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Swimming pools lose energy in a variety of ways, but evaporation is by far the largest source of energy loss. Water that is evaporating uses a tremendous amount of energy. It only takes 1 Btu (British thermal unit) to raise 1 pound of water 1 degree, but each pound of 80ºF water that evaporates takes a whopping 1,048 Btu of heat out of the pool. Covering a pool when it is not in use is the single most effective means of reducing pool heating costs. Savings of 50%–70% are possible.

U.S. Department of Energy

Energy Conservation
Estimating Swimming Pool Gas Heating Costs and Savings The table below estimates annual costs by location, by water temperature, and with or without using a pool cover.   Table provided by the U.S. Department of Energy
Table 1. Costs of Outdoor Pool Gas Heating by Location*
Location Season Temperature
78° 80° 82°
Miami 1/1–12/31 $2136 $2848 $3600
w/cover 1/1–12/31 $416 $584 $800
Phoenix 3/1–10/31 $1384 $1776 $2216
w/ cover 3/1–10/31 $96 $168 $256
Dallas 4/1–10/31 $1512 $1920 $2456
w/ cover 4/1–10/31 $184 $280 $408
Atlanta 4/1–10/31 $1704 $2248 $2880
w/ cover 4/1–10/31 $320 $424 $592
Los Angeles 5/1–10/31 $1864 $2376 $2904
w/ cover 5/1–10/31 $168 $304 $472
Kansas City 5/1–10/31 $1434 $1872 $2384
w/ cover 5/1–10/31 $288 $416 $544
New York 5/1–9/30 $1448 $1904 $2384
w/ cover 5/1–9/30 $208 $296 $400
Chicago 5/1–9/30 $1621 $2072 $2536
w/ cover 5/1–9/30 $216 $296 $384
Denver 5/1–8/31 $1757 $2120 $2498
w/ cover 5/1–8/31 $123 $168 $243
Boston 5/1–8/31 $1712 $2096 $2504
w/ cover 5/1–8/31 $232 $328 $461
Minneapolis 6/1–9/30 $1331 $1776 $2176
w/ cover 6/1–9/30 $192 $248 $384
San Francisco 6/1–8/31 $1560 $1856 $2168
w/ cover 6/1–8/31 $192 $320 $472
Seattle 6/1–8/31 $1525 $1784 $2056
w/ cover 6/1–8/31 $304 $424 $552
*Figures based on a 1,000 square-foot, outdoor pool heated with an 80% efficient
  natural gas heater at $.50 per therm.

Energy Loss Characteristics

The evaporation rate from an outdoor pool varies depending on the pool's temperature, air temperature and humidity, and the wind speed at the pool surface. The higher the pool temperature, wind speed, and the lower the humidity, the greater the evaporation rate.
Indoor pools aren't subjected to the environment, but they still can lose a lot of energy from evaporation. They even require room ventilation to control indoor humidity caused by the large amount of evaporation. The ventilated air also must be conditioned, which adds to the energy costs.
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