An indoor swimming pool consumes so much energy: The first cities are closing swimming pools because of gas prices

Created: 07/16/2022 13:07

By: Sebastian Tauchnitz

The Weilheim indoor pool.

(Archive photo) © Archive photo: Kreisbote/District Office

Indoor pools, especially older ones, consume a lot of energy.

This could become expensive or unaffordable in the future, especially in view of rising gas prices, as an example in Weilheim shows.

Weilheim – The indoor pool in Weilheim is unique.

Since the opening 50 years ago, the city and district have shared the costs - which is why every investment has always been viewed critically.

Because only the bare essentials were done, the indoor pool is outdated and the energy consumption is astronomical: in a normal year, one million kilowatt hours of gas are used to heat the air and water in the indoor pool.

For comparison: An average four-person household burns around 15,000 kilowatt hours of gas per year.

So you could supply 83 families with gas for a year if you closed the indoor pool.

Energetic refurbishment of the old outdoor pools "more urgent than ever"

No wonder that Florian Steinbach, head of construction and property management at the Weilheim-Schongau district office, calculates exactly where savings can be made in view of the rising gas prices.

When it comes to gas consumption in indoor pools, it's quite simple: "If the pool water temperature is reduced by two degrees compared to the usual temperature of 26 to 28 degrees, the overall energy consumption can be reduced by up to 25 percent," says Steinbach.

In the case of the indoor swimming pool in Weilheim, this would correspond to around 250,000 kilowatt hours – or the annual consumption of 21 four-person households.

In Steinbach's opinion, the 29 degrees in the training pool and 27 degrees in the sports pool could certainly be reduced by two degrees.

But lowering the water temperature is only possible if the temperature and humidity are adjusted at the same time.

And that's not easy with the outdated pool water and ventilation technology: "We'll have to get a feel for it to see how much is possible," Steinbach admits.

Indoor pool Weilheim urgently needs technical improvements

There is a need for action, the expert from the district office leaves no doubt about that.

Otherwise, the already deficit indoor pool threatens to finally become a penny grave.

So far, the district office has transferred around 120,000 euros to the gas supplier every year.

If gas prices actually quadrupled in autumn and winter, it would be almost half a million euros.

However, the gas used to heat the air and pool water is only part of the cost.

The electricity consumption of the Weilheim indoor pool is 286,000 kilowatt hours per year.

This corresponds to 72 four-person households (each around 4000 kilowatt hours).

While it is relatively easy to save on gas by lowering the air and water temperature, it is much more difficult to save on electricity, according to Florian Steinbach.

As a rule, massive investments have to be made in new technology: more efficient circulation pumps, new ventilation systems.

But the material is hardly available, the specialist companies in the Oberland are fully booked.

And with such an old building, it would simply no longer be worthwhile.

At least the halogen headlights in the swimming pool and the pool lighting are to be replaced this year as part of the summer inspection.

However, the savings from this will be manageable.

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Weilheim: The indoor pool should now give way to a gym

The city of Weilheim and the district spend a lot on the operation of the indoor pool.

Gas and electricity, personnel costs (225,000 euros), building maintenance costs (122,000 euros), water (40,000 euros) and cleaning: these are expenses of around 771,000 euros.

This is offset by income of around 126,000 euros from entrance fees and flat-rate usage fees from schools, course operators and clubs.

Has made a minus of 645,000 euros year after year so far.

"If gas prices actually quadruple, the deficit at the end of the year would be well over one million euros," says Steinbach.

Given the rising costs, the county could push to demolish the indoor pool earlier than planned.

A triple gymnasium is to be built in its place.

Triple gyms also consume a significant amount of energy.

However, there are big differences between energy-efficient new buildings and older gymnasiums.

The triple gymnasium in Penzberg, which only opened in 2015, uses 65,000 kilowatt hours of gas per year – as much as four households.

The unrenovated Jahnturnhalle in Weilheim, which is similar in size, consumes five times the amount required for Penzberg.

The situation is similar when it comes to power consumption.

Thanks to modern LED technology, when the lights are on in the new hall in Penzberg, around 35,000 kilowatt hours of electricity are consumed per year – this corresponds to the annual consumption of nine households.

The looming energy crisis, says Steinbach, will be a massive burden that cannot be sustained over the long term.

It turns out that the energetic renovation of the old "energy guzzlers" is more urgent than ever.

"In view of the tight coffers, that's squaring the circle." (

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By the way: Everything from the region is now also available in our regular