I originally planned to have a natural gas heating system. After I received the estimate for…read morerunning the gas line together with the purchase and installation of the heater, I decided to look for alternatives. In retrospect, it's hard to believe I was seriously considering a heating system that would be noisy, expensive to run, and have a limited life expectancy. Once I considered solar heating, it was a no-brainer: solar is quiet, operation costs are nil, and it's always on during swim season (no need to wait for 40,000 gallons of water to heat up). As an added bonus, it comes with a 10 year full warranty. As far as the upfront costs, in my case because of the need to run a long gas line, solar was actually the less expensive alternative. Compared with a propane heating system, the initial cost of a solar system was more expensive but because unlike gas, propane, or electric heaters, a solar system has no operating costs and lasts longer, in the long run it is the least expensive and most convenient way to heat a pool.
I would like to talk about Bob Griffin, the owner of the company. He gave me a date for the installation and true to his word, he came as scheduled and finished the job in one day. I have a large swimming pool. Because Bob was trying to keep the price of the installation down, I had to push for a system large enough to really heat the pool well. I had read up on passive solar systems and the recommendation for our area of the country is to have the size of the solar system be at least 75% of the surface area of the pool. While 50% or 60% might work well in Arizona or North Carolina, if you are in New Jersey, get at least 75% unless your goal is only to take a little bit of the chill off. Yesterday, July 2, the water was 86 degrees. If 86 degrees is too hot for you, you can set the temperature lower but the maximum temperature is determined by the size of your system.
The service that closed my pool last season was apparently in a rush and did not wait the full 30 minutes to drain the solar system for the winter. As a result, one of the connectors on the roof burst. I called Bob and he quickly came to my house and made the necessary repair without charge. I strongly recommend this company.
Roy Konray