Solar heater pipe sizing

I've spent the better part of this morning going over pricing and sizing of various panels. I'm trying to find the right size to put the largest sq ft on the roof and still be able to access them for repair if/when needed. Not sure if I want 12' panels ran vertically, 20' panels ran horizontally, or dual banks of 10' panels ran horizontally.


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What is the 7x7 area?

3 4x20 horizontal is 240sf

I don't think you can stack 2 rows of 10' on a 20' roof, you'd need 21ish.

4 4x8s lower and 6 4x10s upper is 368sf
 
Hey, I like wood stoves!

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I'll double check, but I think I would have room to pipe above and below that 20ft vertical mark. That's not the ends of the roof. I've got a sunroom on the bottom side, and roof vents up above that I measured to.


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I'm not sure. There seems to be a tendency to call vertical panels inground panels and horizontal panels above ground pool panels. But, I don't know why. I've seen both yused on either type. And I've seen both mounted on ground racks and on the roof. But, I don't recall seeing a 20' panel mounted vertically.
 

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Guess I forgot to mention that my neighbor helped me out a couple days ago by doing a lot of fill work on the trenches with his little tractor and box scraper. He said he'd come back and tidy up a bit when it dries up some.
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I may have had to pull him out a couple times. :)


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I've been looking at some dual 2x20 panels on eBay that apparently have replaced the 4x20 panels. I need to verify their overall size, and then possibly measure the max I can fit on the 20x21 section of open roof. I think I might be able to put 5 of them up there. Probably a tight squeeze, but that's the most sq ft for the buck. Heard anything good or bad about the smartpool sunheater panels? After that I'll have to do some budgetary sweet talking to get this pushed through. Wonder if it would be very hard to put one panel up there, then add one here and there? I figure I should be able to start out with manual valves without a controller, and hook the top panel up. Then as I add others, I'd just hook into that panel and shorten the supply side pipe and close the bypass a little. It's easier to swing a couple hundred at a time than a grand and a half.


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Here are some folks talking about other options, Sunheater or Sungrabber?

I've seen folks with the sunheater panels and don't recall seeing any negative posts.

I ran for a year without the controller and it helped a lot, the solar controller made it better. Nothing wrong with spreading out those costs.

The white stove is a Jotul 3 and the black one is a Vermont castings Defiant.

LOL, lotsa mud on those tires! Help is good though!
 
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