How long will it take to heat my 12,000 gallon pool from 60F to 85F with a 400,000 BTU heater?

I'm having family over for Christmas and want to heat our pool. Today the water temp was 59F. I have a 400,000 BTU heater. The pool is about 12,000 gallons (30x14). How long ...show more
Answer:

A BTU will heat one pound of water 1 degree in 1 hour. If you pool has 12,000 gallons, then you have about 100,000 pounds of water -- 12,000 * 8.33 lbs/gallon = 100,000 lbs Your 450,000 BTU heater could raise the temperature 4.5 degrees/hour if you were able to get every BTU out of the heater. I don't know your heater, but at 70% efficiency you would be at about 3.15 degrees/hour. You then need to factor in the heat loss that happens in the plumbing from the pool to the heater and back. You will also loose heat into the ground. The ground has a constant temperature and depending on where you are in the country can be about 55 to 60 degrees after you get down a few feet. That helps keep the water from freezing in the winter, but also takes away heat once you get above that temperature. Lastly you are loosing heat to the outside air. A cover will help, but when you see steam coming off, you again are loosing heat (BTU's) Given the above facts I would expect that you could see 2 to 2.5 degrees/hour.

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