Most People are familiar with the older style of pool pumps: they use some sort of electric element or other device to add heat to the water. The heat for the water is actually generated by the heating unit (just like a furnace heats the air for your home.)

Swimming pool heat pumps are actually heat ‘movers’ – they do not generate heat, but move it from one location to another. With a swimming pool heat pump the device pulls warm air into the mechanism, extracts the heat energy from the air, and then transfers or ‘pumps’ this extracted heat into the water of your swimming pool.

Swimming pool heat pumps are very energy efficient: they can save you 50% of the cost of using a natural-gas system, and perhaps as much as 75% as compared to a propane-gas system! Swimming pool heat pumps are safer, more reliable, and easier to maintain and repair than traditional devices.

What would a typical installation of a swimming pool heat pump include?

• A thermostat – This will control the operation of the whole swimming pool heat pump
• An air handler – The air handler circulates the air throughout the unit
• The heat pump unit itself – responsible for the transfer of the heat from one location to another – in the case of a swimming pool heat pump, it is from the outside air to the water in your pool
• Air cleaner – This is a filtration unit that screens out pollutants as well as dirt and dust particles present in the air

Preventative maintenance on your swimming pool heat pump

• Clean off the blower fan blades with a soft, moist towel
• Check for loose hoses or wires – notify a pro if you find any
• If you have removable filters, check them regularly and clean or replace them as directed in your owner’s manual.

Be VERY careful when inspecting or cleaning around your swimming pool heat pump — it makes use of electric power and it is near a water source (your pool). ELECTROCUTION can KILL or SEVERELY INJURE anyone!

For this reason, if you suspect that your swimming pool heat pump needs servicing, DO NOT ATTEMPT TO SERVICE THE UNIT YOURSELF. Most of these issues require a service call from qualified professional has the knowledge and tools to do the job properly.

The price you will pay for various swimming pool heat pumps will depend on the size of the unit you need, the type (air or ground source), the manufacturer, warranty type, as well as local labor charge rates.

It is always a good idea to get several quotes when purchasing a new unit, and certainly get a number of estimates when it comes time to service your swimming pool heat pump.

Your PC can be your greatest ally in locating dealers for purchase of your new unit – inquire if they service what they sell.

Swimming pool heat pumps: they are truly a modern engineering marvel!

Swimming Pool Heat Pump

Actually, what happened was that the heat in the metal rod was ‘transferred’ to the surrounding air. But suppose we reverse that: what if we devise a machine that would take a cold metal bar, extract the heat from the air surrounding it, and pump it into the metal. What would happen? The metal bar would get hot. This is exactly what ground source heat pumps do: they “pump” the heat – move it in a certain way. So, if ground source heat pumps work properly, they need a source of heat: either the surrounding air or — in the case of ground source heat pumps, the source of the heat is the heat from the ground or soil (we sometimes call them ‘geothermal heat pumps’).

So ground source heat pumps use the ground for heat – their ‘source’ for the heat is the ground. Other types of heat pumps (called ‘air source’ heat pumps) take heat from the air around them.

Ground source heat pumps can also be used to COOL a building – just reverse the process. It will now act like a refrigerator: ground source heat pumps take heat from inside and move it to the ground outside (even in the summer the ground is relatively cool – have you ever noticed?)

Again, the air source heat pump must move the hot air from inside to the hot air outside, and again the air source heat pump must work harder. So, whether you are trying to heat or cool a building, ground source heat pumps can usually operate more efficiently and result in a tremendous savings in utility bills.

Another great option for those using ground source heat pumps is to use it for heating hot water. Ground source heat pumps can be installed with an add-on device called a ‘desuperheater’ – this device partially heats your water. In summertime, when your air conditioner is running (and ground source heat pumps can double as air conditioners), the desuperheater will use some of the extra heat taken out by the air conditioning process to heat your hot water! So, in the summertime, your water will be heated for free!

In wintertime, part of the heating power of ground source heat pump is used to heat the water. If, in your home, your ground source heat pump operates most of the time (especially to cool things off in the summer) you can increase your efficiency and save lots of money in heating your water. Truly, ground source heat pumps are a modern miracle of engineering!

Ground Source Heat Pump