Heat Pump vs Natural Gas Heaters

[stephen59]

Newbie here! I'm in Ottawa, ON, I just purchased a home, the pool is a vinyl 16x32 without heat. I'm going to add a heater, but I'm getting mixed messages. I have three younger kids, hence the motivation for the pool, they love swimming. We want to ensure we have use in the shoulder seasons (May/June & September/October). Some dealers are pushing an electric heat pump. They are more expensive up front, but seem to recover that cost fairly quickly with respect cost of operations. My concern is that the heat pump may not be able to perform to my expectations in the shoulder seasons. I am leaning more towards a natural gas heater, if I go that direction I plan to oversize the heater to about 300-350BTUs to ensure convenience of responsive heat. However my concern here is that I've heard some stories of huge gas bills ($2000+ for a season). Our motivation to move was strongly influenced by our desire for a pool, so I don't want to limit the use because of temperature. My question is, assuming a lot of shoulder season use, would a heat pump or natural gas heater be best given my situation. Any insight you could offer would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Steve

[Denniswiseman]

Hi Steve
I have a 5kw heat pump which puts out 27kw when the weather is good but in the winter it struggles to maintain heat and is expensive to run
The ideal is an oil/gas boiler for the colder months and a heat pump for the summer months but that is not always possible
My pool is covered with a retractable cover and a thermal blanket. It is used all year