Poly pipe size for my solar pool heater

[bennett.tim72]

HI and thank you in advance.
Can I reduce my fittings from 1 1/4 to 3/4 with a tee or ball valve from my 1/3 hp pump.
I have 600 ft of poly I plan on putting on my shed roof.

 

[Vince-1961]

Go to your local PVC supplier (Lowe's, Home depot, Ace, etc.) and you'll undoubtedly find the pieces you need to reduce from 1 1/4 to 3/4. Whether that will be in a Tee or some other piece is not of any particular importance. I'd be very surprised to find a reducing ball value though.

I was thinking about covering my entire roof with solar heating hoses, but was wondering how they get attached to the roof without causing roof leaks or otherwise damaging the roof. I'd love to see a photo of how you got it attached.

From what I've gathered by reading up on it, I am wondering whether just one will work or whether you're going to need a bunch more of your coils.

 

[Charlie_R]

several coils in parallel would work better than a single coil. You want high flow rate through the solar system.

Search for posts by Mas985 (our resident pump expert) or Chem Geek for an explanation.

 

[bennett.tim72]

Hi Vince. After reading about it. I simply caulked the area then screwed a small price of 2x4. say 2"×2" then silicone around my 2x4 to create a seal.
I then mounted my plywood to the 2x4s.
Hope this helps.
I ment get a ball valve after my tee to control the flow.

 

[bennett.tim72]

Hi Charlies R!
I had a 100 ft roll of 1" poly reduced to a 1/2 " but it seemed to starve my pump.
I guess I should have installed a tee or ball valve as this may increase the volume?
Would my 2150 gph or 1/3 hp pump 600 ft of poly.
Quick synopsis.
30 ft from pump elevated 7 ft to shed roof
Through 600 ft of 3/4 poly back 30 ft to pump.
Ps I buried the lines between pump and shed.
Thank you

 

[bennett.tim72]

 

[bennett.tim72]

This is my aqua flow 2150 gph pump.
Steal at 25 $ on kijijI. Not sure if it is sufficient for 600 ft of poly pipe?

 

[Vince-1961]

By burying the poly pipe, you have created a geothermal heating/cooling system. My county just built a huge new high school and used a geothermal heating/cooling system which is designed to save electricity. In a geothermal system, electricity is used only to power a pump, not to heat or cool either liquid or air. Pipes are run through the walls of the building and buried. Liquid is pumped through the pipes. The temperature of the liquid in the pipes will equalize to the temperature of the earth or the walls. Earth tends to keep the same temperature year round, depending of course on how far down the pipe is buried, the deeper the more stable the temperature. During summer, heat is drawn out of the walls and dissipated to the ground. During winter, heat is gathered from earth and dissipated through the walls.

 

[bennett.tim72]

Hmm can't upload the picture..

 

[bennett.tim72]

Thank you Vince. They are bured maybe 6 " under the grass.

 

[mas985]

This is my aqua flow 2150 gph pump.
Steal at 25 $ on kijijI. Not sure if it is sufficient for 600 ft of poly pipe?

That pump may not have the lift for the location of the panel. It looks to be on the roof of something and usually those small pumps do not have much lift. Then going through 600' of small pipe is going to significantly reduce flow rates. I doubt you are going to get much heat out of that system and it may not even work.

 

[bennett.tim72]

Hmm what would u suggest. A 1 hp pump?
Is the system set up wrong?
My coil is 1" it's up on my shed roof.6-7 ft up.
I plan to attain 600 ft of 3/4 " poly. Would that work?
Should I cover my coil with clear plastic to help with heat?
Thank you kindly!
Tim

 

[bennett.tim72]

Ps it's facing south, full sun all day long

 

[mas985]

You have couple of issues:

First, in order for the panels to work properly, you need square footage. That amount of area is very small. How big is your pool?

Second, instead of one line of 600' you would be much better off with 100 lines of 6' in parallel. This will reduce the head loss significantly. Pre-fab panels have many many tiny hoses in parallel which really helps with both efficiency and head loss. Larger hose is less efficient at heat transfer.

Third, you need a pump that can prime the panels with sufficient flow rate. These are going to be standard pool pumps and not the Intex variety. But not all AG pumps will work either. Something like a 3/4 HP Dynamo would work ok. Another option is to put the panels on the ground so you can eliminate the lift.

My last comment is that many people have tried the DIY panel route and I think in most cases, you are much better off going with pre-fab panels for both compactness and efficiency and even cost. DIY panels use up a lot of real estate but will not deliver the same heat for the given panel area.

 

[bennett.tim72]

This is great information as I plan to do without my intex next year and go with a larger AG pool.
Do you suggest a good prefab panel system?
I'll look into the dynamo as well
Thank you.

 

[mas985]

Here are few. Read the reviews though:

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_nr_n...s+heat&ie=UTF8&qid=1407684473&rnid=2941120011

 

[bennett.tim72]

You don't figure the poly pipe system will work ?
Hmm I was hoping I could do this route. As I only have so much room on my shed roof.
I could prop up a few coils on the ground as well. For a total of four could say each coil 200 ft.
If I went with a 1/2" poly would that help ?
I'll look at these solar systems.
Thank you

 

[Kiss4aFrog]

Tim, how about adding your pools info to your "signature" as outlined here - - > http://www.troublefreepool.com/content/165-getting-started

 

[bennett.tim72]

I will thank you.

 

[bennett.tim72]

Hi Mas 985.I'll take your advise and purchase an eco saver panel system.
For the price of poly etc. I could just buy this panel and be finished.
My intex pool is only a 12 ft by 30" deep.
This should be more the sufficient.
I hope I can use my 1" buried poly pipe to connect to it with a larger pump.
Thoughts!