Erin and Andrew moved into their Kelowna home in 2016, the home required numerous upgrades, both inside and out.

New to owning a pool, the first summer left us with large heating bills to warm the 120,000 liter pool and with the gas heaters intermittent operation, a new heating solution was obviously required. Estimates to replace the failing heater started at $3,000 for gas and around $5,000 for a large heat pump.

The following summer (2017) to reduce pool running expenses we kept the heater set temperature backed right down, and with such a large volume of water to heat, the pool temperature rarely exceeded 20 degree Celsius (68 degrees Fahrenheit).

The swimming pool blanket also proved challenging to deploy because of the shape and size of the pool, this cover was also in need of replacement.

Opting to install a solar combo system, involved installing a solar heater to take care of pool heating, and a solar electric system to supply a portion of the home's annual electrical energy requirements.

This summer, the pool temperatures regularly reach 28 degrees Celsius (82 degrees Fahrenheit), using the solar pool heater.
The 5.2kW solar electric system is a grid-tie net-metered system which powers the pool pump along with a large portion of the homes electricity needs.

Sustainable living was a high-value priority for the home renovations, being able to satisfy the pool heating and the homes electrical needs with free solar energy was an important factor.