Swimming Pool Heat Pump How it Works
First, unlike traditional pool heaters, a pool heat pump does not generate heat, it takes heat from the air, amplifies it, and transfers it to your pool water. That's it in a nutshell. But for more details on how a pool heat pump works, read on!
Heat pumps work on the opposite principle of air conditioning units. It extracts heat from the surrounding ambient air, allowing it to heat the refrigerant, and then compresses it, making it even hotter. It is then passed through a heat exchanger where the water is heated. The refrigerant is then allowed to expand again, cooling it down and allowing it to absorb heat from the surrounding air again. So only a little electricity is needed to run the fans and compressors, while the heat is provided indirectly by the sun.
A modern pool heat pump is a very efficient water heating device that uses a small amount of electricity to drive the compressor, which is the heart of the heat pump. The thermal energy produced is more than five times the electrical energy used to drive the compressor in standard on/off models, and ten times more for the inverter technology unit. This means that the power consumption of pool heating can be divided by up to 10 compared to normal electrical element heating.
Instead of relying on sunlight or direct radiation, a heat pump extracts thermal energy from the air at any time of the day or night, so it's actually a different form of solar heater. Even in extremely cold conditions (-5°C or less), heat pumps can still provide more than 60% energy savings. In most cases, in our areas where daytime temperatures are relatively warm, the efficiency will be at least 5 times that of an elemental hot water system. A heat pump looks similar to an air conditioner and can be installed either on the floor or on a wall bracket. It's quiet and unobtrusive with a user-friendly controller, has no greenhouse gas emissions, and requires little maintenance.
In Conclusion
Now that we've answered the question of how a heat pump pool heater works, all that's left to do is decide whether to buy one. While they are indeed more expensive than traditional pool heaters, their benefits far outweigh the initial cost and can basically pay for themselves with savings over the next few years. Contact us to learn more about the benefits of pool heat pumps.