Legislation was passed last year to ensure that all new indoor pools are insulated to the same standard as walls and ceilings in houses.  However, Nigel Rose, developer of Thermapool, says his contacts in the swimming pool industry and planning officials have suggested to him that nine out of ten new pools are not insulated to the correct standard, and therefore are being built illegally.

"If all the pools in the country were insulated properly the UK could cut its carbon emissions by 786,279 tonnes year - equivalent to a forest the size of Greater London! “ said Mr Rose.

"The massive flouting of regulations is the result of a combination of unscrupulous pool installers and a general lack of awareness in the trade and in planning offices.”

Nigel says most people believe the heat from pool water is lost from the pool surface. He has proved scientifically – with the aid of Kingston University and the BRE –  that heat does, in fact, leech out into the surrounding ground through the sides and bottom of a pool. Reducing heat loss with correct insulation and the aid of a solar cover reduces the energy required to heat a pool, resulting in cost savings and a saving in carbon emissions.

The BRE report on the Thermal Performance of Swimming Pools commissioned by Nigel proved that an uninsulated pool of 5 square metres with a constant depth of 1.5 metres in dry clay soil loses the equivalent of 2,700 watts in heat (that is 45 x 60w lightbulbs). By contrast a pool insulated with Thermapool loses only 300 watts (5x60w lightbulbs), and that is through surface evaporation (and this can be prevented by using the specially designed Thermapool solar cover).

“In 2013 the pool insulation regulations will be extended to outdoor pools – unless the industry and planning officials educate themselves and accept this research, we’ll be seeing even more criminally built pools.”