Flat side up, bubble side down. If it isn't windy and it is sunny it is best to remove it during the day for maximum heat gain.
Heater Questions
- Thread starter Cody87
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Flat side up, bubble side down. If it isn't windy and it is sunny it is best to remove it during the day for maximum heat gain.
Not sure on the cost as the original frame I made up about twenty years ago and was a combo sled\wind shelter for ice fishing.
But figure about 3-4 sheets of plywood, the sides can be made with 2 x4 or 2 x 6 on edge instead of the 2 x 2 reinforced plywood I used. The pipe costs about 30$ per 100 feet, I am going to switch to 1/2" pipe this year as you can get smaller radius corners and cover more of the enclosure.
I have tried three different methods of running the pipe in the enclosure, single series loop, 3 seperate series loops and a reverse return system with 5 loops. I will be setting it up with the reverse return system this year, as that seemed to work the best.
I have used old intex pumps to run the circ for the solar, eventually switched it out to a dedicated 3\4 hp pump that runs when the regular 1 hp isn't running and I desire heat. In the beginning I just used a regular outdoor timer to set my run time on solar for when the sun was on the panels, if you circ with no sun or at night the solar collector will work like a chiller.
A few years ago I found an old heat\cool thermostat so hooked that up in the collector in series with a 24 volt transformer and an underground sprinkler valve so now the supply to the panel is controlled by the temp of the collector, with a bit of playing with it it nows only allows water through the collector when there is heat to be collected.
I did start out with a pallet covered in plywood painted black about 8 years ago, similiar to one of those bubbles, it worked but not very good.
The rule of thumb is surface area of collector should equal surface area of pool. Best I have done is close to 50% of surface area with my collector, which worked pretty good on my 16 foot pool, but like I said once I went up to a 24 foot pool it became less good then before, as I only had 90 sq ft to heat 450 sq ft of pool (24), whereas before I had 90 sq ft to heat ~ 200 sq ft of pool. (16)
But figure about 3-4 sheets of plywood, the sides can be made with 2 x4 or 2 x 6 on edge instead of the 2 x 2 reinforced plywood I used. The pipe costs about 30$ per 100 feet, I am going to switch to 1/2" pipe this year as you can get smaller radius corners and cover more of the enclosure.
I have tried three different methods of running the pipe in the enclosure, single series loop, 3 seperate series loops and a reverse return system with 5 loops. I will be setting it up with the reverse return system this year, as that seemed to work the best.
I have used old intex pumps to run the circ for the solar, eventually switched it out to a dedicated 3\4 hp pump that runs when the regular 1 hp isn't running and I desire heat. In the beginning I just used a regular outdoor timer to set my run time on solar for when the sun was on the panels, if you circ with no sun or at night the solar collector will work like a chiller.
A few years ago I found an old heat\cool thermostat so hooked that up in the collector in series with a 24 volt transformer and an underground sprinkler valve so now the supply to the panel is controlled by the temp of the collector, with a bit of playing with it it nows only allows water through the collector when there is heat to be collected.
I did start out with a pallet covered in plywood painted black about 8 years ago, similiar to one of those bubbles, it worked but not very good.
The rule of thumb is surface area of collector should equal surface area of pool. Best I have done is close to 50% of surface area with my collector, which worked pretty good on my 16 foot pool, but like I said once I went up to a 24 foot pool it became less good then before, as I only had 90 sq ft to heat 450 sq ft of pool (24), whereas before I had 90 sq ft to heat ~ 200 sq ft of pool. (16)
Why aren't black solar blankets more common (the bubbly kind)? I read that they block out more of the sun than a clear or blue one, is this true? I have a blue one.
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Even my clear one, which isn't all that clear, blocks a lot of UV. My FC, from SWG, shot up by about 6 ppm in less than a week due to less FC being oxidized by the sun. And that is with warmer water which would consume more FC.
I have no idea what the majority of that post means hahaha. FC? SWG? Is it OK to be blocking UV?
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