While in Dubai, hotels add ice blocks in their swimming pools to refresh them, in Quebec, the trend is rather conversely. We heat your pool, often to stretch an already short swimming season. A choice that certainly increases the time to use the swimming pool, but which turns out to be energy -consuming and expensive. How to sauce in a pleasant and eco -responsible way?
When we think of the consumption of summer electricity, we spontaneously think of the air conditioners that purr on the heat wave. However, having a swimming pool is much more energy -consuming. “On an annual basis, air conditioning is 5 % of the consumption of a Quebec household,” notes Cendrix Bouchard, spokesperson for Hydro-Québec. The swimming pool: approximately a third of the annual bill. In summer, this proportion can rise to 70 %!
According to the Hydro-Québec calculator, an outdoor pool 24 feet in diameter heated to 27 ° C (81 ° F) with a heat pump, without solar canvas and with a standard high-speed pump consumes around 7109 kWh in summer for an invoice of $ 718. A large in -chied swimming pool (18 ft on 36 ft): 11,335 kWh ($ 1145).
Photo Charles William Pelletier, Special collaboration archives
“The swimming pool is absolutely nothing ecological. It is a very pleasant luxury, but it has a large cost, far beyond its installation cost, ”underlines Emmanuel Cosgrove, co-founder and managing director of ecohabitation.
Curious to know how much your electricity pool costs you? Hydro-Québec offers its customers a performance measurement tool that estimates the energy consumption of their swimming pool, a calculation made according to the months of use.
Consult the Hydro-Québec calculator
Pump the ambient heat
In Quebec, pool owners have a great advantage in the carbon footprint. In summer, the entire electricity produced by Hydro-Québec is of renewable source. Thus, opting for a heat pump rather than a natural gas water heater is paying in terms of the reduction of greenhouse gases.
Even more, as for ambient air, a heat pump heats water more effectively than a simple electric water heater. “The heat pump heater is quite exceptional since it pumps heat in the outside air in the middle of summer,” notes Emmanuel Cosgrove.
The efficiency of a heat pump is measured by its performance coefficient (COP). A COP of 5 means that the device produces five times more heat than it uses with energy. The higher this value, the greater the energy efficiency.
A heat pump can save up to 75 % on water heating costs, says Hydro-Québec on its website. Lower the set point of a few degrees also rhymes with savings.
Despite the cost of the device (between $ 1,500 and $ 3,000), the heat pump is not part of the list of devices eligible for Hydro-Québec financial aid through the Logisvert program.
Hello, sun!
Even more affordable than electricity, solar energy, or even the simple black pipe installed in serpentine on the ground or on the roof of the shed, is the darling of ecohabitation.
Photo Martin Tremblay, the press archives
A system of solar panels used to heat the water from an in -depth pool
For more efficiency, you can turn to solar collectors. “It is a fairly simple, but very effective system,” says Geneviève Bourgeois, Director General of the Canadian Division of Technosolis, a family business in Longueuil which has been manufacturing and installs solar panels since 1976. In sunny weather, this system allows you to warm water from 1 ° F per hour, she explains.
The company installs solar collectors on the roof of the house. Returned by the filtration system pump, water circulates and warms before being transported to the pool. Silenting, the solar water heater sells for about $ 3,500 for a 21-foot outside pool. It can be installed in Benergy, to reduce the contribution of a heat pump, or in a completely independent way, and this, even in the regions located further north, ensures Geneviève Bourgeois.
Reduce losses
As with the interior of a house, one of the important measures in energy efficiency is the reduction of heat losses. “There are a lot of parallels to be done with our teachings on passive houses,” emphasizes Emmanuel Cosgrove. With a passive design, the idea is to let nature take care of your swimming pool. »»
This work begins from the design, with the insulation of the walls of the swimming pool, if it is dug, the choice of location (ideally in full sun) and that of color (a dark swimming pool will further absorb heat).
Another effective weapon against heat losses is the solar canvas. “The solar canvas limits the evaporation of water which is the greatest source of thermal loss,” said Emmanuel Cosgrove. According to Hydro-Québec, a solar canvas can save up to 45 % on water heating costs.
For an even more green dive
In addition to heating, several decisions can have an impact on the eco -responsibility of your swim. Among them, the installation of a timer to limit the operation of the filtration system for 6 to 12 hours, the purchase of a programmed pump at variable speed (eligible for a hydro-Québec subsidy), the choice of a sustainable swimming pool as well as the adoption of ionization, ozonation or UV reactor as a water treatment system.
Nevertheless, since the most ecological swimming pool is that which does not exist, the municipal swimming pools win the palm in terms of eco -responsible sauce.
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