Swimming pool heating

For a safe dip in the pool, the water must be at an ideal temperature, usually between 25 and 28°C. Water can be heated naturally thanks to sun radiation or with heating systems. The most common swimming pool heating systems are the water to water heat exchanger, electic heaters, heat pumps or solar panels.

Heat pumps allow to heat water up thanks to an air heat exchange device that works through a compressor that compresses gas that absorbes heat from the air and releases it in the water. A swimming pool heat pump keeps the water at the set temperature no matter what the weather conditions are, with a good efficiency/costs ratio.

Heat exchangers work exploiting the conduction thermal exchange that happens thanks to pipes or plates placed between a source of hot water (65 to 75°C), coming from the house, and pool water. A heat exchanger is connected to the boiler pipes providing fast water heating at a reasonable cost. Water-water heat exchangers have a high yield and a low heat loss during inactivity hours. More, they avoid bacteria build-up caused by stagnant water and they are compatible with low temperature circuits like the geothermal and heat pumps’ ones.

Electric heaters are similar to sanitary hot water production. Electric heaters are water-water exchangers coming with an electric coil that heats the water up by heat dissipation. For this reason it is suited for small pools. Heating up the water of a large pool would be too expensive. It isn’t recommended with electrolytic cells because it would cause the coil to get encrusted.

Solar heating systems are similar to solar panels that are used for household hot water production. Solar heating is really convenient because you can use the unexpensive glassless solar panels used for thermal solar plants. More, swimming pools are mostly used when solar radiation is at its maximum so their efficiency is optimal. A necessary requirement for a solar heating system is the correct placement of the panels that have to be oriented southwards with a ±10° allowance and a slope adjusted to the latitude of the location of the the swimming pool. The advantages of solar heating are the low construction cost and a zero incidence on the energy bill. If you want to use the pool also in winder you need to install the glassed solar panels that increase efficiency and you need to add a heat exchanger to the system.