Pool Heating near you

Many heated pools combine two of these, such as a heater with a cover, or solar collectors with a backup heater for cloudy weeks.

A pool loses much of its heat from the surface, through evaporation, and most of all on cool nights and windy days. That makes a cover the easiest efficiency upgrade. Hydro-Québec estimates that a solar cover can cut heating costs by up to 45%, based on using it about 16 hours a day, and says to remove it completely before anyone swims and to take it off every couple of days to oxygenate the water.

Connecting a gas pool heater is never a homeowner job. In Ontario, TSSA says registered fuels contractors are the only businesses legally authorized to do fuels-related work; in Quebec, the work goes to a contractor holding the appropriate gas licence from the Régie du bâtiment du Québec. The technician sizes the gas line for the heater and any other appliances on it, installs a shut-off, tests for leaks and arranges any required inspection.

The heater must be placed with the clearances its manufacturer requires from windows, doors, air intakes, overhangs and combustible materials, so exhaust can disperse. A gas line buried out to the equipment pad is a private line, and Ontario One Call lists the line from a house to a pool heater among those owners must have located privately before anyone digs nearby.

A pool heat pump draws a lot of power, so it usually needs its own circuit sized to the manufacturer's specifications, which can mean panel work. That wiring is for a licensed electrician: in Ontario, the contractor files a notification of work with the Electrical Safety Authority before the inspection, and in Quebec the job goes to a licensed contractor, a CMEQ master electrician. The pool technician then plumbs the unit into the circulation line.

A heater that runs without warming the pool often has a simple cause, and many have nothing to do with the heater itself.

In most of Canada, a heater pays off at the edges of summer: warm water in late spring and into September, when nights turn cool. Hydro-Québec says a heat pump keeps the water at a stable, comfortable temperature all summer and makes the season last a little longer. On cold spring and fall days, a gas heater raises the temperature faster, and a cover in place whenever the pool isn't in use keeps that heat from escaping overnight.

The heater is part of the fall closing, too: it is drained and winterized as its manufacturer directs, since water left inside can freeze and crack it. Solar collectors add their own winterizing steps, so mention them when you book the closing.