Natural Gas Pool Heaters

In The Swim Knowledge Pool: Natural Gas Pool Heaters

Fast, Reliable Natural Gas Swimming Pool Heaters

Natural gas pool heaters are a reliable and efficient way to warm your pool water to your exact preferred temperature, in any outside conditions. In-ground and above ground pool gas heaters are the fastest way to heat a pool, and the only way to heat a pool in cold weather temperatures below 55° F. Day or night, winter or summer, natural gas pool heaters effectively and reliably warm any pool or spa.

Sizing a Natural Gas Pool Heater

Natural gas heaters are sized by the heat output, in BTU's, and pool heater manufacturers offer models sizes from 100K BTU to 400K BTU, with many sizes in between. Above ground natural gas pool heaters are usually in the range of 100-200K BTU. In-ground pool heaters are 200K-400K BTU, and are sized according to pool size in gallons and surface area, along with wind factors, average outdoor air temp and whether or not you will use a pool cover.

Larger heaters will heat faster, but may not always be necessary. As a general rule of thumb, buy a natural gas pool heater with at least 100K BTU for every 10000 gallons of pool water. Using a solar pool cover can reduce evaporative heat loss by 95%, to reduce both the size of gas heater required, and the cost to operate the heater.

Installing a Natural Gas Pool Heater

Any handy homeowner can purchase, place and plumb a natural gas pool heater. Place on a sturdy non-combustible base, adjacent to the pool filter, with clear sky above and plenty of air space around the heater. Cut the return pipe after the filter, and route the PVC in and out of the heater. To wire a digital gas pool heater, connect the pool bonding wire to the bonding lug, and then bring in 120 or 240V from the timeclock, switch or breaker box, to power the heater controls. Consult your pool heater model owner's manual for detailed installation instructions and important notices. 

Connecting natural gas however, should be left to the professionals. The first step is to call your natural gas supplier and tell them that you wish to add a natural gas pool heater to your gas service. Tell them the size gas pool heater you intend to buy (BTU size), and they will pull up your account and see if your gas meter size can handle another gas appliance. If not, they will often upgrade the meter at no cost or low cost, happy as they are to sell more gas. After verifying that your meter can handle increased demand, the next step is to hire a gas contractor to run a proper gas pipe from the meter to the heater. 

In The Swim natural gas pool heaters connect directly to your home’s gas line and are simple to use. We carry a great variety of the best NG pool heaters from leading brands like Jandy, Lochinvar, Pentair and Raypak. Call our gas pool heater experts for any questions related to pool heating - 1-800-288-7946.