How To Heat An Intex Pool – 5 Best Ways To Do It

Last Updated on October 20, 2021

Who says swimming in your pool is just a summer activity?

If you want to enjoy your Intex pool even after the summer season ends, then you should know how to heat an Intex pool to maintain a warm swimming environment even during cooler seasons.

As an Intex pool owner, it can be a challenge to keep the water warm enough for swimming. The best way to do this is usually with a heater and there are many types of heaters on the market today. If you’re having some difficulty selecting your Intex pool heater, you can check out our buying guide below.

If you have a non-Intex above ground pool, then be sure to check out our article on above ground pool heaters for more information.

How To Choose The Right Intex Pool Heater

Your pool heater is a vital machine in keeping your Intex pool water swimmable for you and your family even during the cold months. It keeps your pool warm for a better swimming experience.

If you’re having a hard time choosing your Intex pool heater, then you might consider answering these questions first:

• What’s the overall size of your Intex pool?
• What type of pool heater are you looking for?
• How much are you willing to spend on your Intex pool heater?
• How much use are you expecting to get out of it?

Once you’re able to come up with answers to those questions, it’ll be easier for you to make a decision on what pool heater you should purchase.

Types Of Intex Pool Heaters

Intex pool heaters are often measured in BTU or British Thermal Unit. If a higher BTU is indicated that means the quicker that machine can heat your swimming pool.

Gas Pool Heaters

Using gas heaters is one of the most common ways you can heat an Intex pool as it’s fairly easy to use. And can heat your index pool quickly.

Most gas heaters use either propane gas or natural gas to heat your swimming pool.

The BTU that you need will highly depend on your pool size. The larger it is the higher BTU your pool requires for your gas heater.

Like any typical machine that uses gas, these heaters emit air pollution and can be expensive to operate as they can cost you anywhere from $300 to $600 per month. Of course, you also have to pay for the upfront cost of acquiring a gas heater that’s anywhere between $1,000 to $1,500.

Heat Pumps

Heat pumps work by either using both electricity and your surrounding air or by electricity and a water source.

Heat pumps are a more efficient way to heat an Intex pool and will only cost $50 to $150 to operate monthly.

The main drawback of using heat pumps is that they’re more expensive to acquire than a gas heater. Their price usually ranges from $2,000 up to $4,000.

Solar Heating System

Using a solar heating system is another great way to heat your Intex pool. It can be expensive to set up but a solar heating system for your pool is much affordable to install than a solar heater for your house. And it won’t require you to spend on any monthly operating expenses.

It works by utilizing your installed solar panels to transfer heat from the sun to your pool by letting your pool water pass through them.

But what if it’s raining or during the night when there’s no sun to heat my solar panels?

For this one, you might have to rely on another pool heater to heat your pool.

A solar heating system does not heat the pool quickly as a gas heater would.

Solar Covers or Blankets

An inexpensive way to heat your pool is by utilizing solar covers or blankets. These are made of plastic material that’s designed to retain the heat from the sun or the heat produced by your pool heater.

For those living in warmer climates, using solar covers to heat your pool might be enough so you won’t have to buy an Intex pool heater anymore.

But if the solar covers are not enough to give you the right temperature you want for your Intex pool, then you may opt to purchase a more powerful pool heater and supplement it with a solar pool cover for better heat retention.

Quick Recap

Pool Heater Type	Pros	Cons	Lifespan
Gas Pool Heaters	Can heat the pool quickly and best for those living in cold regions	Highest operating costs among all pool heaters	~5 years
Heat Pumps	Inexpensive to operate and easy to set up	Heat pool water slowly and have a high purchase cost	10 to 20 years
Solar Heating System	No operating costs and great for those with a huge yard	Expensive to set up and may require professional help	~15 years
Solar Blankets	Affordable to acquire and best for those with warmer climates	Not that efficient in heating your pool	3 to 5 years

5 Great Ideas On How To Heat An Intex Pool

1. Use the Intex Solar Cover

Intex has designed its own solar cover that should work perfectly with your existing Intex pool. This Intex Solar Cover can reduce the evaporation by 95% and allows the air bubbles to transfer sun heat into the pool water efficiently.

You can even install an Intex Solar Cover Roller if you have a large pool that needs heating. This is best used on a rectangular pool like what you can get with the Intex Ultra XTR Frame Pool Set.

However, you have to consider that it’ll take some for this to heat your pool since you’re depending on the sun’s energy for all this. If you are residing in colder regions in the US, it’d be better if you’ll get a pool heater or heat pump and just use solar covers to keep the warmth of your pool.

2. Intex Solar Mat For Above Ground Pools

Another cost-effective solution to heating your Intex pool is using the Intex Solar Mat. The best thing about this product is there’s no need for you to use any special equipment. You just have to lay it on your supposed-to-be pool area and set your pool next to it.

According to Intex, their Solar Mat can increase the temperature of your swimming pool by about 5 to 9° F depending on the current weather in your area. One solar mat measures about 4 feet in length by 4 feet in width.

If you have a large Intex Pool, you can get multiple solar mats and just connect them together. Just like the setup you see in the picture here.

3. Use A Hayward Gas Pool Heater and A Solar Cover

If you’re looking to add a pool heater that would not take much space in your backyard, and easy to set up and use, then we suggest getting a Hayward Pool Heater.

Hayward specializes in providing great swimming pool products and accessories like their robotic pool cleaner. And their gas pool heaters are no different.

They’re designed to heat your Intex pool efficiently.

We suggest getting the Hayward Universal H-Series Pool Heater as it comes in both natural gas or propane gas. So you have an option to choose which one you want to use in your pool.

Also, the minimum BTU for both models is 150,000 BTU which is more than enough to heat any mid-sized or large-sized Intex pool.

To help you heat efficiently heat your pool throughout the day, you can use a solar pool cover during day time and remove it whenever you want to use your pool during colder months or at night.

You can just run your pool heater during the times you’ll be using it to save money on operating costs. This wouldn’t require much waiting time as the gas pool heater is known to be quick when it comes to warming up your pool.

4. Get A FibroPool Swimming Pool Heat Pump

One way to save money on your pool heating’s operating costs is to install a proven cost-efficient pool heater.

We recommend the FibroPool FH055 Swimming Pool Heat Pump for Intex pool owners.

This FibroPool pool heat pump can add consistent, reliable heating to any above-ground pool and has low noise, so it won’t bother you while you enjoy your time in your Intex pool.

It’s very easy to use, unlike their gas pool heaters. You just have to find the right place to set it up and you should be enjoying a warm pool environment in no time.

5. Install A Solar Heating System For Above Ground Pools

Having a solar heating system installed to heat an Intex pool can be quite expensive to set up initially, but with no operating costs and tax incentives you can get for having one (depends on your state), it can be all worth it.

You can hire someone to do it for you or you can do it yourself to save money.

If you decide to go the route of setting it up, then you can check these solar panels by Smart Pool that’s designed to heat above ground pools efficiently.

Their solar heating system allows you to capture free heat from the sun’s rays to effectively raise your pool water temperature. And their solar panels are designed for easy DIY installation and they can increase your Intex pool’s temperature by as much as 15 degrees Fahrenheit.

How To Heat An Intex Pool – Final Thoughts

As you can see there are a lot of great options on how to heat an Intex pool it all comes down to what kind of feature you need and how much you’re willing to spend acquiring your pool heater and its operating costs.

If you live in a warmer climate, we suggest getting a solar cover or blanket first and test it if it’ll be sufficient to heat your pool. You can also benefit from using multiple solar mats from Intex.

For those living in colder regions, we recommend getting a more powerful heating system, either a gas pool heater if you need to have a heating system that can quickly heat your pool and you don’t mind spending on operating costs.

If operating costs are a concern, then getting a solar heating system or using a heat pump is what we will recommend for you.

Did Not Find The Intex Pool Heater You’re Looking For? Check Some Of These.

Photo by Editor B