What heater fits an Intex or Bestway pool?
On a soft-sided pool the heater is not chosen on BTU. It is chosen on what your filter pump can push and what your outlet can supply.
Quick picks
Ranked for a soft-sided or frame pool on a domestic outlet. The skip entry is here because it is the product this search turns up most often and the arithmetic rules it out.
| # | Product | Best for | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Best overall TURBRO Manatee M18 18,000 BTU Above-Ground Pool Heat Pump 18,000 BTU on a standard 110-120V GFCI outlet, rated by TURBRO for pools to 6,000 gallons. No electrician, no gas line. | An above-ground pool up to about 6,000 gallons, with no 240V circuit available | |
| 2 |  Cheapest real heat Intex 28685E Solar Heater Mat, 47 x 47 in Intex's own collector, with 1.25 in attachment points and a bypass valve in the box. Zero running cost, because your filter pump was already on. | An above-ground pool up to about 8,000 gallons, on a sunny site | |
| 3 |  Do this first Intex Easy Set Solar Cover A small pool cools proportionally faster than a big one, which makes the cover more valuable here, not less. | Intex and other soft-sided above-ground pools | |
| 4 |  For a frame pool, not an inflatable one TURBRO Beluga B33V 33,000 BTU Inverter Pool Heat Pump 33,000 BTU for pools to 10,000 gallons — but TURBRO's own listing says it is not recommended for inflatable pools. Read that before you buy. | An above-ground pool of 6,000 to 10,000 gallons with a 240V supply | |
| — |  The one that looks right and is not VINGLI Solar Dome Above-Ground Pool Heater At most 3.75 sq ft of collector. The trade rule wants collector area at half to all of your pool's surface, so one dome is a rounding error. | A spa or a very small pool, or curiosity — not warming an above-ground pool |
#ad We earn a commission if you buy through this link, at no extra cost to you. It never changes the ranking. How this site is funded. Prices last checked October 17, 2026.
Why fitment decides this and output does not
Every other heating page on this site starts from energy: how many BTU your water needs, and what each fuel costs to deliver them. That is still the right way to size a heater. But on a soft-sided pool it is not what rules products out, because almost everything in the category is built for a pool with rigid plumbing and a proper circulation pump, and your pool has neither.
Three gates, in the order they eliminate products:
- Power. A full-size heat pump wants a dedicated 240V circuit. If you are not paying an electrician, you are shopping in the 110-120V aisle, and that is a small aisle.
- Pump flow. A heater has a minimum flow rate below which it will not run, and an Intex cartridge pump is an order of magnitude smaller than the pump a pool heater expects. This is the gate people discover last and it is the one that matters most.
- Hose size. Soft-sided pools plumb in flexible hose, not glued pipe. Intex states 1.25 in hose attachment points on its own accessory pages, and ships adaptors for a 1.5 in hose connection where a bigger pump is in use. Those two numbers are what you are matching against.
The flow gate, with the arithmetic
This is the part no listing walks you through, so here it is with real published numbers on both sides. Hayward publishes a minimum water flow of 20 for its 150,000 BTU Universal H-Series gas heater — the smallest gas heater we rank — along with 2 in by 2‑1/2 in CPVC union connections.
| A 1,000 gal/hr Intex pump = 1,000 / 60 | 16.7 gal per minute |
| Hayward's published minimum for the H150 | 20 |
| 16.7 < 20 | the pump cannot reach the heater's floor |
A gas pool heater is ruled out by flow before the plumbing is even an issue.
Noted honestly: Hayward's specification table gives the flow row as 'Water Flow Rate Min 20 / Max 125' without stating the unit. Gallons per minute is the convention in this category and the figures only make sense that way, but we are not going to pretend the page labeled it. Either way, the gap is not marginal.
That single comparison is why the answer to “can I put a gas heater on my Intex pool?” is no, and why it is not a question of finding the right adaptor. The same logic is what makes the small 110-120V heat pumps the right class of product here: they are designed around the flow a domestic pump actually produces.
What Intex itself publishes
Intex’s heating range is one product, and the specification is unusually specific about the things that matter here. Reading the manufacturer’s own page for the 28685E solar mat:
| Specification | What Intex states |
|---|---|
| Hose attachment | 1.25 in hose attachment points |
| Adaptors supplied | 1 adaptor A and 1 adaptor B for 1.5 in hose connection |
| Also in the box | 1.25 in diameter connecting hose, bypass valve |
| Pump limit | Filter pumps up to 1/3 HP, or pump flow rate under 2,000 gal/hr |
| Pump compatibility | Designed to work with most Intex filter pumps |
| Pool size | Above-ground pools up to 8,000 gal |
| Temperature claim | Approximately 5 to 9°F, depending on weather condition |
The pump limit is a ceiling, not a target: a bigger pump puts you outside the rating. And note what is in the box — even a thirty-dollar solar mat ships with a bypass valve, which tells you how standard that part is.
Inflatable, frame, or kiddie: they are not the same pool
“Intex pool” covers everything from a 300-gallon ring pool to a 6,900-gallon steel-frame rectangle, and the right answer moves a long way across that range. The distinction manufacturers themselves draw is between inflatable pools, where the top ring holds the wall up, and frame pools with a steel structure.
- Inflatable and kiddie pools. Stay with the mat or the cover. TURBRO’s B33V listing states plainly that it is not recommended for inflatable pools, and that is the manufacturer telling you something useful rather than hedging. A heat pump is a hard-plumbed object beside a pool whose wall is held up by air.
- Frame pools up to about 6,000 gallons. The M18 is sized for exactly this: TURBRO names round pools to 16 ft and rectangular to 12 x 20 ft.
- Frame pools from 6,000 to 10,000 gallons. The B33V steps up to 33,000 BTU and a 5-year compressor warranty, with the inflatable exclusion above.
- Anything above that is a permanent above-ground pool rather than a seasonal one, and the above-ground heat pumps ranked by output is the page you want.
How long it will actually take
The honest part of buying a small heat pump is the speed, and TURBRO is one of the few makers that says so on its own listing: reaching your target temperature “may take a few days rather than immediate results”. Believe the note, because the arithmetic agrees with it.
| 6,000 gal x 8.33 lb x 10°F | 499,800 BTU needed |
| 499,800 ÷ 18,000 BTU/hr | about 28 hours of run time |
Over a day of continuous running, before any losses.
And that ignores the heat the pool sheds while you are heating it, which is why the real figure is longer and why the cover is not optional. Run your own numbers in the heating time calculator.
Which is the argument for doing the cheap thing first. A small pool has a lot of surface area for very little water, so it both warms and cools faster than a full-size pool — the scale arithmetic is here — and a cover that stops the overnight loss is doing more work per dollar on your pool than on anybody’s.
What to check before you click buy
- Read the hose size off your pump, not off the pool. Intex’s own figure is 1.25 in attachment points, with adaptors to 1.5 in for larger pumps, and the two are not interchangeable without one.
- Read the flow rate off the pump too, in gal/hr, and check it against the heater’s stated requirement. If a listing does not state a flow requirement, that is a question to ask rather than a detail to assume.
- Check the outlet. A 110-120V unit on a GFCI outlet is the whole appeal of this class; anything rated 220-240V is a different purchase with an electrician in it.
- Buy the cover at the same time. On this size of pool it is the cheapest degree of warmth available, and every hour of heat pump run time it saves is an hour you did not pay for.
Every pick, in detail
What each one publishes, what is good and bad about it, and — the section this category usually omits — what we could not judge without owning one.
TURBRO Manatee M18 18,000 BTU Above-Ground Pool Heat Pump
The plug-in heat pump, and the honest version of that category. It runs on a normal 110-120V GFCI outlet, carries a titanium exchanger, and TURBRO states a COP of 5.5 — in the same range the established brands publish rather than the impossible numbers import listings often print. It is also the only listing we read that tells you the truth about speed: TURBRO's own note says reaching your target temperature 'may take a few days rather than immediate results'. Believe that note.
Best for An above-ground pool up to about 6,000 gallons, with no 240V circuit available
| Rated output | 18,000 BTU/hrHeat pumps rate by output. 18,000 BTU/hr is about an eighth of a full-size unit. | Manufacturer |
|---|---|---|
| Stated COP | 5.5No test condition is published with it. Read it as a warm-air best case, as with every COP in this category. | Manufacturer |
| Supply | 110-120V, GFCI plug, IPX4The whole point of the unit. No electrician, no dedicated 240V circuit. | Manufacturer |
| Heat exchanger | Titanium | Manufacturer |
| Pool size the maker names | Up to 6,000 gallons — round pools to 16 ft, rectangular to 12 x 20 ft | Manufacturer |
| Operating range | Heats to 59-104°F in ambient air from 41-109.4°F; also cools | Manufacturer |
| Warranty | 2-year full machine | Manufacturer |
| Time to lift 6,000 gallons ten degrees | About 28 hours of run time6,000 x 8.33 x 10 = 499,800 BTU, divided by 18,000 BTU/hr. Ignores the heat the pool loses while heating, so the real figure is longer — which is what TURBRO's 'a few days' note is telling you. | Our arithmetic |
- Plugs into a standard outlet — no electrician, which can be the larger cost on a small pool
- Titanium exchanger at this price, so a salt pool is not ruled out
- The listing states the slow heat-up rather than hiding it
- 18,000 BTU/hr means days, not hours, to reach temperature from cold
- Almost useless without a cover — it cannot outrun overnight evaporation loss
- TURBRO is an import brand with no long service record we could check
- Compressor life, which is the whole question on a budget heat pump
- The COP it actually reaches at 60°F air
- Parts and warranty support in three years' time
These need a unit in hand across a season. We do not have one, so we do not have an opinion worth printing on them.
#ad We earn a commission if you buy through this link, at no extra cost to you. It never changes the ranking. How this site is funded. Prices last checked October 17, 2026.
Intex 28685E Solar Heater Mat, 47 x 47 in
The cheapest thing on this site that adds heat rather than keeping it, and the only reason it works is that it is honest about its scale: one mat is a small collector plumbed into a small pool's filter line, and Intex rates it for 8,000 gallons. On the pool it was designed for it is a genuinely sensible purchase with no running cost at all. On a full-size inground pool it is a rounding error, and buying several to make up the difference gets expensive faster than people expect.
Best for An above-ground pool up to about 8,000 gallons, on a sunny site
| Dimensions | 47.25 x 47.25 in, flat before fill | Manufacturer |
|---|---|---|
| Rated pool size | Above-ground pools up to 8,000 gallonsIntex's own page words this as "up to 8,000 gal / 11ft sq surface". It does not define what the 11 ft sq refers to — it is not the mat's own flat area, which works out nearer 15 sq ft — so we quote the gallon figure and leave the other alone rather than guess at it. | Manufacturer |
| Pump requirement | Filter pumps up to 1/3 HP, or a flow rate under 2,000 gal/hrThis is the specification that decides whether it fits your setup, and it is the one most listings bury. | Manufacturer |
| Connections | 1.25 in hose attachment points, with adaptors supplied for a 1.5 in connection | Manufacturer |
| Material | UV-stabilized PVCStated in retail listings. Intex's own product page does not name the material. | Retail listing |
| Running cost | $0 in fuelThe filter pump is already running to filter the water. There is no additional fuel or electricity cost attributable to the heat. | Our arithmetic |
Approximately 5 to 9 degrees F
Claimed by Intex, on its own product page. Conditions: Stated as depending on weather condition; no time period is given. Source
Intex's exact wording is that it is designed to increase pool water temperature by approximately 5-9 degrees Fahrenheit depending on weather condition. With no period attached, this is a cumulative ceiling over days of good sun, not a figure you will watch happen in an afternoon.
- No running cost at all — the filter pump is already circulating the water
- Intex publishes real numbers for it, which most of this category does not
- Mats can be added in series as the budget allows
- Rated to 8,000 gallons, so it is the wrong tool for a full-size pool
- Needs a low-flow pump — over 2,000 gal/hr and it is outside its own spec
- Delivers what the sun delivered, so it does nothing on a cool cloudy week
- Actual output at your latitude, mat angle and shading
- How the PVC survives several seasons of UV and freeze cycles
- Whether the supplied adaptors suit a non-Intex filter system
These need a unit in hand across a season. We do not have one, so we do not have an opinion worth printing on them.
#ad We earn a commission if you buy through this link, at no extra cost to you. It never changes the ranking. How this site is funded. Prices last checked October 17, 2026.
Intex Easy Set Solar Cover
Made to fit Intex's own above-ground pools, which is the entire reason to buy it: on a soft-sided pool, a cover that matches the frame diameter is worth more than a thicker cover that does not. It is a thin cover and it will not last like a 12-mil blanket, but on a 5,000-gallon above-ground pool the physics are in your favor anyway, because there is far less water to move.
Best for Intex and other soft-sided above-ground pools
| Price shown for | 16 ft round (28014E)This product is sold in several sizes on one listing. The live price and photograph on this page are the ones Amazon returns for this variant; other sizes are priced separately. | Retail listing |
|---|---|---|
| Fits | Sized to Intex Easy Set and metal-frame pool diametersThe manufacturer publishes no retrievable specification sheet; figure is as listed at retail. | Retail listing |
| Color | Blue | Retail listing |
| Bubble side | Bubbles face the water | Published standard |
| Evaporation reduction | 95%Intex states this on its own product pages. It publishes no temperature claim at all — the 5 to 15 degree figure that appears on some retail listings is not Intex's. | Manufacturer |
- Actually fits the pool it is made for, which most generic rounds do not
- Cheap enough to replace on the schedule a thin cover needs
- On a small pool the same sunlight moves the temperature several times faster
- Thin. Expect a season or two, not five
- Sized to Intex diameters, so it is a poor buy for anything else
- Actual thickness — Intex publishes no mil rating we could retrieve
- How it holds up to the sun in a hot climate over one full season
- Whether the fit is as close on the metal-frame pools as on the Easy Sets
These need a unit in hand across a season. We do not have one, so we do not have an opinion worth printing on them.
#ad We earn a commission if you buy through this link, at no extra cost to you. It never changes the ranking. How this site is funded. Prices last checked October 17, 2026.
TURBRO Beluga B33V 33,000 BTU Inverter Pool Heat Pump
The step up: 33,000 BTU/hr, a DC inverter compressor, WiFi, and a 5-year compressor warranty against the 2 years on the machine. It is the most capable above-ground heat pump we found at anything like this money. It is also where the COP claim gets silly — the listing says 'up to 15.8', which is a part-load inverter figure and not comparable with the 5.0 to 5.9 the US brands publish at full load. Buy it for the 33,000 BTU and the warranty, not for the 15.8.
Best for An above-ground pool of 6,000 to 10,000 gallons with a 240V supply
| Rated output | 33,000 BTU/hr | Manufacturer |
|---|---|---|
| Claimed COP | Up to 15.8, cited to AHRI Standard 1160 (I-P)An inverter's COP rises steeply as it throttles down, so an 'up to' figure describes the machine loafing, not the machine heating your pool from cold. The full-load number is what matters and TURBRO does not publish it. Treat 15.8 as incomparable with the 5.0-5.9 the established brands quote. | Manufacturer |
| Heat exchanger | Titanium | Manufacturer |
| Compressor | Full DC inverter | Manufacturer |
| Pool size the maker names | Up to 10,000 gallons — round to 20 ft, rectangular to 12 x 24 ftTURBRO explicitly says it is not recommended for inflatable pools, because of low water pressure. | Manufacturer |
| Operating range | 46-104°F water, in 5-109°F air | Manufacturer |
| Control | WiFi app and programmable timer | Manufacturer |
| Warranty | 2-year full machine, 5-year compressorThe compressor term is the meaningful one, and 5 years is competitive with the established brands. | Manufacturer |
- 33,000 BTU/hr is enough to actually hold temperature on a 10,000-gallon pool
- 5-year compressor warranty, which is the part that fails
- Inverter control means it modulates instead of cycling on and off
- The 'up to 15.8' COP claim is not comparable with any figure on this site
- Needs 240V, which removes the plug-in advantage of the smaller model
- Not recommended by TURBRO for inflatable pools
- Full-load COP, which the maker does not publish
- Inverter board reliability outdoors over several seasons
- How the WiFi control behaves if the app is discontinued
These need a unit in hand across a season. We do not have one, so we do not have an opinion worth printing on them.
#ad We earn a commission if you buy through this link, at no extra cost to you. It never changes the ranking. How this site is funded. Prices last checked October 17, 2026.
VINGLI Solar Dome Above-Ground Pool Heater
Easy, cheap to try and — on the only measure that decides a solar heater — far too small to matter. The listing gives the unit as 23.23 x 23.23 in, which is at most 3.75 sq ft of collector footprint. By the trade rule of collector area at half to all of the pool surface, an 18 ft round pool wants 34 to 68 of these. The listing's own advice to link three or more, and to remove the dome cover to heat quickly, points at the same arithmetic.
Best for A spa or a very small pool, or curiosity — not warming an above-ground pool
| Price shown for | 1 domeAlso sold in 2- and 3-packs on separate listings. The live price and photograph on this page are for a single dome. | Retail listing |
|---|---|---|
| Dimensions | 23.23 x 23.23 x 11.42 inAt most 3.75 sq ft of footprint. The coil inside is a spiral within that square, so real collector area is smaller still. | Retail listing |
| Collector against an 18 ft round pool | About 1.5% of the surface per dome3.75 sq ft against about 254 sq ft. At the 50-100% collector rule that pool needs roughly 34 to 68 domes. | Our arithmetic |
| Listing guidance | Link three or more; remove the cover to heat quickly | Retail listing |
| Warranty | 1 year | Retail listing |
| Temperature claim | None on the listingThird-party roundups attribute a degrees figure to this product. It is not on the listing we read, so we do not repeat it. | Retail listing |
- Genuinely easy: hoses, clamps and two fold-out legs
- Cheap enough to try without regret
- Tidy and small enough to store in a garage over winter
- About 1.5% of an 18 ft round pool's surface per dome — tens are needed, not one
- The dome cover that defines the product has to come off to heat quickly, per its own listing
- Every extra linked dome adds hose runs, joints and flow restriction
- Real coil area inside the footprint
- Measured output on a real pool at your latitude
- What the listing's pressure note of '0.8' refers to — no unit is given
These need a unit in hand across a season. We do not have one, so we do not have an opinion worth printing on them.
#ad We earn a commission if you buy through this link, at no extra cost to you. It never changes the ranking. How this site is funded. Prices last checked October 17, 2026.
Questions people actually ask
Does Intex make a pool heater?
Can I use a gas pool heater on an Intex pool?
What hose size do Intex pools use?
Will a heater work with my Intex filter pump?
What about a Bestway or Flowclear pool?
Is there a heater for an inflatable or kiddie pool?
Do I still need a solar cover if I buy a heat pump?
- Intex 28685E solar mat product page, read for fitment: "1.25in hose attachment points", "Includes 1 adaptor A and 1 adaptor B for 1.5in hose connection", "Includes: 1.25in diameter connecting hose, bypass valve", "Compatible with filter pumps up to 1/3 HP or pump flow rate < 2,000 gal/hr", "Designed to work with most Intex filter pumps", "Suitable for above ground pools up to 8,000 gal", and an increase of "approximately 5 - 9 degrees Fahrenheit depending on weather condition". Intex's heating-system category lists no other heating product.Intex Recreation Corp. · read 2026-10-17
- Intex 28685E solar mat product page: 47.25 x 47.25 in, rated for above-ground pools up to 8,000 gallons, filter pumps to 1/3 HP, and an increase of approximately 5-9°F depending on weatherIntex Recreation Corp. · read 2026-09-06
- TURBRO Manatee M18 listing: 18,000 BTU, stated COP 5.5, titanium heat exchanger, 110-120V GFCI plug, rated for pools to 6,000 gallons, 2-year machine warranty, and the maker's own note that reaching target temperature 'may take a few days rather than immediate results'TURBRO, as listed at retail · read 2026-09-20
- TURBRO Beluga B33V listing: 33,000 BTU full DC inverter, titanium heat exchanger, WiFi, rated for pools to 10,000 gallons, 2-year machine / 5-year compressor warranty, claimed 'COP rating up to 15.8 (AHRI Standard 1160(I-P))', and explicitly not recommended for inflatable poolsTURBRO, as listed at retail · read 2026-09-20
- Hayward's own product page for the Universal H-Series W3H150FDN: heating capacity 150,000 BTU/hr, "Standard cupro nickel heat exchanger", "Excellent salt water and chemical corrosion resistance", Water Flow Rate Min 20 and Max 125 (the table does not state the unit), 2 in x 2-1/2 in CPVC union plumbing connections, 24 x 19 x 29.5 in, 135 lb, 120/240V 60 Hz single phase, circuit amps 5.5, maximum breaker 15 amps, a "Power: 44 kW" row that cannot be reconciled with that breaker size, warranty of 1 year parts and no labor, SCAQMD Rule 1146.2 low-NOx compliance, and no thermal efficiency figure anywhere on the pageHayward Industries · read 2026-10-17
- VINGLI solar dome pool heater listing: 23.23 x 23.23 x 11.42 in, three or more linked recommended, remove the cover to heat quickly, 1-year warrantyVINGLI, as listed at retail · read 2026-09-16
- Average retail price of electricity to US residential customers: 18.34 cents/kWh, June 2026U.S. Energy Information Administration · read 2026-09-02
- US residential natural gas price: $24.09 per thousand cubic feet, June 2026U.S. Energy Information Administration · read 2026-09-02
- US residential propane price: $2.674 per gallon, week ending 30 March 2026U.S. Energy Information Administration · read 2026-09-02
- Energy content conversion factors: 3,412 BTU per kWh, 1,036 BTU per cubic foot of natural gas, 91,452 BTU per gallon of propaneU.S. Energy Information Administration · read 2026-09-02
- U.S. Department of Energy pool-energy figures (evaporation share, BTU per pound evaporated, cover savings, recommended temperatures, wind effect)Recreonics, reproducing and attributing the U.S. Department of Energy · read 2026-09-02
- Pool heater roundup: the 8.33 BTU per gallon per °F figure, attributed on the page to Alicia Toedter of Leslie'sBob Vila · read 2026-09-02
#ad Where a retailer’s listing is cited above as the source of a published specification, that link is an affiliate link, at no extra cost to you. Independent sources and manufacturer documentation are never wrapped and earn nothing. How this site is funded.
Every URL above was fetched and returned content on the date shown. Where a figure is ours rather than somebody else’s, the arithmetic is on the page and on the methodology page. If you find an error in it, we would genuinely like to know.
Read next
Intex solar mat review
The 28685E solar mat: a collector plumbed into a small pool's filter line, rated to 8,000 gallons, with no running cost at all. What Intex publishes and where the limits are.
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Why a small pool is much cheaper to heat, which options make sense at that scale, and the one place an electric resistance heater is genuinely defensible.
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18,000 to 55,000 BTU heat pumps for above-ground pools, including 110V plug-in units. Ranked on published output and warranty, with the hours-to-temperature arithmetic.
Solar heaters for above-ground pools
Every kind of solar heater sold for above-ground pools, ranked on collector area against pool surface — the arithmetic that shows why one dome does almost nothing and one panel system is only a start.
What size pool heater do I need?
How to size a heater from your pool's actual energy requirement, the input-versus-output rating trap, and why the answer gets smaller once you own a cover.
Intex solar pool cover review
Intex's own solar covers, what the manufacturer publishes about them, the temperature claim retailers add that Intex never makes, and why fit outranks thickness here.