POOL HEATING

Except for the very hardy, an unheated pool can be used in comfort from June to September, leaving it unused for two thirds of the year. Winter residents who return to their country of origin in May and return in October will never use their pool unless it is heated. A heat pump is the only economic way to heat a pool, and the only legal way to do it in Spain, apart from solar panels. Solar can extend the swimming season but it will end with the first heavy rains in the autumn when hundreds of litres of cold water overfill the pool and will not recover until the following spring. By contrast, a heat pump will maintain the pool water at the temperature you select on the thermostat all winter long.

Gerald Zabell has been the Costa del Sol agent for CALOREX heat pumps since 1980 and has heated over a thousand pools in that time. CALOREX are the world's largest manufacturer of pool heat pumps and export to over 40 countries including the US, EU, Australia, South Africa and the Persian Gulf states.

An Air to Water heat pump effects the same 70% saving as air conditioners and makes a heated pool a luxury available to most pool owners. The cost of its installation will probably be about one third the cost of building the pool but it will give three times as much use of it.

To give an example, it will cost in the region of 5,000 Euros to install a heat pump for an 8 X 4 metre pool and maintaining it at 25ºC (77ºF) from October to May will cost an average of 45-50 Euros per month, assuming it is covered at night and on days of non-use. Not a great deal of money when one considers the luxury of all-year-round outdoor swimming.