Pool Heating and Cooler Temperatures

[Robert5988]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:i'm a bit worried and would ask for some clarifcation and advice from villa owners pls[/quote]Mmmm! Asking villa owners for their advice is perhaps not the best approach!

This has been discussed before and below is my input to the thread!
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Most electric pool heaters(heat pumps) have a maximum heat output of around 100,000 - 120,000 Btu. The problem with all heat pumps is as the air temperature decreases(and it can be cold in February) their efficiency(COP = Coefficient of Performance) drops off.

Gas heaters can be up to 400,000 Btu - so clearly they will heat a pool much quicker. The downside is that they are more expensive to run than electric.

There is of course nothing to stop anyone have 2 or 3 heaters for a pool; but most domestic pools have just one.[/quote]So as an owner I will have electric. If I were renting and pool heat in January was an important factor, without question it would be gas.

[mizzy]

no i don't think my specifics were too unusual just the dates i suppose, being on the back end of christmas/ new year a lot of villas could be booked?

i was specific that we did not wish to be back to back with other pools

and size wise whilst we would be ok in most 4 or 5 beds on a single floor i did think that Sandras was whoppingly large for us, we did stay in a very similar 5 bed on windwood bay in may 08 and i was forever up and down stairs rounding up the children and looking in the unused rooms for them [msnembarrased] it was like hide n seek on a huge scale when it came to getting up, out and ready on a morning, great fun for the kids not so much for mum

[caroline]

Mizzy I don't know what your email address is but I just had a thought, maybe your email account has bounced a load of replies, as owners we sometimes have problems getting replies through to guests. Hotmail & AOL are notorious for playing silly beggars. If you have an alternative email address it might be worth trying an enquiry from there just to see if you get anymore replies.

[grayster]

I think its great fun when the steam is pouring off a warm pool in the cold. I also think if you rent a house with a pool, you want to use the pool regardless of the weather.

I have an electric heater, 4 years old, in my place. I was over in mid-jan with the extreme (and very unusual) cold spell. For the first week my pool heater wouldn't come on at all (sub-50). It made the right noises but did no heating. It started working again during the day in week 2 when the temperatures rose by 10 degrees. It didn't matter if the blanket was on or off, once the water and air temperature were that low, it was too late and it wasn't going to work until the temperatures rose. There may be better electric heaters on the market but gas probably is a safer bet in such extreme weather. Some owners may use solar pool heating and electric heaters in combination - this could work well because as even in the cold the Florida sun may well be able to keep the pool temperature up high enough to allow the electric heater to keep going with its supplement. I would say check with the owners - I am honest about this point and say if the weather is sub-50 my pool heater may well not work.

Another point on electric heaters - they can be very, very noisy. If they are located outside a bedroom and are on all night (which they may need to be when it's very cold), this could be an issue. I have no experience of the noise from gas heaters.

Chances are it will probably be 80 degrees there next January! In 2009, I had friends in my house shortly after New Year's and they had 75-80 degrees for the week they were there.

[LongLeaf]

Hi Grayster,

Could I add that we use combinaison of Solar Pool heating and Gas heater in our villa
and this work great by any weather and outside temperature...

[thornton]

Mizzy I remember your request and it did include some dates that are often with the two weeks of people going over Christmas and New Year. If you have not booked your flights and change your dates you may find you get more replies.

[Linda r]

Mizzy,I remember your request very well as your list of "musts" fitted our home exactly. You were very specific about what you were looking which would have cut down on the number of homes that fitted your requirements, but at least you only received responses from those home owners whose homes you would be interested in.

The home you are looking for will be on these sites - it just might take a little bit more time to find it.

Linda

[Andrena]

I too saw this request and although we were free I didh't respond as we are not at Champions Gate. We are a bit closer to Disney than Champions Gate, but if that is the area you want then there was no point in responding.

We have solar and electric heating and we were there right through the freeze this year and although the pool was warm enough to swim in there was no way I was taking my clothes off to freeze en route to the pool. The solar does help with an electric heater, as long as there is sunshine then it does help to heat the water. It would not be enough on its own though.

Andrena

[noodler]

We are due out in 2 days. We've usually gone to Orlando in October/Nov or Jan so going in May is an unknown.

Do the pools need heating this time of year?

We have prebooked heating as we have seniors in our party but are now wondering if we've done the right thing?

[ncmurray]

I have to admit that I always use pool heat, and we usually go in August! I would think that you did the right thing, especially as you have some older people with you.

Have a great trip!

Nuala