Many pool owners believe that turning their heater off in the night helps save on energy bills. However, contrary to popular belief this isn’t necessarily the case.
Pool water cools down much more rapidly in the night time than it does during the day, especially, during colder months. If you are a regular pool person than having to crank up the heat in the morning to get the water at the desired temperature you need can effectively cost you a lot more than having the heater left turned on overnight.
Many pool owners and pool specialists suggest that leaving your heater on a low heat setting during the night is more efficient than having to run it at a high heat setting in the mornings.
In fact, studies suggest that it can cost you 10% – 20% more in energy bills to turn off your heater at night rather than leaving it on at a low burn setting, which tends to be a lot more economical.
Think of it this way. The more you rev your car engine the greater the fuel it consumes. The same is the case with your pool heating system. The more you crank the heat levels the less the heating efficiency is. This is because on a high burn setting a lot of the heat is being lost from exhaust gases resulting in a lot of wasted energy.
Most heaters come with heat adjustment settings or thermostats that often automatically control the on/off heating cycles. Leaving the heater on all the time will mean the pool water never cools down too much which means the heater always has less work to do and runs a lot more economically.
You can also consider investing in an insulating or solar pool cover to further minimize heat loss.