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Peatland open-water pools, a common feature on temperate to subarctic peatlands, are sources of carbon (C) to the atmosphere but their contribution to the net ecosystem carbon dioxide exchange (NEE-CO₂) is poorly known; there is a question as to whether peatlands with pools are smaller sinks of atmospheric C, or even C-neutral, compared to other peatlands. We present growing season NEE-CO₂ measurements using the eddy covariance technique in a peatland with pools. We found the maximum photosynthetic uptake and ecosystem respiration rates at 10 °C to be in the lower range of the published data. The lower total vegetation biomass, due to the presence of pools, reduced CO₂ uptake during day and the autotrophic component of ecosystem respiration. The low CO₂ uptake combined with reduced CO₂ loss resulted in the site being a net sink for CO₂ of a similar magnitude as other northern peatlands despite the inclusion of pools.