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Electric pool heater vs solar mat on a British summer

Updated: 21 October 2026

You are choosing a method for a British summer. A solar mat is £17.99 or £24.49 and then does nothing under cloud. A 2.8 kW electric pool heater is £139.99 and then costs about 74 pence an hour. Electric pool heater vs solar mat is that trade, not brand against brand. The nine rows are the [Pool heater](/hub/pool-care/pool-heater) comparison. Named listings are on [best pool heater UK](/hub/pool-care/pool-heater/sub/pool-heater-best). A qualifying purchase can earn us a commission at no extra cost to you. Prices and the unit rate were checked in October 2026. There was no lab heat test.

You are choosing a method for a British summer. A solar mat is £17.99 or £24.49 and then does nothing under cloud. A 2.8 kW electric pool heater is £139.99 and then costs about 74 pence an hour.

Our top picks

Intex Intex solar mat 28685E

Best overall

Intex Intex solar mat 28685E
7.7/10about £24.49
View offer
Intex Intex solar mat 28685

Best value

Intex Intex solar mat 28685
7.6/10about £17.99
View offer
Bestway Bestway 2.8 kW inline heater

Rank 3

Bestway Bestway 2.8 kW inline heater
8.0/10about £139.99
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.Two different jobs
  2. 2.What the solar mats do in a UK summer
  3. 3.What the 2.8 kW heater costs and how fast it moves
  4. 4.Use both, or leave for a heat pump

Two different jobs

A solar mat hands the sun’s heat to water that a filter pump is already moving. The Intex mats have no element. The running cost is that pump, plus extra hours so the mat stays in the circuit. A grey day is the method at its limit. The electric side here is the Bestway at £139.99, stated as 2.8 kW, with an RCD and a water sensor. It needs a socket that can carry about 12 A. Rods from £27.89 to £60.89 are not this comparison. Choose the mat for sun you can miss. Choose the 2.8 kW heater when you will pay the unit rate for heat without sun. Fit and flow are the pool heater buying guide.

What the solar mats do in a UK summer

Intex states about 3–5 °C, depending on weather, on storable pools up to about 30,280 litres. The £17.99 listing is 3.7 from 11,021 and also says it will not work below 26 °C. Keep the weather line. The £24.49 listing is 3.8 from 5,364, with 32 mm points and a pump under 7,570 litres per hour. Intex Support states under 5,678. Both caps exist. Leave the mat in the circuit overnight and it can cool the pool. Bypass it, and use a cover. SPATA says a cover can cut as much as 80% of surface loss on permanent pools. That is their wording. The mat adds no element load.
Intex Intex solar mat 28685E

Testsieger

Intex Intex solar mat 28685E
7.7/10about £24.49
View offer

What the 2.8 kW heater costs and how fast it moves

Ofgem’s Direct Debit average for 1 October to 31 December 2026 is 26.32 pence per kWh in England, Scotland and Wales. A 2.8 kW element is about 74 pence an hour, because 2.8 × 26.32 is 73.7. Northern Ireland is outside this GB average. Do not use 26.11 pence, an earlier cap, as this quarter. The listing claims around 1 °C an hour, up to a 40 °C cut-out. The 58259 manual says about 0.5–1.5 °C an hour. The manual bans extension cords and wants a 30 mA RCD. The 3.3-from-121 file names hot plugs and melted leads.

Use both, or leave for a heat pump

Put the cover on first. Use the mat on a clear afternoon and the element on a cloudy morning, and switch both off when people are in the water. A mat does not fix a beep from a pump over 3,785 litres per hour. Hose order is how to use a pool heater. Leave this page when the pool is past the about-15-foot aim, or you want a long season. No heat-pump price or COP is invented here. Use the Intex mat if you will bypass it at night. Use the Bestway if you accept about 74 pence an hour while 2.8 kW is drawing, on a socket the manual allows.

Common questions

Which is cheaper to run?
The mat adds no element load, so it is cheaper while it is only the pump you already use. The Bestway at 2.8 kW is about 74 pence an hour at 26.32 pence per kWh, the Ofgem Direct Debit average for October to December 2026 in England, Scotland and Wales. The standing charge is extra, and Northern Ireland is outside that average.
Will a mat work on a cloudy British day?
Do not expect the 3–5 °C claim. Intex ties the rise to weather, and UK reviews describe little useful heat under cloud. A clear day in a south-facing garden is the case where a warmer return shows up. The bullet that says the £17.99 mat will not work below 26 °C is a conflicting line, not a forecast.
How many pence is 2.8 kW for an hour?
About 74 pence at 26.32 pence per kWh, because 2.8 times 26.32 is 73.7. That is the unit rate only, on the GB Direct Debit cap for 1 October to 31 December 2026. Your tariff may differ. The heater only costs that while it is drawing 2.8 kW, not for every hour the pool sits covered.
Does the mat use no electricity at all?
It has no heating element. The filter pump still uses electricity for as long as you circulate water through the mat. That pump load is not stated as one figure for every Intex pool. It is why free heat overclaims a mat that still needs flow.
Can I use both?
Yes, as two jobs. The mat on a sunny afternoon, the Bestway when you need a rise without sun, and neither left on with people in the pool. The pump still has to suit the Bestway’s 3,785 litres per hour cap and the mat’s stated pump limit. Bypass the mat overnight so it does not give the day’s heat back.
Why do reviews say the mat cooled the pool?
Because the mat stayed in the circuit after the sun had gone. Water kept flowing through plastic that was now colder than the pool. Bypass it when you stop swimming, and use a cover. That is a setup outcome, not a second heating element running backwards.
Is a heat pump a third option on this page?
It is a different category. This page will not price one or assign a COP to the Bestway, which is a resistance heater. If the pool is too big for 2.8 kW and a 1.2 m mat, use the pool heat pump comparison rather than stretching either method here.

Related pages

Pool heat pump

Pool heater

Above ground pool heater: cover first, then a mat or 2.8 kW

Best pool heater UK: one inline heater and one sunny mat

Pool heater buying guide: type, volume, then the socket

How to use a pool heater: hoses, then keep people out

Sources

Public UK sources for the unit rate, the Bestway manual limits, outdoor RCD rules and the immersion-heater recall class, taken from the research digest. Listing prices, stars and review counts are from amazon.co.uk on 19 October 2026.

  1. Ofgem — changes to the energy price cap, 1 October to 31 December 2026 (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  2. Ofgem — energy price cap unit rates and standing charges (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  3. Bestway 58259 English manual (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  4. Bestway Flowclear 58259 manual, volume page (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  5. IET Wiring Matters — 30 mA RCD protection and regulation 411.3.3 (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  6. IET — Section 702, swimming pools and other basins (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  7. NICEIC — gardens and electrics (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  8. OPSS — product recall, Sorand water heater 2000 W (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  9. Intex — 47-inch solar mat (retrieved 19 October 2026)