Solar heater

[mdbuilder]

I've been installing a solar pool heater from http://www.h2otsun.com over the past weekend. Pics are of the basic panel assembly on the roof which I finished Sunday. Tuesday evening and Wed. I got the piping run from the pad to the roof and started it up under manual control. Still need to install the auto conrols.

The morning the water was 81, @ 12:30 it is 86. Pool is 9,000 gallon 12*24, collector area is 216 square feet made up of 12 18 foot long / 1 foot wide strips.

 

[JasonLion]

That looks great, just like a pro did it!

 

[mdbuilder]

Thanks!

The instructions were very good, heat on the roof is brutal but the work is pretty basic. I did have one bit of frustration, after hauling everything up (2nd story) and laying it all out nicely but nothing screwed down I took a break. Came back an hour later and 3 of the sections were on the ground. Seems as they heat up they move a little and that was enough to start everything "walking" down the roof...

 

[dmanb2b]

MD...welcome to TFP. Nice Build

When you catch your breath feel free to add some pool details to your sig and keep the pics coming...judging by your neighbor's yards...I'm sure the pool must look nice too

 

[mdbuilder]

Update: 7:00 am temp = 81, 5:00 temp = 90

 

[mdbuilder]

Some more pics, this morning it was back on the roof to paint the pipes. The only task left is to secure thereturn piping hold downs and add a few more wear plates to the return piping.

 

[mdbuilder]

Maybe 1 more coat of paint? Took about a 1/2 hour or so, it was 104 on the roof sensor when I went up the ladder, 125 when I came down

 

[mdbuilder]

What it's all about

 

[irishluck73]

Those look really nice. How are those panels working out for you so far? What part of the country are you located in?

 

[mdbuilder]

The panels have worked out great! The pool is 91 at the moment, I am in Maryland.

 

[dorpo75]

that looks great. congratulations on a nice addition to your pool. Your pool is beautiful btw.

 

[Brentr]

WOW that looks great I was too scared and paid the professionals to install mine and I believe that I have gotten every penny's worth. We love our solar and keep the pool at 90degrees

 

[mdbuilder]

Just a little followup after the first winter. One of the reasons for doing the panels was to extend the swimming season, here in MD without panels memorial day weekend is the normal start of the season. I was hoping for early to mid April with the panels but this year April has been unusually cold so I didn't bother till Friday when there were3 days forcast in the 80's for the late weekend.

So, Friday afternoon after the cold rain on Thursday I pulled the cover and got everything opened. Water looked good, couple hundred dead bleached worms on the bottom though <g>. Got all the plugs pulled, solar reconnected etc. and water going in to bring it up to operating level. Bout 8:00 pm it was high enough to start the pump, finished filling @ 11:30 pm. Saturday was initially cool and overcast almost all day with a high of 72 ish. The water temp was 55 With the water that cold there was heat to be gained even in the heavy overcast so the controller open the valve. The sun peaked through breaks around 3 and by 7:30 the temp was up to 61. No temp loss overnight. On Sunday it was bright / clear and warm (mid 80's) and the water temp hit 72 by the time the valve motored shut, rolled out the solar cover before nightfall. Monday the pool had lost 2 degrees overnight so 70F start temp. By late afternoon it was 79 and my son and I hopped in for a while . Tomorrow will be sunny again so we should break solidly in to the 80's. Not bad for April 26!