The truth is that if you have one of the smaller above ground pools that are available, you may want to go with a standard gas or electric heater.
You see, when compared to a conventional built in, there is substantially less water to heat.
It just takes less money.
Several Options for Heating Above Ground Pools Even so, another way to look at it, is that with less water to heat, a solar powered water heater will be far more effective than with a standard built in.
But then again, a standard gas or electric heater is far less expensive to buy and install.
A Solar Pool Cover is the Easiest and Cheapest Option That is unless you go with a solar pool cover.
In this case, you can pick up a nice one for less than $100 that "will" make a noticeable difference in your pools water temperature.
Also a solar pool cover requires absolutely no installation.
The Non Passive Solar Heater Option Beyond that, is what you would call a "non passive" solar system.
Non passive means that at the very it least requires a pump to move the water that is to be heated through it.
With this type of system, the price does go up as well.
Solar Heaters Need Lots of Sunlight Keep in mind that any type of solar heating system requires a more than a few hours of direct sunlight to deliver optimal results.
It's for this very reason that you may have already seen solar water heating panels installed on the rooftops of houses in your community.
A Combination System is Yet One More Option Now understand that all solar systems do have one certain shortcoming.
That is that on cold cloudy days when warm water is needed the most they tend to do the worst job of heating water.
This is precisely why some people and you may end up being one of them opt for a combination system that uses both standard and solar heaters.