Many places where home solar power makes sense are also areas where having a pool is a great idea. A solar pool heater can reduce your pool heating costs compared to gas or heat-pump pool heating. Pairing a solar pool heater with home solar panels can save you even more money.
Here’s how you can figure out if switching to a solar heater or using solar power with your current system is right for getting the most enjoyment from your pool.
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What Is Solar Pool Heating?
A solar pool heater uses sunlight to heat pool water. This can save you money, especially if you run it with solar panels.
How a solar pool heater works is a pretty simple process. The pool’s existing pump sends water through a filter and control valve into a solar collector. Sunlight heats the water in the collector, and the water goes back into the pool. If you need your pool to be cooler, the collector can be set to circulate water at night and cool the water.
You can maximize your solar power usage and savings by running a solar pool heater with home solar electricity, making the energy you use clean, renewable, and free or nearly free.
The size of the pool, length of the swimming season, level of sunlight, effectiveness of your pool cover, and efficiency of the solar collector all affect whether a solar pool heater is right for you. Those factors and your desired temperature will also determine what size heater you need.
Benefits of Solar Pool Heating
There are many potential benefits to switching to a solar pool heater. Powering a non-solar pool heater with solar power can also save money and energy.
Saving money
Running a solar pool heater or a heat pump pool heater on solar electricity will reduce your energy costs. Solar pool heaters typically have a short payback period of about 2-3 years and a long lifespan, of 10-20 years or longer, with low expected operating costs.
The average monthly cost of heating a pool varies from as low as $20 with a solar heater to $100-$450 a month with electric, natural gas, or propane heaters according to BKV Energy in Texas and the US Department of Energy. Pool size, geography, and if you’re using a pool cover can affect your operating cost.
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Environmental benefits
Using renewable and clean energy for pool heating, which can be a major energy consumer, will reduce your home’s carbon footprint.
A longer pool season
Having a solar pool heater or a pool heater running on solar power lets you extend your pool season earlier into the spring and later into the fall. In hot climates, reversing the heater to give you cooler water could be a great feature.
Easy to use and maintain
A solar pool heater has no moving parts. It relies on a pool’s existing pump to move water through the filter and solar collector. It is typically easy to use and requires less and simpler maintenance compared to other heater and pump systems.
Using solar power with a non-solar system
Even if you’re not using a solar pool heater, running your current pool filtration and heating system with solar-generated electricity can bring down your electric bill and reduce your home’s carbon footprint.
Whatever pool heater you have, solar panels can help you run it more affordably. To see what you can save with rooftop solar panels use Palmetto’s solar savings calculator or contact us to get started.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Are solar pool heaters worth it?
A solar pool heater is worth looking into for most pool owners. Using solar power and/or switching to a solar heater for your pool can reduce a major energy expense. You may also benefit with long-term savings, less maintenance, and more use of your pool.
Can I heat my pool with solar panels?
You can run a solar pool heater or an electric heating system, such as a heat pump pool heater, on electricity from solar panels, reducing your pool heating bill in the process.
What are the benefits of heating a pool with solar panels?
If you heat your pool with power from solar panels, you are likely to save money, use cleaner energy, have a heating system which typically lasts longer and is easier to maintain, and pay less for a longer pool season.
Disclaimer: This content is for educational purposes only. Palmetto does not provide tax, legal, or accounting advice. Please consult your own tax, legal, and accounting advisors.
Andrew GiermakWriter and EditorAndrew joined Palmetto in Charlotte in August 2024. He’s been a writer in journalism, then in business, going back to almost the 20th century. He’s lived in Indiana, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Virginia again, and now North Carolina for the last 12 years. He likes golf. Is he good at it? Not so much.
