The rising energy bill is going to be a big problem for swimming pools. But not in Hilvarenbeek. The swimming pool there has been heated without gas for a number of years. “We are of course very happy with that,” says Laco director Bert Lavrijsen.
The temperature of the water in a swimming pool is normally between 29 and 30 degrees. To keep the pool of 25 by 15 meters warm, a lot of heating had to be done at De Roodloop sports center in Hilvarenbeek. “Where we used to pay 20 cents per cubic meter, it has now become ten times more expensive,” says Lavrijsen. “If you consider that we used 100,000 cubic meters of gas per year, you can calculate how much money that saves.”
600 solar panels
The swimming pool was completely renovated four years ago and was the first fully electrically heated swimming pool in the Netherlands. On the roof of the building there are about 600 solar panels that generate electricity. Heat pumps convert that energy, so that the building and the swimming water are heated.
“In the summer we have enough energy, but in the winter we have to buy extra,” explains the director. The system is therefore not completely energy neutral. “The price for electricity is also rising, so I am curious what will happen if the municipality has to conclude new contracts for it.”
Not only in Hilvarenbeek, but also at the Tongelreep in Eindhoven they have switched to a gasless system in recent years. Swimming pools that are still traditionally heated will have to follow suit quickly, otherwise they may not even make it to the end of the year. That is what the Royal Dutch Swimming Federation fears. “Our swimming pools in Rucphen, Veghel and Geldrop that are now being built are already getting this, but we will have to take measures more quickly with the older pools,” Lavrijsen agrees.
According to him, this is only possible with government support, because it can easily be an investment of one million euros. The sports associations are therefore also calling on the government to start an emergency fund to keep the swimming pools open.