Hot Topic!

Here in Minnesota, a pool heater will significantly extend your swimming season. Both in the spring by bringing the water temperature up faster than sunlight alone and also in the fall by keeping your water temp pleasant long into the season.

There are three types of heaters – gas/propane, heat pumps, solar.

Gas or propane heaters are by far the most popular in our region because they operate independently of weather conditions and are pretty efficient. Most are electronic ignition, but you can still get them with a pilot light if you prefer. They operate very much like the furnace in your house, except that rather than using an air-to-air exchanger they use an air-to-water exchanger; and rather than an electric motor turning a circulation fan to move air you need a pump to move the water through it. Gas heater systems are fairly straightforward. You set the thermostat to the desired water temperature, and a sensor on the intake side of the manifold "calls for heat" when the water temperature flowing in from the pool is too low. When this happens the gas valve opens, and a flame is ignited by either an electronic igniter or a pilot light, heating the exchanger, and warming the water as is passes through. Once incoming water reaches the set temperature, the gas valve closes, and the heater shuts off.

Heat pumps are like reverse air conditioners, using electricity to draw heat out of the air, compressing it, and venting the cool air out the top. They don’t get as hot as gas heaters, and they don’t perform well when air temperatures drop below 50 degrees, but they’re the less expensive to run.

Solar heaters draw water into collectors that use sunlight to warm it. While this is by far the least expensive solution, it doesn’t work in anything less than direct sunlight and can take a long time to bring your pool up to comfortable temperatures.

No matter which type of heater you choose you will want to make sure you keep an eye on your water balance, specifically pH and calcium hardness. If your pH is low, acidic, your water will be mineral-hungry and will gradually eat away the copper tubing in your heat exchanger, eventually breaking through and springing leaks, calling for expensive repairs – or worse, a new heater. If your calcium hardness is too high, you will form scale on the interior of your heat exchanger. Calcium is more soluble in cold water than it is in hot, so if you have high calcium hardness as your water passes through your heater, all that calcium will precipitate out of solution and form scale on the inside of your exchanger. Not unlike plaque building up in your arteries. If left untreated for too long your exchanger can eventually scale shut. We recommend using BioGuard’s Scale Inhibitor to help prevent this from happening.