Why Propane Pool Heaters Make Sense To Extend Your Season
Living on Long Island you get to experience all four seasons. In the winter, your average high temperature is in the 40’s. In the peak of summer, that number jumps to the mid-80-degree range.
If you own a pool in Suffolk, Nassau County or out east in the Hamptons, you look forward to the summer season with great anticipation, but the reality is, you can’t use your pool for more than a few months. You can extend that time if you own a propane pool heater, and many pool owners are moving to propane pool heaters for several reasons.
Propane Heaters Give You the Perfect Temperature
A propane pool heater uses the energy created from ignited propane to heat the water of your pool. Many people wonder, do propane pool heaters work? The answer is a resounding yes.
They are one of the most effective ways to heat your pool. Most propane pool heaters are capable of raising the water temperature in your pool 30 degrees or more.
It isn’t so much about how many degrees you can raise the water temperature. It’s more about getting the water to the perfect swimming temperature, between 78-85 degrees Fahrenheit. Propane pool heaters will do just that.
What Size Pool Heater Do You Need?
What size pool heater you need is an excellent question. The answer depends on the size of your pool and how quickly you want to heat the water.
You can select the correct size propane pool heaters by how many British Thermal Units or BTUs are needed to heat your pool. A quick calculation can help you determine the BTUs you’ll need in your pool heater. If you want to skip the math, a good propane supplier can help determine what size propane pool heater you need.
A BTU is the amount of heat required to raise one pound of water temperature by a single degree. The higher the BTU rating translates to a higher capacity to heat.
The average pool requires a 300,000 BTU propane pool heater at a minimum. Most experts recommend going higher mainly because you want your pool heated quickly. The larger the BTU, the faster it heats the water.
Larger BTU heaters burn propane faster, too, so you’ll want to balance the cost versus the benefit of heating quickly.
Don’t Forget About Weather
Weather earns the lion’s share of the blame when it comes to pool water losing heat. If the outdoor temperature is 87 degrees, it can raise the water temperature almost as high. Conversely, when the outdoor temperature dips to 60 degrees, the temperature of your pool water will cool down.
The heat escaping your pool water is a natural reaction to the ambient temperature. The colder the ambient temperature, the more drastic heat loss can occur.
If the temperature at night in East Hampton averages 65 degrees during the summer, then every morning, your pool will have cooled down, perhaps to 60 degrees. If the average temperature is 85 degrees during the day, it will have a warming effect on the water.
Yet, it will be nearly impossible for the water to warm back to 85 degrees from just the heat of the day, even in Montauk.
Solar Blankets Help with Heat Loss
The use of solar blankets to cover your pool has gained popularity in the last decade. These blankets can help retain heat in a few ways.
First, they help keep the heat from escaping when the temperature outside is lower than the pool’s water temperature, especially at night. During the day, they use the sun’s energy to warm the water in your pool and raise the temperature, so keeping it covered when not in use has its benefits.
Blankets lower costs of propane pool heater
Using a solar blanket will lower your cost to heat your pool simply because your starting water temperature will be higher than without a solar blanket. Your propane pool heater won’t have to work as long to get the pool water to your desired temperature. Less work time means less propane used, saving you money
Extend Your Pool Season Up to 6 Months
In Long Island, your typical summer temperature ranges from highs of 70 degrees in May, peaking at 85 degrees in July and dipping back down below 70 degrees in October. You’re limited to only using your pool during these months without a propane pool heater, but the water temperature will honestly run closer to your average low temperature.
In May, Long Island’s average low is just above 50 degrees and just below 50 degrees in October. From June through September, the average low stays above 60 degrees, which gives you a realistic four-month window to use your pool without a heater.
Swim from early spring until late fall
With a propane pool heater, you can warm the water to the perfect range almost from the start of spring to the end of fall. Keep in mind that the colder the temperature is outside, the harder your heater will need to work to maintain that ideal temperature.
It can be quite costly to keep the water temperature at 80 degrees when the temperature outside is 50 degrees. You might consider it for a day or two on the weekend with warm weather forecasted, but turn on your pool heater for weeks or months at a time will be expensive and add unnecessary wear and tear to your heater.
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