Bestway Flowclear Pool Heater

UK user. I have a 15ft bestway pool, that was 18 degrees. whilst outside temperature was approx 20-22 degrees. Setup was pretty straight forward. I have a bubble wrap cover that I would definitely also recommend. I switched on the pool heater for 36 hours, during this time the pool was never used and so the cover remained on. The Pool temperature went from 18 degrees to 28 degrees. It cost about £6.00 extra a day to run for 24 hours. The heater SHOULD be switched OFF during use! - I have used the heater sparingly, when the weather has been sunny, leaving it on for NO longer than 48 hours at a time - the Pool temperature has hit 32 degrees, which is warm enough to just jump in! - I have also tried leaving the heater OFF, using just the bubble wrap cover, the temperature went from 31 degrees to 26 degrees over a two day period. The pool wasn't used during this time, so if the cover had been removed, it may have decreased more. I am very happy with this product, as a cheap cost alternative, I have seen other heaters advertised for between £250 and £1200, so this is an affordable solution that works surprisingly well on a 15 ft pool - I would expect it to work even better on smaller pools! Whilst the description and manual state NOT to be used with an Extension Lead. I had no real option but to use this with a heavy duty extension lead, ensuring that it was fully unwound and capable of 3.2KW. The heater uses 2.8KW. The heater has its own RCD built in - I have also plugged the extension lead into it's own socket with another RCD. After 48 hours of use, the extension cable was barely warm. The RCD in the plug socket was slightly warmer - but I check things frequently to ensure that I remain happy. It is imperative that the extension lead is FULLY unwound (my extension lead is ONLY 700KW when wrapped up, which would be VERY dangerous!!!) and that you do your own research and testing etc.

This product is a complete waste of time and very expensive to run on electricity! When it worked, the pool water was heated as expected but the unit kept tripping the power and so was unreliable at best and that’s being kind! Our electricity bill surged by £170 in the month we used the unit before giving up on its inability to stay switched on. Do yourselves a real favour and swerve this until Bestway fix its faults

Caution - Read Entire Review Before Buying! Heater is great, it really is. BUT... it Needs its Own Dedicated Power Supply, Like how an Electric Cooker is wired in! If you try running it by just plugging an extension lead into a wall socket, it WILL Overheat and you risk it catching Fire! This is why: The heater runs at about 12.5 Amps continuously. Your wall socket can take up to 13A overall, but only for a short time, Not for hours! Electric cookers are similar, which is why they don't just plug in to a normal socket with a standard 3 pin plug. They instead have their own dedicated wire, which goes straight from your electric metre/fuse box, directly to a big switch by your cooker, then from the switch to the cooker itself. The wire is different as well; it's Nearly Twice as Thick as the wire that goes to your wall sockets, and can usually take 30-40 amps without a problem. Your wall sockets can only handle 13 amps overall. What this means, is that your cooker (or pool heater) can run continuously, maxing out at 12-13 amps, and it not be a problem - no extreme heating. Pool heaters need the same type of setup: They need their own power cable, which needs to be at least 4mm thick (the wire to your normal sockets is only 2.5mm). If you have a spare cooker switch/box that's not being used, you can (normally) use it to run the pool heater. An electrician can connect straight to the switch, extending the wire out to your pool, and fitting a double socket on the end of it. That way, you can run both your pump and heater through the same wire, and it not be a problem or risk overheating. If you don't have a spare cooker socket, you will need to have an electrician run a new wire from your metre/fuse box to your pool. This all sounds complicated and expensive, but it isn't. It's pretty straightforward and an electrician shouldn't charge you much for installing a new thick, dedicated wire and an outdoor rated double socket. If you try and run the heater just using a normal extension lead plugged in to a normal wall socket, it will trip out the fuse and your plug will heat up so much the plastic will begin to burn. I'm not being dramatic - I tried it, using a high grade extension lead, and like others have reported, it began to melt the plug, wire and socket! Plus, not only does the heater need 12.5 amps to run, your pump also uses up to 6.5 amps every second it's running. So, plugged in to an extension lead, your overall power usage is a staggering continuous 19 amps! Your normal wall sockets and wall cables are only rated to 13 amps overall! It cost me £35 for enough reinforced (outdoor) cable to reach the pool, and a local electrician wired everything in for £30 (taking him about 20 minutes). Obviously, the amount of cable you need will determine your cost, as well as if you have a spare cooker switch / how easy it is to connect a new wire to your fuse box etc. Finally... Was it worth it? Yes. 100%! I have an above ground pool and have added a basic pool tent over it - essentially making it enclosed. It's currently 5C outside, and running the heater for 2 hours a day is keeping the water a nice toasty 32C! Off peak, it costs about 50p an hour to run the heater, or about £1 per hour during the day; so costing between £7-£14 per week to make the pool as warm as a bath, even in near-winter conditions! As a side note: I purchased a cheap Chinese pop up bubble tent and put it completely over the pool so it can be used for most of the year. I also bought a few rolls of one meter wide bubble wrap and insulated the tent, weaving a few layers between the inside tent poles and the tent itself. I also bought a pack of cheap plastic-foil emergency blankets, folded them in half, and put them around the outside of the pool walls (they reflect uv heat back into the pool). I then wrapped three layers of bubble wrap around the pool as well, keeping the foil in place and adding great insolation. I have a proper (blue) bubble wrap pool cover, plus the original gray solar cover that came with the pool, a 3x3m thin foil/foam picnic blanket, and finally an extra nylon styled cheap Chinese pool cover sealing it all in! Extreme? Absolutely., lol. Definitely extreme. But, the bubble wrap is cheap, I already had the picnic blanket, and the dome tent was on offer and less than half the price of a uk purchased equivalent! In electric savings alone, I'm sure the bubble wrap and extra cover has paid for itself already, and I'm confident I'll be able to use the pool up until Christmas, and begin using it again next year as from March - massively extending out the season, and making it all worth it. But, even if you just want to warm your pool a bit for the kids during the main months, and so long as you have a proper mains lead fitted, it's still worth it! Why such a long and detailed review and extra information? Because this is Exactly what I needed when in your position, but unfortunately, no such thing existed, and I ended up learning the hard way, and having to do a lot of trawling through the Internet to try and fix problems - like the heater keep tripping the fuse! (I originally ran the pool pump and heater through 2 different extension leads, so I wasn't going over 13 amps, but it didn't make a difference when it came to the fuse being constantly tripped, because I was trying to run it through a normal wall socket, not a higher rated 4mm cable). I hope at least some of this will be helpful, and if there is the function, I'll reply to any questions anyone has. Happy, warm swimming!

I was sceptical about this item! But I think it’s made my day because my kids have had the best day, it took 2 days to warm up my bestway 10 ft above ground swimming pool. I don’t know how much I will pay for the electricity but its worth the smile on the kids faces and me! I strongly recommend it but u have to have patience and also cover it to keep the water warm. Kids have been in the pool since 11:00 am to 2100. So I have reconnected it. Pray for me for the electricity bill. Lol NB 1. It took a few minutes to install but to switch it on was the hardest! I read some people’s reviews of how to start it! Manufacturer instructions not very clear but u can still work with them but it could take more time. 2.Value for money I think it will do 3.Installing to the pool is straight forward 4.The cable is ok, it could have been longer for people who don’t have outside sockets NB NEED TO SUMMARISE MY REVIEW BY SAYING ABOUT THE HEATER! It was good for the first 2 nights I used it but then this error code E 6 came up and I tried every thing to sort it for aweek but failed! Repositioned it, bought new filters, disconnected it and put it Together but couldn’t find The fault and at this stage the beeping was driving me mad I decided to return it! Am still waiting for my refund and I might try and buy another one because it worked fine for 2 nights! I was refunded for the item, it worked good but the electricity bill was damn tears! Anyway if u You know how to work it and don’t care about the bill good luck. Thanks

Al comprarlo pensé que sería una tontería y ahora lo usamos a diario, podemos aprovechar más rato y más meses la piscina aprovechando el agua y con ganas de meterse aunque haga frío o nubes

The pool water was below 18°C before I started the heat pump, and it reached 30°C after 24 hours. My pool has a capacity of around 7,000 litres. Yes, heating the pool comes at a cost, but the comfort is priceless

Time will tell if this is a good product or not. I did read it needed a 220V plug But European style. Give me a break. Ordered on Amazon, shipped from US, you have to make this more clear. It's a solvable problem but one that a purchaser should not have to solve. Send adapters. Be more clear. Provide better instructions. Do better

our electrician could NOT convert this plug to US 220 - it's useless in US; Amazon shipped me a European version of this product; it's not usable in US

So ordered this item hoping it was 110v plug and go. But was never stated that it’s a 220v plug. For anyone who has a above ground pool. I doubt anyone have a designated 220 line. So as much as would have loved to use in could not. Also took 2 weeks to get here.