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Thanks everyone. I had never heard of a Willis jacket.....it seems to be exactly what I need ... And off the shelf to which is a bonus!

Hi...haven't give much thought to any specific one. But something like this.... http://www.jacksonsleisure.com/swimming-pools/heating/electric-heaters/elecro-3kw-nano-above-ground-swimming-pool-heater/ presumably only used for small pools Thanks for the reassurance so far....I might have an issue convincing my plumber though!

Hi all, Long time lurker here, but I have finally decided to register and fire out a few mad questions. I spent many hours skulking about ebuild, and picked up an enormous amount of knowledge, so am grateful to all posters both on here and there for being so generous with their expertise.. . I have just completed a hopefully energy efficient house...a timber framed bungalow with a passive slab, very similar to many of the MBC builds here I have ufh coils in the slab, but delayed buying or connecting any heat source. Hot water heating is via a simple immersion, run on night rate electricity. This suits our usage very well as most of our demand in first thing in the morning. We moved in in July and up to now, have not needed much supplemental heat (we have great solar gain through large south facing windows), and have used a simple plug in 3kW electic heater for a few hours in total in the last few weeks.. The plan was to run the plug in heaters for a winter and then make a call on whether an A2W heat pump would be needed. However, SWMBO is now getting jittery and Is not impressed with the electric heater (she does not like the perceived dry heat, or the ugly heater cluttering up our sleek new gaff) and is pushing to get the A2W pump sooner rather than later… I’d like to A) have a quiet and peaceful life and B) kick the A2W can down the road a bit, as I am broke, so was considering what my options are… While looking at in-line water heaters I came across wonderfull things called pool heaters which seem to do exactly what I want..eg put the 2-3kW into the slab rather than the air. While obviously these will not be as efficient as the A2W, I am thinking the difference might be tolerable, at least in the short term. I would plan to top up heat in the slab with 2-3kW at night for a few hours using the pool heater, at night rates. DHW would remain completely separate, and there would be no buffer tanks or any complications, just a circulating fluid in the slab, with electrical heat added directly as needed. Slab would only be at about 22-24 degrees…. So for fairly minimal outlay I would get the option to top up the slab heat as needed, and also get the water circulating in the slab evening out temperatures in hot weather as a bonus… I know its not optimum in terms of efficiency, but it seems quick, cheap, robust … and even if we do get the heat pump in a few years, this would remain a handy back up … There must be some snag??????