat exchanger in the winter months.

An electric pool heating system is expensive to use. It uses so much electricity that it can only be considered for whirlpools up to 1,500 L. An electric system is unsuitable for a standard pool of approx. 50,000 L.

The main drawback of gas or fuel oil heating systems is their low efficiency. These heating systems require 5 kW of energy to generate 1 kW of heat, whereas for a heat pump it is just the other way around. As a result, a great deal of energy is needed to heat a large swimming pool.

Solar systems are also quite popular pool heaters, but then you have to rely solely on the sun.

The principal advantage of a pool heat pump is its high efficiency and low energy cost. Subject to normal use, the pool heating cost of a heat pump works out at 600 to 700 euros per year.  This does, however, imply the use of a good-quality pool cover.

Unfortunately, heat pumps are slow heaters, so it will take a couple of days to heat the pool from around 15 °C to 28 °C. You can expect to achieve a daily gain of 2 °C.

A heat pump is also dependent on the ambient temperature. The efficiency of a heat pump increases at higher temperatures, and decreases at temperatures below 10 °C.

Pool heat pumps are often thought of as being extremely noisy, but in fact they are not. The sound level corresponds to a whispered conversation. The heat pump does not cause any noise pollution except within a 5 m radius.

Your heat pump should preferably be installed outdoors. This eliminates the need for a service area that requires proper air supply and exhaust.

If the heat pump is installed outdoors, this is ideal to blow out the cooled air as far away as possible. This will benefit the direct ambient temperature of the heat pump and therefore improve its efficiency.

The heat pump need not necessarily be installed in the sunlight.  The only parameter that matters is the ambient temperature. Around the heat pump, however, a clearance of 50 cm should be provided on each side. Along the side of the fan, a clearance of 3 to 5 m is indicated, again to allow the cooled air to escape as far as possible.

Noise is another parameter to be considered when installing the pool heating pump. While increasingly low-noise heat pumps are being manufactured, it is still preferable to reduce this noise to an absolute minimum. This can be achieved, for example, by installing the heat pump just around the corner or behind the poolhouse.

You can also use a wood stove to heat your pool. In this system, the water needs to run along the stove, where it picks up the heat that is caused by the fire.

This type of heating is mainly used on smaller pools for occasional use. Heating a pool with wood is quite labour-intensive and wood is also expensive (except if you happen to own a forest). 

We do not recommend this system. If you want to heat a large pool with such a system, you will constantly have to supply it with wood.