solar heating

[circleburner]

I live in Alberta Canada and am deciding on rather to build a solar heater or not?


I am wondering if a person went to like Homedepot and bought 2 rolls of black plastic pipe 40feet of 1 1/4" dia. I was going to build a wood box with glass panels on the front if it would heat a pool or be a waste of time.

what I am really wondering if the water flow through the pipe would actually cool down the pipe and not really heat the water after awhile. I am just thinking tha same idea of a garden hose laying in the sun the water is hot for a little bit then cools down and no longer being heated up


thanks for all the help as this is a total new thing to me and if it works I also have a 18x42 easyset pool at the parents farm the try and build a heater for aswell.


thanks again

 

[JohnT]

The black pipe won't be as efficient as the commercial panels because there will be less water to panel contact. Enclosing them in a box will make it more efficient, as it will still work when it's windy or cooler. Whether it's worth the effort or not, I can't say.

Cooling the pipes is what you want. The pipes heat up from the sun, and the pool water cools them, taking the heat to the pool.

 

[circleburner]

I was just thinking about leaving the hose in coils as each 1 is 20 feet in length so I would have 2 x 20 foot coils in a sealed up box. I just thought once the warm water has been replaced with new cool water from the pool that the pipes will take some time to heat back up and warm the water again in the coils


just trying to figure outif it will work or be a total waste

 

[JohnT]

The coils will never warm up with a solar panel. Warm panels indicate a problem. They constantly absorb sunlight, and pool water constantly cools them. The net result is that the pool water constantly gains heat. If the panels warm up, the flow is too low. If too much temperature difference exists, you lose heat to the air and suffer from low efficiency.

By leaving the hose in coils, a large part of the pipe will never be exposed to the sun, so your effective panel area will be very small.