If you're looking for an eco-friendly pool heater, you should consider either a heat pump or a solar heater.

Heat pumps will take heat from the air (air-source) or from water (geothermal) and use it to heat the water in your pool. Solar heaters use solar panels to capture energy from the sun. Both have their advantages, but here are just four reasons why heat pumps are usually a better option.

1. Heat Pumps Don't Rely on the Sun

The most obvious problem associated with solar panels is that they can only generate the energy needed to heat your pool when the sun is shining. If it's raining or the sun is blocked, you're going to be out of luck. Though heat pumps still use natural heat, they can run throughout the year unless temperatures really plummet, in which case you won't want to be in your pool anyway. Being able to enjoy warm water without checking the weather is an attractive benefit.

2. Heat Pumps Are Less Expensive than Solar Panels

There's no avoiding the fact that eco-friendly pool heating tends to involve high starting costs – you'll spend a relatively large amount whether you choose a heat pump or a solar heater. That said, solar systems tend to be far more expensive, mostly because you need plenty of solar panels to collect enough energy. If you want to keep things good for the planet without breaking the bank, heat pumps are an ideal solution.

3. Heat Pumps Involve No Unattractive Installations

You've already worked out that having a solar pool heater means adding solar panels to your property, but you probably haven't grasped what a nuisance that can be. Firstly, you'll need a lot of panels – in general, panels should equal 100% of the pool's surface area for effective heating. Secondly, you'll need to have your panels properly oriented to catch as much sun as possible, and the way this works out might not agree with how your property is currently laid out. You can avoid these issues by choosing a heat pump instead.

4. Heat Pumps Heat Your Pool Faster

Out of all pool heaters, solar heaters work slowest. Heat pumps don't work quite as fast as options that use electricity or fossil fuels, but they're still a lot faster than solar heaters. When you need to heat a pool from cool to swimmable, you could get the job done days faster with a heat pump. If you want things a little warmer for tomorrow during the summer, you can simply turn on your heat pump the evening before.