What’s involvedPool
Keep a pool heater clear: what's involved
A pool heater needs open air round it and a clear vent. Here's what to keep away from it, what to look at from a step back, and what a pool pro does each season.
- 10 to 15 min
- 7 parts
- Every step animated
What’s involved
No hands-on steps here: what the job is, what a pro does, and what to have ready.
The heater sits on the pad beside the pump and filter. Some burn fuel and vent out of the top; a heat pump has a fan on top and fins round its sides.
Keep plants trimmed back, and nothing stored on it or against it: no toys, covers, chemical pails or piled leaves.
Never store pool chemicals beside the heater.From a step back, look at the top vent or the fan. Leaves, a nest or a cover left on means it can't breathe.
Don't open its panels or reach into the vent.Soot or dark marks at the vent, a smell, a heater that clicks but won't light, or one that shuts off soon after it starts.
Each season they open it up, clean the burners or the coil, check its controls and safety switches, and test how it vents.
A photo of its label, what it's doing and since when, and a clear path to the pad.
Soot, a heater that won't light, or water under it: switch it off and ask Handyman for a pool pro.
Smell gas near a gas heater? Keep everyone away and call the gas utility from outside.
What you need
- Pruners for the plants round it
- A phone for photos
Call a pro if
- Soot or dark marks at the vent
- It clicks but won't light, or shuts off soon after
- Water under it
- Any smell of fuel
Handyman says: Soot or a smell? I'll find a pool pro.
Free for every home. Handyman asks a few questions, then books a pro it trusts.
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