Are there any articles or stickies about the different types of heating options available for above ground pools? We had a solar cover for the past couple of years which basically started to disintegrate last year and before we buy another one, I wanted to learn about all the different options and the pros and cons of each one. TIA!!
How do you heat your AGP???
- Thread starter LynnDi
- Start date
- May 23, 2015
- 24,512
- Pool Size
- 16000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
Depends on how much you want to spend.
A gas/electric type heater will be a few thousand dollars plus service installs. Solar panels can cost a little less but you need good roof space for it or a large area near the pool. Some people have done some interesting, low cost DIY black solar coils for heating.
The pool cover is still an absolute must no matter what heating options you choose. Always buy the thinnest, cheapest solar cover possible as none of them last more than 2 seasons or so.
How much are you willing to spend on heating and how much are you willing to DIY it?
A gas/electric type heater will be a few thousand dollars plus service installs. Solar panels can cost a little less but you need good roof space for it or a large area near the pool. Some people have done some interesting, low cost DIY black solar coils for heating.
The pool cover is still an absolute must no matter what heating options you choose. Always buy the thinnest, cheapest solar cover possible as none of them last more than 2 seasons or so.
How much are you willing to spend on heating and how much are you willing to DIY it?
I was thinking more hundreds - not thousands... I'm willing to do some DIY, but nothing crazy. I saw a solar powered coil for $99 that gets connected to the filter:
Solar Heat H2O Heater
What do you think?
Solar Heat H2O Heater
What do you think?
- May 23, 2015
- 24,512
- Pool Size
- 16000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
Solar heating is all about surface area. To heat a pool effectively, you want you solar collectors to have an active collection area, at a minimum, to be equivalent to your pools surface area. Your 18ft diameter pool has a surface area of 254 sq. ft., so you'd need at least that much surface area in solar panels to adequately heat your pool.
It takes 1 BTU of thermal energy to raise 1 pound of water 1 degree F. Your 8,500 gallons of pool water weighs 71,400 lbs and so you need about 75kBTU's of heat energy to add 1 degree F to your pool water.
Those solar collectors you linked to look like toys to me and I doubt they'd do much for your pool.
It takes 1 BTU of thermal energy to raise 1 pound of water 1 degree F. Your 8,500 gallons of pool water weighs 71,400 lbs and so you need about 75kBTU's of heat energy to add 1 degree F to your pool water.
Those solar collectors you linked to look like toys to me and I doubt they'd do much for your pool.
That solar thing won't do much of anything and will probably just frustrate you. Your options are gas, electric, or real solar panels.
Looks like you're in NY, any access to natural gas? Propane is an option if you don't have NG but it's not cheap. You can get a gas pool heater for under $1000 just for the heater. Heats quicker than the other two options. That would give you the best heat for the money.
Looks like you're in NY, any access to natural gas? Propane is an option if you don't have NG but it's not cheap. You can get a gas pool heater for under $1000 just for the heater. Heats quicker than the other two options. That would give you the best heat for the money.