DIY Solar Heater Pump.

[Ches]

I'm making a DIY solar heater from a garden hose, for my Intex, 15x48 easy set pool.

I have an old Intex Krystal Clear #603 pump that I was planning on using, for the heater only.

It would pull the water or of the pool, with a regular sized intex pool hose, but the garden hose would be attached to the discharge port, with an adapter.

Instead of putting it on a timer, I was going to use a flow restricter in the garden hose, so it will trickle out, giving it
enough time to get heated.

My question is, will I burn out the pump motor this way, or will it be ok as long as the pump is filled with water?

Thanks.

 

[JohnT]

Welcome to TFP!

You don't want to restrict the flow. Efficiency is highest if the water warms only a tiny bit while passing through, which happens with the highest flow that you can manage. If you let it get warmer the transfer is much slower from sun to water and much faster from heated water to the air around it. You lose both ways.

 

[Isaac-1]

To put that another way, it is better to heat a lot of water just a tiny amount than it is to heat tiny amount of water a lot.

Usually we advise against home brew solar heater as they simply can not compete with commercial panels on any criteria (heat output, efficiency, cost to build or cost to operate) however if you already have all the material on hand including the hoses, I say go for it, you will only get a fraction of the performance that you would get out of a good commercial panel, but if you have it why not. Just remember solar is all about surface area and those small dome and arced solar heaters are just gimmicks to separate you from your money.