The Joys of All Year
Round Heated Pool

This striking new build backs onto a reserve at the water’s edge. It creates the ideal space for a family to make the most of their location, with a pool overlooking the harbour. To really get the most out of this pool, the clever home owners have invested in a pool heat pump.

The heat pump water heater gently heats the water and keeps it warm at 28°C. It allows the family to extend the time they can comfortably use the pool from October through to April.

The Performance Plus Solution

The owners selected Tranquility Pools to design and build their pool. Laurie Tanner, of Tranquility Pools, has been building swimming pools for 23 years and knows his trade inside and out. He has used that “trendy rustic concrete look” on the outside of the pool and matched the pool water colour with the sea in the background to make this pool special. Laurie chose a Performance Plus 7GP23-1 from Hot Water Heat Pumps Ltd to heat the pool because of the reliability and service he has experienced from the company. 
 

Laurie says, “The first heat pump water heater we ever installed on a pool was a lemon and gave nothing but trouble.” After talking to other people in the pool industry he discovered Hot Water Heat Pumps Ltd. “We installed a new heat pump from Hot Water Heat Pumps Ltd and it worked perfectly.” Tranquility Pools have been using heat pumps from Hot Water Heat Pumps Ltd for over 20 years now. 

About 50% of the pools built by Tranquility Pools have heat pumps. When Laurie works out what size heat pump is required for a pool, he slightly oversizes it to give the pool a quick and cost effective heat recovery. He says the important considerations for owners when investigating heating their pool are: Effective running costs, equipment longevity, reliability and being able to heat the pool easily in the shoulder months. Laurie reveals that the differences these considerations make to owners at the end of the day are that their ongoing costs are manageable with no surprises. Solar and gas were also possible heating solutions for this pool, but they were not as user friendly or effective in this case.
 

When heating a pool, another point to consider is where to place the heat pump. A heat pump water heater requires good water flow and air flow. The fan can produce some noise as well. Initially, the heat pump was going to be placed on the side of the pool, but to ensure there was no noise travelling to the neighbour’s house, the unit was placed below the pool on the seaward side. This is where it was least visual, but close to both pool and filtration, and also where the fan noise travels away from entertainment areas. Laurie comments that they always install our heat pumps to the specified clearances so they can perform at their best, and there are no issues servicing the heat pumps at a later date.

Getting Covered

Using a cover on the pool when it is not in use, is one factor that has a huge impact on the heating requirements of any pool because heat is lost from the surface area of the pool. When the surface of the pool is covered with a pool cover, the insulating effect this has dramatically reduces the amount of heat lost from a pool, and therefore reduces the amount of heating required to maintain a set pool temperature. The owners of this pool chose not to cover the pool for the visual impact so the heat pump needed to be of an appropriate size to enable it to compensate for this additional heat loss. 
 

The owners have now been able to enjoy their pool for summer and the extended season. They are happy with the results, their kids are really happy, and the neighbours are happy, too!