Swimming pool heating? You spend this amount annually on energy | MyGuide

First of all, this ad first: It’s hard to generalize and compare pool depreciation costs. Many parameters are important: the size of your pool, the number of days you heat the pool in a year, the temperature you heat it, whether you cover the pool, what the outside temperature is, etc. The most important factor is how warm your pool is. This is possible with different systems, where the choice of device also has an effect.

The most common way to heat a swimming pool is with a heat pump. It extracts heat from the outside air and transfers it to the pool water via a heat exchanger. The more efficient a heat pump is at doing this, the less electricity it will consume. The COP value (Coefficient of Performance) of a heat pump is an indicator of this: the higher the COP value, the higher the efficiency of the heat pump. A standard heat pump has a COP value of five. This means, for example, that a four-kilowatt heat pump requires only 0.8 kWh from the power grid.

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To heat a swimming pool in your garden, you need to take into account the annual consumption of 1000 kWh. This is the average consumption, calculated for an average swimming pool with a temperature of 28 degrees, equipped with a heat pump and covered with solar panels. The calculation is based on the swimming season from the beginning of April to the beginning of October.

At current energy prices, this consumption amounts to an annual cost of 460 euros. The latest figures from VREG, the Flemish power regulator, serve as the basis for the calculation. For May, these indicators indicate an average energy price of 0.46 euros per kWh. By comparison: in May 2021 you would have paid €270 in annual costs.

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You can also choose a sustainable solution and heat your pool using solar energy. In this case, install solar panels as a source of heating. Then you only pay for consumption to pump water around. So the pump selection is very important here and has a big impact on the cost. This is clear from the following example.

On a sunny day the solar energy can be used for eight hours. The standard pool pump has a capacity of 1500 Watts and needs to run for four hours per day to maintain optimum water quality. There are also lighter pumps with a consumption of 400 watts. It should be running for a full eight hours. If we compare the cost price of both types of pumps based on the current energy price of €0.46 per kWh, you save about €2.15 per day. On an annual basis, this amount increases rapidly, of course depending on the number of days you heat your pool. On the other hand, a heavier pump becomes more attractive for larger size pools.

Thus, the light pump is more durable. In addition to savings, the smaller pump offers another advantage, which is flexibility. You can easily turn it on and off with the temperature sensor or time switch. For solar heated pools, it is wise to turn the pump off at night to reduce heat loss.

The downside is that it takes a relatively longer time to heat the pool with solar energy. Moreover, you also depend on the weather: diving in the fall or winter may be less fun. So the combination of a heat pump and solar energy is definitely interesting. This requires a larger investment, but is cost-effective in the long run.

Heating your swimming pool completely electrically is by far the least energy efficient and cost effective method. The purchase price of the system is relatively low and also provides maximum comfort in use, but in the long run the costs are high, especially at current prices. The consumption costs of electric heating are at least four times higher compared to the use of a heat pump.

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