are heat pumps for pools a good deal?
No, that's what a wet suit is for.
depends on where you live a heat pump needs ambient temps to provide the heat to the water so if you live in an area that is to cold to provide the heat when you want to heat the pool it will not work
Heat pumps are a great idea. They are efficient and affordable. They take heat from the surrounding air and use it to heat your pool water. This process is ecologically safe, clean, and cost effective. They can also be used in any conditions (including frigid temperatures).
They can be but there's a bit of an issue and here I have to disagree with the previous answer since there is a heat pump that will work in sub zero temperatures. Most air to water heat pumps will provide a heat difference of about 12-15 degrees if they are installed properly with good ventilation.. That means if you want 80 F water, the air temp to get that needs to be at least 65 F. Ok, notice how I used the term air to water in describing that heat pump? You're taking energy from the air and transferring it to your pool water. There is another type of heat pump to consider and one that is used often here ( Canada) if you're heating and air conditioning your home using what's called a geothermal heat pump. There's an option to add a heat exchanger for the geo unit for swimming pool heat. What's this mean? You're extracting heat from the ground ( below frost level there's lots of heat) and heating your house and..at the same time you can add the pool heat exchanger into the loop and heat your pool. Even in sub zero air temperatures you can attain 80F water temps. Your home is heated as well. You also get hot running water from the unit. In summer, when you run AC for your house...that's removing heat from the house.The unit transfers that heat to the pool. Basically for free since if you didn't have that pool, that heat would just get transferred into the ground ( if a closed loop heat pump), or into a large body of water ( a lake loop) or ground water discharge into a holding pond if an open loop) That energy is being thrown away...if it get's used in a pool..you can call it free since it's heat from the hosue you're trying to get rid of. A traditional air conditioner just tosses it out into the atmosphere with no use being made from it. So you see..this is why I disagree with the previous answer. Some heat pumps work great with pools no matter what the weather is like outside.
