Extending Your Swimming Season - Some Surprising Facts

With the days of summer long gone, you may be wishing that you could somehow extend your swimming season into the fall and winter months (without having to move south for the winter). With our mild weather this year, is it possible to keep a pool open and running in November and December?

The Canadian climate can cause some problems when it comes to extending your swimming season. But you’ll find that with the right equipment you’ll be able to enjoy your pool even as the days grow shorter and the temperature drops. All you need to do is remember a few of these surprising facts.

A solar cover will increase your pool’s temperature by about fifteen degrees

That’s right, a solar cover can significantly boost your pool’s temperature when the weather turns. Any pool cover will reduce heat loss, but a solar cover traps energy from the sun and transfers that heat to your pool. Long term this means that a solar cover will save you money on heating your pool. On top of that you’ll use less chemicals because a solar cover will reduce the rate of evaporation.

In some parts of the United States a solar heater can get you through the winter, virtually on its own. But in Canada winters are much colder and night falls a lot earlier. This will limit how effective your solar cover will be as winter advances. Regardless, the cost-saving benefits of solar covers make for good value in all cases.

A gas heater is the quickest way to heat your pool

These heaters are the most widely used for a reason. Gas heaters circulate your pool’s water and passes it through a filter, to the heater. Here either propane or natural gas burns in the heater’s combustion chamber, heating the water, which is then returned to the pool.

Not only will this heat your pool quickly, this process is possible in mild conditions. These qualities make it ideal for times when you use your pool less frequently, like in the fall. For this reason, a gas heater is an excellent complement to a solar cover. The solar cover can be counted on for energy savings and maintaining a relatively high temperature during the longer summer days. Then, you can use the gas heater to bring your pool to the ideal temperature when you plan on going for a dip on those colder days.

Heat pumps don’t generate heat

In fact, heat pumps draw warmth from the air and use that energy to heat your pool. Unfortunately, this means that heat pumps do not work efficiently when the air temperature dips too low. But a heat pump will still help you extend your swimming season past the summer months and into fall. Heat pumps also have key advantages over gas heaters. They are more environmentally friendly, their operating costs are lower and they typically last longer that gas heaters.

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