Commercial swimming pools don’t always have to be Olympic size. Many hotel, apartment and condominium pools aren’t much larger than the average residential backyard pool.
One of the differences between a residential and a commercial pool is that while the backyard pool owner can simply turn his heater off and not heat the pool to save money, often a commercial pool owner does not have that option… they are forced to heat the pool for their customers.
A perfect example is this issue’s Gold Medal Installation at The Sandcastle Resort Hotel in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Their indoor pool is 20 ft. x 40 ft. and was heated year round with gas. The owners of The Sandcastle, Global Hospitality, said that they decided to go green with solar because “it just didn’t make sense to pay for something that you can get for free.”
Solar Services of Virginia Beach, an Aquatherm Master Dealer since 2000, was chosen to design and install the system because of their reputation and years of experience in solar pool heating. Due to their outstanding performance and quality, they selected Aquatherm’s Solar Industries collectors for the job.
Solar Services installed twenty 10 ft. SI collectors on the roof of the pool area and used an automatic control to operate the system. They designed the system with 100 percent coverage to provide as much free heat as possible. The existing gas heater was kept as a backup if needed. Having a hybrid system like this ensures that the pool will be warm and comfortable for Sandcastle’s guests year round without a huge heating bill and with much lower CO2 emissions.
There are literally thousands of hotels like the Sandcastle across the nation that are looking for ways to reduce their operating costs. A major part of their budget goes to heating their swimming pool and many are finding, as the owners of The Sandcastle did, that a solar pool heating system is the answer.
To see other featured commercial installations like The Sandcastle or to learn more about opportunities in solar pool heating, please visit solarindustries.com or warmwater.com.