Having a swimming pool at home comes with a ton of benefits. Apart from providing you with space where you and your family can relax, having your pool gives you a low-impact activity that boosts your health and increases your overall happiness. It also makes your home look more appealing to visitors, and it increases your property value. However, not all pools are created equal. Heated pools take the top spot on the list of best pools, and having a heated pool is typically achieved through gas pool heating.
In this article, we will give you a rundown on the benefits and gas pool heating cost and what it takes to have such a system installed in your home.
What is gas pool heating?
Gas pool heating refers to a method of keeping your pool water warm. Gas heaters circulate your pool water through a set of glass tubes, and the water is, in turn, heated by a burner. They can be installed both indoors and outdoors, but indoor gas heaters must be equipped with an outdoors ventilation system for safety reasons. However, outdoor gas heaters also come with a slight drawback. They become exposed to the elements outside that could weather or damage the heating system, but this is nothing that a local gas pool heating expert can’t fix. The minimum efficiency rating of gas pool heaters must be above 82% at all times, and they must be affixed with an external switch that can shut the unit down.
Benefits of gas pool heating
Having heated pool water comes with loads of health benefits. For starters, heated pool water helps relax muscles and joints as warm water is proven to alleviate body pains. Exercise in a heated pool helps with blood circulation, and warm water performs wonders in bringing down your stress levels. Another benefit of having a heated pool is avoiding cold shock. Swimming in cold water can send your body into shock and stiffen your joints. Admittedly, it is also uncomfortable to swim in cold water. With a heated pool, you can enjoy your pool any time of day, and you can even go for a dip in cold weather.
Gas pool heaters have two main benefits: their performance is excellent and high-quality, and their installation does not cost as much as installing other pool heaters do. These make gas pool heaters an excellent choice for those who are looking for an efficient, budget-friendly option to heat their pools.
Disadvantages of gas pool heating
While gas pool heaters are incredibly advantageous, they do come with a few drawbacks. For one, gas pool heaters emit fossil fuels when they are in use. This negatively impacts the environment. Additionally, although gas pool heaters are inexpensive to install, they are costlier to operate than other pool heaters, and cannot cool down your pool.
What it takes to install a gas pool heating
You would need to book an appointment with a trained pool professional who can assess your pool and figure out a way to best equip it with gas pool heating. Pools need to be fitted with an appropriately-sized gas pool heater, and this differs based on your pool’s surface area, humidity levels, varying temperatures, and wind exposure, among other things.
If your home is equipped with a natural gas line, you can opt to have a gas heater installed. If it is not, you can still use a gas heater, but it will have to be powered by propane. This could incur additional charges, as you would need a propane tank. A gas pool heater costs somewhere around $1,500 to $2,500, while its installation would cost somewhere around $500 to $1,500. Overall, this is still less expensive than other pool heaters, which can go over $3,000.