A heat pump works like an air conditioner in reverse. It uses a relatively small amount of electricity to extract heat from the surrounding air and then heats water with this energy.

A swimming pool heat pump with a COP of 5 (efficiency of 500%) will save you 80% of the electricity currently used with a normal electrical element. So, for example, if a 50 000L pool is currently heated with an electrical element, and it cost about R1500/month, a heat pump with a COP of 5 will only use R300 of electricity per month to do the same heating. ITS inverter technology heat pumps can provide COPs of greater than 10.

The thermal losses on the surface of a pool is significant and even a slight breeze blowing over the surface of the pool can drastically cool down the pool. It is therefore very important to always use a thermal pool blanket to cover the pool when not in use even if it is an indoor swimming pool. If for some reason a thermal pool blanket cannot be used we would normally recommend the heat pump to be 3 times bigger. In other words, due to the losses you will now need to spend 3 times more money on electricity per month and the system might struggle to reach the desired temperature. Please note that the use of the correct type of pool thermal blanket will seriously reduce evaporative water loss, filtration pump time and chemical use and therefore we would highly recommend it even if you are not interested in a heated pool.

On average it takes half a day to install a heat pump system.

Yes, if you have some basic technical skills. Installing a swimming pool heat pump requires plumbing the unit to your current pool pump and supplying the correct size power cable to the unit. A installation manual is available with detailed instructions on how to install a swimming pool heat pump.

ITS heat pumps are designed for a maximum temperature of 40°C. The heat pump can produce these temperatures even with ambient temperatures below 0°C.

A heat pump must be serviced annually to ensure that you are getting the best possible efficiency out of the system. A service basically entails cleaning the outside of the unit to ensure optimal air and water heat exchange. The compressor circuit of the unit is hermetically sealed and requires no servicing. If the unit is installed in for example a very dusty area it will need to be cleaned more often.

Inverter heat pumps can provide much higher efficiency when sized correctly. Inverter heat pumps also eliminate high start-up current problems and can run much quieter. For more info click here.

The main advantages of a pool heat pump is that it can heat the water all year round and independent from the weather conditions. It also can be installed out of sight. The solar pool panels that one often see covering the roof of a house is very cost effective and works well if you are not interested in swimming in the middel of winter.

The life expectancy of a heat pump is around 10 years.