Upon further research it turns out the the solar system for the pool is just for heating the pool water. It runs the water from the pool through black pipes to heat it up and then pushes the heated water back into the pool while pulling in the cooler water to be heated. Since the cost to heat a pool up may be $100-200/day depending on the time of year and it would extend our pool season, I think we are going to spend the $4,500 to “upgrade”.
Looked at my current SDGE bill and it is only $69.95 ($4.73 gas and $65.22 electric including a $1.50 reduce your use day award). Pretty good for a family of 4 in a 3,000 sqft house. I guess the tankless gas water heater that came with the new house really is efficient. Also, my heater is gas not sure the regular solar would help much there either?
