solar pool prices and payback

Solar pool heating is very cost-competitive. It requires an higher investment than gas and other pool heating systems but the payback period is very short (2-4 years on average).

Should you heat your pool with solar? A swimming pool is a typically expensive investment, of several thousands or tens of thousands of dollars. And if your want more than the limited swimming season that the climate conditions offer or increase the comfort provided by your pool, then solar pool heating can be an excellent investment...

Natural gas and oil pool heating, on the contrary, demand a lower initial investment but are very expensive in their running costs. Annual running costs costs of $1000 to $2,000 are very common, making solar an excellent alternative to them (solar running costs are minimal).

Solar pool heating prices

The cost of solar pool heating varies with climate and usage... If you live in a cold climate and want to extend your swimming pool to most of the year, and your pool is larger than the average, then a solar heating pool may easily cost you twice the price of, say, an average pool in a moderate climate for a swimming season of 8 months…

Anyway, most residential solar pool heating systems cost between $3,000 and $5,000 (average pools of 300-400 sq. foot; 28-38 m2). That cost includes the solar panels, the installation, the pump, the filter and pipes.

Solar Pool Heating Payback

That’s not difficult to accommodate a solar pool heating system. Solar panels can be installed on a roof but also on your yard or close to a wall or wherever they can face sunlight a reasonable number of hours per day.The figures above - and the fact that the running costs of solar pool heating are very low or nearly zero - are sufficient to get some broad conclusions about the solar pool heating investment and its payback.

A solar system can easily pay itself in 2 to 4 years in energy savings (for running gas/electric costs of $1,000 to $2,000).

That makes solar pool heating a great investment.