Where might I go for help with this? Should I try to price it out myself or find a contractor? What type of contractor should I look for?
My community of 60 families owns a pool. It is about 30' x 60'. It is heated by gas now, and the gas is the major expense of the pool each year. We spent $7,500 for gas last year.
How might we go about evaluating the costs and other pros and cons of switching from gas to electric heat? The current gas heater is about 1/2 way through its expected life. The goal is to reduce the annual cost for energy.
We are located in NY and there is a 1/2 acre grassy area near the pool that is communally owned and which is not used much because it is gets boggy. Perhaps we could put some solar panels there.
I guess we could estimate the amount of electricity needed to heat the pool from the $7,500 for gas.
How do we calculate the number of solar panels needed?
Can solar panels be put close to the ground? I have only seen them on roof tops.
I estimate we use the pool 4 months a year.
Update: I've heard that you can "bank" electricity you make over what you use. Since we will use the electricity in only 4 months, the electricity we make in the other 8 months can be banked and used for free when we need it.
Best Answer
PV panels are ~15% efficient. Hot water panels are much more, and probably much cheaper.
Way more efficient to just heat the water, rather than convert to electric and then to heat. Maybe with the exception of a heat pump... $$$