Swimming Pool Boilers
Harpenden, St.Albans, Hemel Hempstead, Welwyn Garden City, Watford and Tring

There are a wide variety of ways to heat your swimming pool. From solar power and heat pumps, which use the sun’s rays and air temperature to warm the water, to gas and oil fired boilers that heat your swimming pool with a higher degree of control.

At 3 Counties Heating our engineers and installers are fully qualified by GAS SAFE and OFTEC to install or replace your swimming pool boiler and undertake annual servicing. They are also fully trained and accredited to install, replace and maintain the latest solar panel technology to heat your swimming pool.

Choosing a Swimming Pool Boiler

Heating a swimming pool effectively depends on where you live and the length of the swimming season. Where a solar system may work well in one situation, another may require a gas or oil fired boiler. Many swimming pools have dual heating systems where maybe a heat pump or solar panels are used for part of the swimming season and a boiler for the remainder.

When choosing a swimming pool boiler you first need to decide on the energy source. If you have mains gas, look first at gas fired swimming pool boilers. If you don’t have gas or your pool is not very big then look at electricity. There are two types of electric swimming pool boilers: a direct heater and a heat pump. The latter uses much less electricity but is much more expensive to buy than a direct electric model. If you have a pool volume of less than 5000 gallons then a direct heater would be the most suitable. However, if you have a big pool the direct electric heaters are going to be very costly on electricity so an oil fired swimming pool boiler may be best for you.

A heat exchanger connects to your existing domestic boiler from a feed pipe before your radiator system. It utilises any spare capacity your boiler has in the summer when it is not required to heat your house. It is cheap to buy but does involve a lot of pipe work.

When choosing the size of the boiler, generally, bigger is usually better. The greatest expense is the initial purchase and installation, whilst the cost of upgrading to a larger heat source is usually quite small.

A simple formula for calculating the required size of a swimming pool boiler is surface area x temperature rise x 15. Assuming the lowest outside temperature you will swim at is 60˚F and the swimming pool will be heated to 80˚F, this leads to a 195,000 BTU boiler. However, this is a guide only as other factors, such as shade, wind and elevation, have to be taken into consideration.

Solar heating for swimming pools is the now regarded as a leading green technology and is a viable solution throughout the UK. With the increasing cost of gas and electricity, the decline in traditional energy resources and the concerns about global warming, domestic energy conservation is now a high priority.

Annual Servicing for Swimming Pool Boilers

Swimming pool boilers need regular servicing most importantly to ensure your safety. It is also important that the boiler continues to operate efficiently and Gas Regulations recommend a regular schedule of maintenance is carried out. Manufacturers also recommend annual servicing and this can often be a condition of their guarantee. If a swimming pool with a gas boiler is part of a rented property and is used by the tenants, the landlord has a duty under the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 to arrange maintenance and annual servicing by a GAS SAFE-registered installer.

Don't waste money and fuel on a poorly maintained or faulty swimming pool boiler, ensure it is serviced annually and kept in good working order.