You know you want to heat your pool, but can’t decide on which type of heater is best for you. Here is some information that might help:

Propane or Natural gas heater: These heaters have the lowest initial investment cost, but also have the highest operational costs. That’s right, gas heaters are not very efficient at all. The fact is that compared to a heat pump, they can cost 5 to 6 times more to operate. The electronic ignition and pilot lights both have many problems and require constant service. If you don’t have natural gas piped into your house, then you would have to get a large propane tank installed in your yard for a fuel source. It is a common practice at Russell & Sun to remove and haul to the dump existing gas heaters when we install solar or heat pumps. These are valid reasons to steer clear of gas.


Heat Pump: These units have come a long way in the last five years. Don’t let the fact that they run on electricity scare you. Heat pumps do not heat with electricity, they only power a fan and compressor with electricity. The average operational cost in our region, is about a dollar a day.

The warm Florida air is pulled through a set of fins to pre-heat the freon gas. Then the gas is compressed (in a quiet, super efficient scroll compressor) and sent to the heat exchanger. There the pool water flows through the heat exchanger to collect the heat. Every heat pump that we sell has a 100% pure titanium heat exchange coil. This means that your pool’s ph and chemicals will not effect the coil. Other companies use titanium alloys, cupronickel or even copper for their heat exchange coils. These will “pit” when exposed to chemicals or if the ph is out of balance. Once your coil is pitted, the entire unit must be scrapped. Because our units have a 100% pure titanium coil, we offer
a fifteen year warranty.
A heat pump is desirable for the reasons listed above and another very important reason: With a heat pump, you can keep your pool any temperature you want, any day of the year. Heating your pool with a heat pump gives you the freedom and control to swim whenever your heart desires.



Solar Pool Heating: Heating your pool with solar has it’s advantages. The biggest advantage is the operating cost. THERE IS NONE. The systems use your existing pool pump to circulate water through the collectors on the roof. The solar energy striking your roof is converted into heat for your pool. A very simple concept. Professionally installed solar collectors should never cause roof problems....but we stress "professionally".

A properly sized solar pool heating system will raise the temperature of your pool about 15 degrees. This will allow you to swim comfortably (85 degrees or higher) at least nine months out of the year. In December, January and February your pool will be in the 78 to 82 degree range....depending on the frequency of cold fronts. Just remember, the weather plays a bigger roll for solar pool heaters than for heat pumps.


As you can see, your lifestyle should play the biggest role in the decision of “how to heat your pool”, and our expert sales staff can help you. Contact us for a free, no obligation, estimate.