"I want to heat the pool" means very different things depending on who's saying it.
For one household it means a pool that sits at a comfortable temperature from spring into fall, so the kids can swim after school without turning blue. For another it means a spa at 102 degrees on a Tuesday night, decided on about ten minutes beforehand.
Those are two different jobs. And heat pumps and gas heaters are good at different ones, which is really the whole answer. The rest of this is detail, but it's the detail that stops you buying the wrong machine.
A gas heater burns natural gas or propane and pushes that heat straight into the water. It's fast, and it doesn't care what the weather is doing.
A heat pump doesn't make heat at all. It pulls warmth out of the surrounding air and moves it into the water, the same basic way your refrigerator works in reverse. It runs on electricity, and because it's moving heat rather than creating it, it's very efficient when the air is warm.
That last part is the catch. A heat pump is only as good as the air around it.
In mild weather, the heat pump, and it isn't especially close. It can deliver several units of heat for every unit of electricity it uses, as long as there's warm air to draw from.
A gas heater costs more per hour to run. But it's working for far fewer hours, because it heats so much faster. So if you only heat occasionally, the gap narrows a lot. If you want the pool warm for months at a time, the heat pump pulls ahead.
Think of it as a slow cooker versus a gas stove. Both cook dinner. You would not use a slow cooker for a grilled cheese.
Yes, and better than in most of the country. Our winters are mild and we rarely see a freeze, which is exactly the climate a heat pump wants. Through spring, summer and a good stretch of fall, it's in its element.
Where it slows down is the cold end of the year, and on cool nights further inland. Its efficiency drops as the air gets colder. It still works; it just takes longer to get there.
Gas, by a wide margin. A gas heater brings water up in a matter of hours. A heat pump starting from a cold pool can take a day or more.
That's fine if you're keeping a pool warm all season, because once it's up to temperature a heat pump just holds it there. It's a problem if you decide on Friday afternoon that you'd like to swim on Friday evening.
Gas. Nearly every time.
A spa is small and it gets used on impulse. A gas heater gets it hot quickly enough that "let's use the spa tonight" is a decision you can make after dinner. A heat pump would rather you'd mentioned it yesterday.
Our opinion: if your family uses the spa more than the pool, and in a lot of Orange County backyards that's exactly how it goes, get the gas heater and don't look back.
| Job | Typical cost |
|---|---|
| New gas pool heater, installed | $4,400–$5,600 |
| Gas heater repair, parts and labor | $350–$1,200 |
The install range moves with the model and size, and with what's already at your house. A big gas heater needs a gas line and meter that can actually supply it. A heat pump needs a proper electrical circuit. Those are the details that make two quotes for "a pool heater" look so different. Heat pumps we quote individually for exactly that reason.
On repairs, a pilot assembly or flame sensor sits near the bottom of that range; a heat exchanger or gas valve near the top. There's a full breakdown in what pool heater repair costs in Orange County.
You can, and some pools do: a heat pump keeps the pool comfortable through the season, and a gas heater handles the spa. It costs more to set up, so it tends to make sense for people who use both a lot. We install both kinds.
We install heat pumps. We don't repair them. If you already have a heat pump that's acting up, we're not the call to make, and we'd rather say that here than after you've waited on us.
Gas heaters are a different story. We install the Pentair MasterTemp and the Jandy JXi and JXiQ, and we repair gas heaters, including the Raypak units common on commercial pools. If a gas heater clicks but won't light, throws an error code, or leaves black soot around the vent, that's ours.
“Had ACE Pool Repair & Remodel install a Pentair MasterTemp 400K ASME pool and spa heater… Derek was courteous and clearly experienced.”
Mare V., Yelp · heater installation
And whichever you pick, it's worth pairing it with automation, so you can turn the heat on from your phone on the drive home instead of hoping you remembered this morning.
Tell us how you actually use the pool and the spa, send a photo of the equipment pad, and we'll tell you which heater makes sense.
Call or text (909) 577-5274More on your equipment: Pool Equipment Repair & Installation, Pool Heaters, Pool Pumps and Pool Automation. ACE Pool Repair & Remodel serves Orange County and parts of Los Angeles County. Licensed, bonded and insured, CA Lic. #1075061, and an authorized Jandy service provider.
