Families are holidaying at home and a sparkling swimming pool is a great way to entertain children as well as your guests.

Global pool service franchise brand Poolwerx has some key tips to heat your pool for year-round enjoyment.

“Home building, buying and selling activity was at an all-time high in the last few months, with a lot of upgraders finding or building their forever home,” Poolwerx chief executive officer Nic Brill said.

“We have developed much more homebound habits and people are putting their money where their home is.”

Mr Brill said sales of pool heat pumps and related equipment have gone through the roof in the last two years.

Data shows the people installing heating are either upgrading their equipment, with many retrofitting heating elements to turn their ordinary pool into a heated one, or building a brand new pool and setting-up heating from the get-go.

For many pool owners the cost of heating might have been considered too expensive. New technology, and the proliferation of solar panels in Australia, can significantly reduce the cost of heating a pool.

Once you have invested to build a pool, an incremental five per cent on pool heating in the grand scheme of things, is not an excessive spend. It means you and your family can use the pool year-round, giving you much better value for money, particularly in the southern states.

The rise of smaller house blocks might mean an increase in smaller plunge pools which have less water and don’t cost much to heat up year-round. And while pool heating can increase usage to 12 months, it may also reduce overall maintenance.

Letting your pool go over the cooler months might seem like a good idea, but it can be a a false economy. It could be easier and less costly to maintain the pool throughout the year rather than making a dormant pool summer-ready.

Mr Brill said Poolwerx has diversified the range of heating equipment to offer a variety of methods to suit individual pool owners.

Solar savers

The perfect choice for environmentally conscious pool owners. A solar system recirculates the water in the pool with heated solar panels on the roof, before returning the water to the pool. Despite being the most costly to install, a solar system will easily last up to 10 years.

On a sunny day, solar pool heating can produce up to four times the heat energy of a heat pump or gas.

But with roof space hotly contested for solar panels to run the home, it might not be a viable option for everyone.

Go gas

Gas is a versatile option to warm-up the pool water quickly and efficiently. It’s also suited to every climate. Pumped through copper pipes, the pool water is heated through the gas system and then returns to the pool. However the cost of gas can fluctuate throughout the year and the fluctuation will extend to running pool-heating equipment. Another consideration is property with bottled gas or a direct connection to the natural-gas network.

Electric energy

Also referred to as an inverter heat pump, the electric heating system takes and transfers the heated air from the atmosphere into the pool. An energy-efficient option for consistent maintenance of a warm water temperature, however it can take a little longer to heat up.

Take the plunge and heat your pool. It can maximise your investment and potentially increase your property value.

This post originally appeared and was written by realestateview.com