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Greetings all!
I've never had a pool or spa before, but am considering getting one
of each , so I could use some advice regarding energy efficiency/cost
of two different paradigms we are considering.
The pool woul be an in-ground fiberglass pool like the Viking Freeport.
It would be covered with an automatic cover except when in use, and I
do not think we will be heating it all that much, really. We live in
Southern California, USA, and will probably use the pool mostly in the
summer-ish months when it is pretty warm anyway. In any case, my
question really concerns the spa; in either paradigm below, assume the
spa would be used about 15 nights month, and that the spa would have a
fully insulated cover:
One paradigm is to have the pool installer also put in a fiberglass,
in-ground spa which would be (a) connected to the pool's
heating/filtering system; and (b) heated with propane.
The other paradigm is to get a portable spa like the Marquis Mirage;
this would (a) not be connected to the pool heating/filter system; and
(b) would be heated with electricity.
The cost advantage to the first paradigm is that we would use propane.
The cost advantage to the second paradigm is that the spa water would
tend to stay pretty warm since it would not be mixed with the cooler
pool water during filtration.
We like the looks of the in-ground spa much better (it would be raised
up around 18 inches, so it is not totally in the ground). We have
gotten conflicting estimates as to how much it would cost to heat the
spa in either the (a) "heat up with propane prior to each use" model
or the (b) "pretty much alway keep hot with electricity" model. Can
anyone suggest any rules of thumb for calulating the costs of heating
the spa? If anyone is roughly familiar with the relative pricing of
propane vs electricity in California, that would be particularly
helpful. Is it the case that...regardless of the relative cost of
propane vs. electricity...one of these two paradigms is universally
regarded as significantly more cost/energy efficient?
Any illumination or opinion on this matter is greatly appreciated!
Chuck
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Relative costs of spa heating methods?
