Heating your pool extends the number of months in the year that you can comfortably use your pool and they add value to your home. Given there are many types of pool heaters we are often asked how a heat pump pool heater works. The process is similar to how your refrigerator or reverse cycle air conditioner works as we will explain further.
Refrigerant pool heat pump
In a continuous heating cycle
- A fan in the pool heat pump pulls air across a coil of sealed tubes that contain a cold low-pressure refrigerant gas. The low-pressure gas is endothermic and is absorbing the sun’s heat from the surrounding air being forced over the tubes by the fan.
- The same refrigerant gas is then compressed in another set of tubes. The high-pressure gas becomes exothermic (feels hot to touch and will give off the heat it absorbed earlier).
- A dedicated water pump or the main pool filtration pump continually circulates cool water from the pool via pipes to a heat exchanger in the heat pump pool heater. The same pump returns the heated water to the pool via the return pipe.
- In the heat exchanger tubes containing the high-pressure heated gas are surround by a container or another set of tubes that contains water that is directly connected to the pipes circulating cool water from the pool.
- In the heat exchanger the heat from the gas is transferred (exchanged) into the cooler water from the pool.
- The water from the pool is now at higher temperature than it was before it entered the heat exchanger and returns to the pool. Simple flow and return circuit for a heat pump pool heating system Compact heat pump pool heater in Canberra
- Once the compressed gas has given off its heat in the heat exchanger it is expanded into the first set of tubes back to a lower pressure and temperature. The refrigerant gas is again ready to absorb the suns heat, and the cycle is repeated.
That is how a heat pump pool heater works.
Unlike other pool heating systems some pool heat pumps can work in reverse mode and cool the water in your pool. This is handy if you live in a hotter climate, or you live in a moderate climate and prefer to swim in cooler temperatures. Bathing in cool water can also help with preventing some injuries and speed up recovery for other injuries.
Excluding gas pool heaters, heat pump pool heaters are more compact and less prone to damage than all other pool heating systems. Heat pump pool heaters are very efficient, and they are becoming cheaper as they become more popular.
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