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Laars/ Jandy
FAQ (cont.)
By heating your pool, you make it possible
to engage more often in swimming exercise because you extend the hours and
the season your pool may be used.
A
heated pool prevents chilling and the problems caused by the loss of too
much body heat. Pediatricians say very young children are especially
susceptible to various respiratory infections which may result from repeated
chilling, and this is also true of elderly swimmers.
A
heated pool is a must for therapeutic benefits and when swimming for
relaxation. Doctors and Red Cross swimming experts recommend pool
temperatures of from 78° F for recreation and competitive sports
swimming, to 90° F or more for certain physical therapy patients.
What are the costs involved in heating a
pool?
First, there is the initial or one-time cost
of the heater you select and its hook-up or
installation charge. Second, there is the
monthly fuel cost, which varies with the
type of heating system you buy, the use of
your pool, the pool water temperature you
prefer and other variables. Third, there is
the matter of annual or semi-annual
maintenance and service.
Operating costs can be kept to a minimum by
installing an efficient, properly sized
heater; using a good quality
pool cover; and, of course, keeping your filter clean and your heating
and filtering system well maintained.
We hear a lot
of praise for the pool cover. Is it merited?
Most certainly.
A good insulating
pool cover can reduce heat
loss by 50% or more, depending on your
location and climate.
A pool that is uncovered can lose up to 5° F overnight; a good cover can cut
that loss by half.
Used
at night or whenever your pool is not in use, the pool cover can help save
fuel costs by cutting heat loss regardless of the type of heating you
utilize. And it can even make an unheated pool more "swimmable" by helping to
retain the sun’s energy that naturally heats the pool during the daytime.
A
pool cover stops water evaporation when it is in place. It isn’t the water
loss that’s the big consideration here, it’s the heat loss. Every gallon of
water that evaporates from a pool takes with it 6000 BTU’s of heat in the
process, and a typical uncovered pool loses 1 to 1½ inches of water a week
through evaporation. For a 20 by 40 foot pool, an inch of water amounts to
500 gallons—roughly, a heat loss of more than 30 therms every seven days. (A
therm is equal to 100,000 BTU’s).
Besides stopping heat loss, a cover saves on pool chemicals, too, by keeping
them from evaporating with the water.
What do I do about heating a spa that’s part
of my pool?
One Teledyne
Laars/ Jandy heater can serve both your pool and
spa. Our Model ESC heater is equipped with a
switch that allows you to select either a
spa or pool setting, so that with proper
plumbing and valving you can heat the spa
portion of your pool installation to the
temperature you want.
What are the advantages of a separate spa?
Originally these
spas were purchased primarily by people with
specific physical disabilities requiring
hydrotherapy. Today, however, the spa is
recognized as a place where anyone can relax
and enjoy relief from the stresses of daily
activities as well as from aches and pains
requiring hydrotherapy. The spa, built as
part of the main pool, is walled off with
its own water circulation system. Both can
use the same filter and heater system with
simple controls to switch from one to the
other. A spa typically operates at about 100° F
and provides a therapeutic whirlpool effect
by means of high velocity water jets or
bubbles.
It is important
to know that use of a spa at high
temperatures can be hazardous, particularly
in conjunction with alcohol or drugs, or
when a person is very young, very old,
pregnant, or in poor health. The U.S.
Consumer Product Safety Commission can
provide guidelines for spa use. Consult your
physician as to a safe temperature for you
and your family.
What types of heating are available to us?
Several—from the
sun itself to gas-fired, oil-fired, electric
and elaborate solar heating systems.
The most widely used type is the direct
fired natural gas heater because of its low
cost, reliability, ease of operation and the
wide availability of natural gas. In areas
where natural gas is not available, heater
models can be furnished equipped to use LP
gas or propane gas.
Oil-fired pool heaters are a good choice in areas where natural gas is
unavailable but home heating oil is. Electric heaters are generally much
less efficient and more costly to operate than natural gas heaters, unless
the electricity is hydroelectrically generated.
Solar
heating ranges from simple "passive" solar—the familiar
pool cover that
absorbs and transmits some of the sun’s energy to pool water—to "active"
solar heating systems.
Used
alone, the passive heating technique merely serves to help keep pool
temperatures at existing levels by retaining natural solar heat and
preventing its loss. It cannot add heat to build up water temperature beyond
what the sun supplies. Active solar uses traditional pool motors to move
water from the pool through a system of solar collector panels for heating
by the sun. This increases the amount of solar heat added to the pool.
Why not go strictly solar? After all, it’s
free.
Not exactly—in
fact, not by long shot. An adequate solar
pool heating system will cost...
(continued......)
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