Thumbs up for pool solar heating

Get expert advice on pool solar heating from Rohan London, a pool heating professional from Sunlover Solar in Bayswater, Victoria.

Q. Why is good pool solar heating important?

A. What a solar pool heater does is give people extra value for the pool so they can use it longer, rather than having a cold iceberg out the back for part of the year. In the Melbourne climate, for example, for an extra 10 per cent of the value of the pool, people can get another four months use out of it and be able to use the pool for five or six months of the year.

Q. How much use can the warmer states get from solar heating pools?

A. In Queensland you can get about 10 months use and in Sydney you can get up to seven or eight months.

Q. What other heating options do you offer?

A. We have electric, gas and solar pool heater systems. Solar is obviously the most economical. In conjunction with a heat pump, the captured heat is circulated around to give constant heat, so you can just set and forget it and it will always be at 28 degrees. Gas is very good for demand heating, so if you want your pool hot in 48 hours, you'd turn it on and it would heat the water relatively quickly.

Q. Which is cheaper - gas or solar heating?

A. It would depend on how the solar pool heating system is run and how you want to use the pool. If you're turning the gas heater on for a weekend and then turn it off, gas would be cheaper; but if you want your pool to be constantly heated for several months, then solar heat pumps provide an economical way to heat your pool.

Q. Have you seen many changes in the pool industry over the years?

A. Solar pool heater technology has definitely gone ahead in leaps and bounds because of the cost effectiveness of it, as well as increased awareness of environmental factors.

Q. What inspired you to get involved in the pool industry?

A. I started this business in 1985. Prior to that, I worked with a pump company and part of my job was actually manufacturing pumps for the pool industry. So it was a natural progression from irrigation to pool pumps and pool solar heating.