What does a pool heat pump cost to run?
A typical pool heat pump running at its typical daily hours costs about $138/month to run in New Zealand - that's $1657/year at the current national average rate of 42.0c/kWh. Heat pump pool heaters use 3-5× less electricity than electric resistance heaters
| Region | Rate | Monthly |
|---|---|---|
| Dunedin | 42.4c/kWh | $139 |
| Queenstown | 42.3c/kWh | $139 |
| Auckland Central | 41.2c/kWh | $135 |
| Christchurch | 38.5c/kWh | $127 |
| Wellington City | 37.0c/kWh | $122 |
This estimate models a typical pool heat pump running at its typical daily hours. At the national average rate of 42.0c/kWh, that works out to about 329 kWh a month - $138/month, or $1657 across a year.
- Power draw
- 1,800 W
- Typical use
- 6 hrs/day, 7 days/week
- Rate applied
- 42.0c/kWh (national average)
- Energy used
- 329 kWh/month · 3,942 kWh/year
Your own usage will differ - adjust the hours, wattage and rate for your household in the full calculator.
What to know about running a pool heat pump
A pool heat pump is what makes a heated pool affordable to run instead of ruinous. Like every heat pump it multiplies its energy, pulling warmth from the air to deliver several times more heat to the water than it draws in electricity. Heating a pool with direct electric resistance, by contrast, would be eye-watering. The heat pump is the only sensible way to do it on power.
The multiplier is the whole reason it exists. Instead of turning electricity straight into heat one-for-one, it uses that power to move warmth out of the air and into the pool, so it delivers three to five times more heat than a resistive element would for the same electricity. Heat pump pool heaters use 3-5 times less electricity than electric resistance heaters doing the same job.
Put the other way around, trying to warm a pool with a plain resistive heater would be an exercise in burning money, because a pool holds an enormous volume of water and every degree of warmth would come at full one-to-one cost. For anything heated by electricity, the heat pump is not just the better option, it is really the only viable one.
Even so, a pool is a huge volume of water, and a heat pump heating it works long hours, so it is a serious seasonal cost on top of the filtration pump. Efficient does not mean free: there is simply so much water to warm and so much surface losing heat that even a three-to-five-times multiplier still adds up to a substantial summer load.
The big lever is a pool cover. Most of a heated pool's heat escapes from the surface overnight, so a cover dramatically cuts how hard the heat pump has to work. Trap that warmth under a cover when the pool is not in use, especially through the night, and the heater has far less to replace each morning.
Heating to a modest temperature, only during the swimming season, and running on a night rate where possible all keep it in check. A degree or two lower is real energy saved, there is no point heating a pool nobody swims in outside the warm months, and shifting the work onto cheaper overnight power costs nothing to arrange. Add the pool heat pump to the calculator alongside the filtration pump to see the full seasonal picture.
Frequently asked
How much does a pool heat pump cost to run in NZ?
At the national average electricity rate of 42.0c/kWh, a typical pool heat pump costs about $138 per month, or $1657 per year. Actual costs vary by region and how heavily you use it.
Which NZ region has the cheapest pool heat pump running cost?
Of the five centres shown on this page, Wellington City is the cheapest at $122/month, and Dunedin is the most expensive at $139/month. The 30% spread reflects regional MBIE retail rates.
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