Gas Heater vs Electric Heat Pump for a Toronto Pool
Last updated:By The Pool Trade Desk
Gas suits a pool used in bursts and at the edges of the season, because it raises water temperature quickly and keeps doing so as the air cools. A heat pump suits steady swimming through the warm months, because it moves heat out of the air rather than burning fuel, and its output drops as that air gets colder. Before either, check what your house can supply: the gas line or the electrical service is often the deciding constraint.
Beyond the price gap, PoolBuilderIndex's own dataset lists 42 pool heating companies across the Greater Toronto Area at an average Google rating of 4.75★ over 4,558 reviews (August 2026), so you can move from this verdict straight to a ranked shortlist of the companies that do the work.
Where sources disagree, PoolBuilderIndex widens the range rather than picking a favourite. A figure with no named source behind it is left out.
What separates Gas heater from Heat pump on a GTA pool project?
The table
Every row below came out of published Ontario pool pricing, not an estimate. The cell names the source it came from, so you can go and read it yourself before you call anybody.
Gas heater vs Heat pump in the GTA. Researched August 2026, CAD, sources named per cell. Ontario HST applies unless noted.
How it makes heat
- Gas heater
- Burns natural gas or propane to heat water passing through it
- Heat pump
- Moves heat out of the outdoor air into the water, rather than generating it
Speed of recovery
- Gas heater
- Fast. Suited to heating a pool for a weekend and letting it drift after
- Heat pump
- Slower and steady. Suited to holding a set temperature rather than raising it on demand
Cold weather
- Gas heater
- Output does not depend on air temperature, so it keeps working late in the season and on cold nights
- Heat pump
- Output falls as the air cools, which limits how far it stretches a GTA season
Best swim pattern
- Gas heater
- Intermittent use, weekends, guests, and the shoulder ends of the season
- Heat pump
- Regular swimming through the warm months at a stable temperature
What it needs installed
- Gas heater
- A gas line sized for the load and a licensed gas fitter. An undersized supply or meter may need upgrading
- Heat pump
- Electrical service able to carry the unit. A panel or feeder upgrade may be needed
Permits and inspection
- Gas heater
- The gas work is permitted and inspected. Confirm who is pulling it
- Heat pump
- The electrical work is permitted and inspected. Confirm who is pulling it
Running cost driver
- Gas heater
- Fuel burned, so cost tracks how much you heat and how fast
- Heat pump
- Electricity used, and efficiency falls with the air temperature
Physical footprint
- Gas heater
- A smaller unit, plus a gas connection to reach it
- Heat pump
- A larger unit that needs clear airflow around it, plus the electrical supply
The cheapest heat either way
- Gas heater
- A cover. It cuts evaporation, which is where most of a pool's heat leaves
- Heat pump
- A cover. Same reason, and it matters more here because recovery is slower
Which pool owner does a gas heater actually suit?
Gas heater
Choose a gas heater when you want the pool warm on demand and want to swim at the edges of the season. Because it burns fuel rather than harvesting heat from the air, a cold night does not reduce what it can do, and it brings the water up quickly rather than holding it steady. The constraint is the gas supply: the line has to be sized for the load and connected by a licensed gas fitter.
- You use the pool in bursts: weekends, guests, and whenever the weather turns good.
- You want to swim into the cooler shoulder weeks at either end of the season.
- You want fast recovery after a cold spell rather than a slowly held temperature.
- Your property has, or can economically get, a gas line sized for the unit.
And who is better off with a heat pump?
Heat pump
Choose a heat pump when you swim regularly through the warm months and want a steady temperature rather than fast heat. It moves heat out of the air instead of burning fuel, which is efficient while the air is warm and progressively less so as it cools. The constraint is electrical: the service has to carry it, and that is worth confirming before you shortlist a model.
- You swim often through the warm months and want the water held at a temperature.
- You are not trying to stretch the season into cold weather.
- You prefer no gas appliance, gas line or gas permit in the project.
- Your electrical service can carry the unit, or upgrading it is straightforward.
What does each cost on a real project?
The money
Unit and installation prices, with the Canadian source named against every figure, are in the pool heating cost guide linked from this page. What decides the choice first is not the price of the box, it is how you swim and what your house can supply. Read these against your own situation.
- You want to swim in the cool weeks at either end of the season
- Points to gas
- You heat the pool for a weekend, then let it drift
- Points to gas
- There is no gas line, and running one is a project of its own
- Points to heat pump
- You swim through the warm months at a steady temperature
- Points to heat pump
- The electrical service is already tight and upgrading it is costly
- Points to gas
- You want no gas appliance or gas permit in the project
- Points to heat pump
Ask every company quoting a heater to say how they sized it, whether on pool volume, on cover use, or on a temperature you asked for, and to state clearly whether the gas line or the electrical supply work is inside the price or outside it. That second answer moves the real total more than the difference between two models. And put a cover in the plan either way, because most of a pool's heat leaves through the surface.
Frequently asked questions
Does a heat pump work in a Toronto swim season?
- Through the warm months, yes: that is what it is for. The limitation is that a heat pump moves heat out of the outdoor air, so its output falls as that air gets colder. The cool weeks at either end of the GTA season are exactly when it delivers least, which is the main argument for gas if stretching the season is your goal. A cover helps a heat pump more than it helps a gas heater, because recovery is slower.
Which is cheaper to run?
- That depends on how you heat, not just on which unit you buy. A heat pump moves heat rather than generating it, which is efficient while the air is warm, and less so as it cools. A gas heater burns fuel, so its cost tracks how much and how fast you heat. Someone heating for occasional weekends and someone holding a temperature all season get very different answers, so ask for running-cost figures against your own pattern.
What has to be installed before either one works?
- For gas, a line sized for the unit's load, connected by a licensed gas fitter, with the work permitted and inspected. An existing line or meter may need upgrading. For a heat pump, electrical service capable of carrying the unit, which can mean a panel or feeder upgrade, also permitted and inspected. Ask whether that connection work is inside the quoted price or excluded from it, because it is a common gap between two bids.
Is a cover worth it if I already have a heater?
- Yes, and for both types. Most of the heat a pool loses goes through the water surface, so a cover reduces the work the heater has to do every night. It is the cheapest heat retention available and it applies whichever unit you install. The pool cover and enclosure category on this site covers the cover options, and municipal enclosure requirements are a separate matter from heat retention.
Questions to ask your contractor
- How did you size this unit: on pool volume, cover use, or the temperature I asked for?
- Is the gas line or electrical supply included, and does it need upgrading? Connection costs to expect
- What are the running costs of this unit compared with the alternative you did not quote?
- Who handles the permit and the inspection for the gas or electrical work?
- What does the warranty cover, and does it require annual servicing to stay valid?
Compare real quotes, not just averages
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