your pool needs it than in the depths of winter, when your three-season pool will be off.
The good thing about combining this is that you can still claim the government’ s £ 7,500 subsidy if your pump is big enough to supply the whole property( excluding the pool), as long as it’ s replacing a fossil fuel or direct electric system. And home heat pumps tend to be quieter and more efficient than a swimming pool heat pump; they’ re more expensive for that reason, but they’ re subsidised.
2) Solar PV to offset costs Once you’ re on a heat pump, solar panels can be used to supply some of the heating for a pool. Solar and domestic heating heat pumps have the problem that the solar generates most power in the summer and the heat pumps need most in the winter, so there is less overlap than there could be, but PV and swimming pool heating align much more. Since a pool can also act like a big store of thermal energy, you can also dump excess solar energy into the pool when you have it and let the pool cool overnight when you don’ t.
This can lead to lower costs, and even if you don’ t have a swimming pool heat pump, the panels can help with the associated electric demand of air-handling and pump equipment.
3) Time-of-use tariffs If a pool only loses a degree or so in temperature per day, then it doesn’ t really matter what time of day you heat it( assuming your system can provide the power). With a fossil fuel boiler, it doesn’ t change what it costs you when you charge the pool, but with a heat pump, you can go timeof-use on your electricity tariff. Heat the pool at night if you’ re on a cheap overnight tariff, for instance, topped up by your solar, and you might better than halve your bills against even a stand-alone heat pump on the pool.
How does this benefit the homeowner? The savings can be material here, but not just for the pool. When combined in a properly electrified home set-up, often with a home battery and electric vehicle, heat pumps + solar + time-of-use tariffs can drive significant cost reductions for homeowners, often leading to double-digit payback( and since it comes off bills, it’ s post-tax).
Moreover, the carbon benefits are significant, often greater on properties with pools than the total carbon footprint of an average UK citizen! Since pools tend to be part of larger homes, the savings mount up even faster.
Overall, a large house with a swimming pool and no renewables is in need of some improvements to make it greener, cheaper to run and
POOLS, SPAS & HOT TUBS
more convenient. Genous can help, and focuses on complex properties, including those with pools.
About Simon Bones Simon Bones is the founder and CEO of Genous, the UK’ s premium home retrofit company. Focused on professionalism and personalised service, Simon has combined his expertise in climate change science and energy and infrastructure services with his personal experience of delivering multiple home retrofits to help shift the public’ s mindset and bring us closer to a more energyefficient and greener future.
His philosophy centres around empowering people to improve their properties and embrace environmentally and wallet friendly solutions. Identifying a knowledge gap among almost all consumers when it comes to renewable solutions and with no company able to provide high service solutions across multiple categories of home energy savings, Genous was born, with a commitment to simplifying the process and educating customers at the same time.
Prior to Genous, Simon was cofounder and managing partner of international strategy consultancy Credo, which he successfully sold to CVC Capital-backed Teneo and where he focused on construction / property, infrastructure and energy services. He has personally also retrofitted multiple properties, installing insulation, performance glazing, smart controls, solar panels, heat pumps and biomass heating systems along with EV charging upgrades.
A published academic, Simon is a Visiting Research Fellow in climate change science at the University of Bristol and has Masters’ degrees from Oxford University and Bristol in Physics & Philosophy and Climate Change Science & Policy respectively.
www. genous. earth
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