This paper presents an integrated low-carbon heating system for outdoor swimming pools, which aims to make outdoor swimming pools in subtropical climates available in winter season with economic feasibility. The heating system consists of solar heat collectors, air-source heat pumps, and PCM storage tanks. The solar heat collectors collect heat from solar radiation; while the air-source heat pumps collect heat from ambient air. The PCM storage tanks are used to store the heat collected by the air-source heat pumps during off-peak hours and supply heat during the open hours of outdoor swimming pools when the solar heat is insufficient. We investigated the collaboration of the two heating sources at the design stage regarding energy and economic performance using numerical simulation. Three cases with different percentage of heat contribution from these two sources were studied and compared using the indices of initial investment, operational cost, energy use and thermal comfort unmet percentage. Results were analysed to show how the percentages of the heat contribution from the two sources affect the energy and economic performance of the proposed heating system.
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