The best pool heat pumps in Australia

A pool heat pump works like a reverse-cycle air conditioner pointed at your pool: it pulls heat out of the air and pushes it into the water. The number that describes how well it does this is the COP, or coefficient of performance. A COP of 5 means 5 kW of heat for every 1 kW of electricity. Prices below are from Pool and Spa Warehouse, Mr Pool Man, Bunnings and Amazon Australia on 18 October 2026.

Decide the season before the size

Pool and Spa Warehouse’s sizing form asks two questions before it asks about litres: how long you want to swim (November to March, October to April, September to May, or all year) and how warm you want the water (26°C for lap swimming, 28 to 29°C for family use, 30 to 32°C for warm). Those two answers move the size more than anything else. A heat pump that keeps a covered pool at 26°C from October to April needs far less capacity than one asked to hold 30°C through a Melbourne July.

Sizing by litres

Fairland is the only brand here that prints a recommended pool volume for each size in its range, so its table is a useful yardstick even if you buy another brand.

The fine print matters: Fairland says the figures assume the pool is covered with an insulating cover and the filter runs at least 15 hours a day. If your pool sits uncovered, treat the bottom of each range as the top. Madimack sizes through an online calculator, and the True Blue and Water TechniX listings give no pool volume at all, so ask the retailer for a written recommendation before you pay.

Every brand on this page comes in larger sizes. On the day we checked, the Onga Pantera ran $3,999 for 15 kW, $4,199 for 18 kW and $4,899 for 20 kW; the True Blue Element was $2,849 for 16 kW; Water TechniX’s Paradise was $5,249.99 for 18 kW; and Madimack’s V4 was $6,341.45 for 14 kW.

Read the COP in cool air, not the headline

The biggest COP on a box is measured in warm air with the compressor barely turning over. You buy a heat pump for the shoulder seasons, when the air is closer to 15°C and the unit is working hard. Only two of the six listings publish figures at both temperatures, and they are close enough in test conditions to compare.

Two things stand out. Output drops by a quarter to a third between warm air and 15°C air: the Fairland goes from 13.5 kW to 9.0 kW (and to 7.2 kW at 7°C), the Onga from 13.1 kW to 9.8 kW. And the gap between the brands is far smaller at 15°C than the headline numbers suggest.

Inverter or on/off

Every unit on this page is an inverter. An inverter heat pump slows its compressor and fan when full power is not needed, which Onga says cuts both running cost and noise. An older on/off unit runs flat out until the water reaches temperature, then stops. The inverter units here also offer silent or night modes, which matters if the unit sits under a neighbour’s bedroom window. The quietest published figure here is the Madimack V4 at 36.0 to 42.5 dB(A), though its listing does not say at what distance; the Fairland lists 37.8 to 45.9 dB(A) at one metre.

Power and plumbing

The Madimack V4 12kW and the POWERBAY come with a 10 A plug. The Onga Pantera has a 15 A plug, which needs a 15 A outlet. The Fairland is hard-wired, and Water TechniX says all its units are single phase and to be installed by a licensed electrician. Any new outlet or circuit near the pool is licensed electrical work, so get the electrician’s quote before deciding between a cheap hard-wired unit and a dearer plug-in one.

The heat pump also needs water flowing through it. Mr Pool Man sells heat pump valve installation kits at $299.99 for 40 mm and $349.99 for 50 mm pipe, and the filter pump has to run while the heat pump heats. Madimack sells an MJ Box controller ($699 at Pool and Spa Warehouse) that lets the heat pump start the pool pump without starting the chlorinator, so a long heating run does not over-chlorinate the water. Our salt water chlorinator guide covers the other half of that equation.

Running cost, worked through

Take the output and divide by the COP to get the power drawn. In 15°C air at full output, the Fairland 13.5 kW makes 9.0 kW of heat and draws up to 1.7 kW; the Onga Pantera makes up to 9.8 kW and draws up to 2.23 kW. Multiply that draw by your price per kWh and by the hours it runs, then add the pool pump, because Fairland’s sizing assumes at least 15 hours of filtration a day. Once the water is up to temperature an inverter drops to low output and the hourly cost falls with it.

Cover the pool first

The federal government’s energy.gov.au says bubble covers can cut heat losses from a heated pool by as much as 75 percent. That is why Fairland’s sizing table assumes a cover, and why the cheapest heat pump upgrade is often a cover rather than a bigger unit. Our solar pool cover guide compares the covers and rollers sold here.

The picks

The Fairland Aqua X20 13.5kW is the one we would buy for a covered in-ground pool of 30,000 to 50,000 litres. It publishes more data than anything else here, and 15 years on the compressor matches the longest compressor warranty we found. It is hard-wired, so budget for the electrician.

The Onga Pantera 13kW is the value pick: a full inverter from Pentair’s Onga brand for $3,399, with figures at 15°C air that let you check it against the Fairland. It gives up some efficiency in cool air and has five years on the compressor.

The Madimack InverELITE V4 12kW is for a pump that sits near a bedroom or a fence line. It is the quietest on paper and runs from a 10 A plug.

The Water TechniX Paradise 11kW heats and cools and carries ten years on the heat exchanger. It was on pre-order at Mr Pool Man when we checked.

The True Blue Element 12kW is the cheapest inverter in this size and comes with Bunnings returns, but the listing leaves out pool size, power supply and noise, so ask before buying.

The POWERBAY Pool Master is a different thing: a 5 kW heat pump, salt chlorinator, pump and filter in one box for plunge pools and spas up to about 10,000 litres. It is also sold on Amazon Australia, where you can check the current price, and Bunnings has it as a special order for $2,750.

The one trap

Buying on the headline COP. “COP 22”, “up to 16.4” and “up to 10.9” are best-case numbers with no test condition attached, measured in warm air at minimum output. In 15°C air the two brands that publish figures sit between 4.4 and 7.9, and output falls by a quarter to a third. Before you buy any heat pump, ask for its output and COP at 15°C air. If the seller cannot tell you, compare on warranty, noise and price instead, and size up rather than down.