The real story concerning solar heaters

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InTheSwim1969

0
Apr 11, 2017
15
ringwood, NJ
I have been spending the last few days researching solar heaters for my above-ground pool.

Here are my specs:
12-foot round, 52" deep, 1.5 HP Hayward DE filter, approx. 4,000 gallons

Have seen a few solar heaters which look promising but of course there are always negative reviews which concern me.

I live in Northern NJ and while it has been very warm and humid the past few days (hi 80s/lo 90s) the temp hits high 60s overnight and i lose a few degrees of temperature each night.

Can anyone recommend a solar setup that would work for me? Honestly, cost not really a concern. It seems like the pool season in the Northeast gets shorter and shorter each year.

Thanks everyone and Happy Summer!!!!!
Joseph
 
Most any of the pool specific panels will do a reasonable job. The main differences are longevity and size.

Do you have a roof area to install panels or will you be on the ground or on racks?
 
Hi John,

Thanks for answering my question. The panels will be placed on the ground. I have a very large yard with constant sun, no trees around at all.

I assume i will have to buy longer hoses because the ones i am currently using are the ones that came with the pool when i purchased it
 
Are you keeping the pool covered anytime it's not in use? A cover will do more to retain heat than solar will add. They are cheap and will go a long way to reduce that over night heat loss. Without a cover you just add heat every day and lose it every night.
 
InTheSwim1969 said:
I understand about covering the pool but i do not have the time or energy to cover/uncover the pool each day.
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If this is the case, I feel you will be disappointed in your solar investment.

If I don't cover my pool at night I lose all the heat I gained during the day, unless it's 85deg or better overnight and there is absolutely no wind.
 
InTheSwim1969 said:
I understand about covering the pool but i do not have the time or energy to cover/uncover the pool each day.
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A cover is going to way more for you than solar heaters. I am in Northern NJ as well. If I keep my solar cover on, my pool steadly climbs in temp all day, and then drops very little at night. With it off, it just readiates it's heat at night.

You said cost is not really an issue. there are some really nice solar covers and reels that you can install (that while still pricey, are less than some solar heater systems) that make removing and putting on the cover very easy.

I keep mine in a rack, and my kids have no problem taking it off. It takes them about a minute to do so. I takes me about 2 or 3 minutes to put it on (they have trouble putting it on because it's an ABG with a half deck, so on the sides with no deck they have problems reaching the cover to pull it across.)

With a 12' pool like you have, you should be able to get a single reel that will roll the cover up, and then pivot out tof the way. You then pivot it back, and unroll and the cover spreds out across the pool. I need an extra long reel and some interesting engineering to make a reel work with my 27' pool, but it is in the plans (well behind a lot of other projects)



-dave
 
I priced one and decided to go DIY. I have 400' of 1/2" irrigation tubing coiled in a 4'x8' frame with a manifold between the pump outlet and the pool that lets me control how much water is going to the solar which lets me somewhat control how much temperature rise I am getting.
I have seen as much as a 15° increase and am thinking of adding another 400' of tubing next year. My total cost so far is around $150.
 
thats gonna get big with 800ft of coiled hose. Im assuming you have the coil laying flat wrapping in a big circle.. A few things that will help a little more is lift your frame off the ground a few inches so its not pulling the cooler temp out of the soil and cooling your system down, Paint your frame black even under the pipe this will make sure your taking advantage of everything. Get some of that green house plastic or even Polly will work and cover the top this will increase the heat a bit and keep it trapped. i used the same concept last year with coil pipe and noticed about 6-10 degree increase but i coiled mine wrong and also just tossed it in the yard.. it was just a test..lol.. Seen the most improvement when i restricted the water flow into the coil giving it a longer change to heat up..
 

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Solar heating is all about square foot of exposure to the Sun. That 400 feet of poly tubing is only 17 square feet at best . For less than the amount that you paid you could have gotten panels that were 40 square feet and more efficient ... tripling the area and greatly increasing the heat gain to your pool.

Also 155 degree water is nothing to brag about. Solar heating is way more efficient to heat a lot of water a couple degrees than it is to heat very little water many degrees.
 
155 degree water is dangerous and will burn people.

Most adults will suffer third-degree burns if exposed to 150 degreewater for two seconds. Burns will also occur with a six-second exposure to 140 degree water or with a thirty second exposure to 130 degree water. Even if the temperature is 120 degrees, a five minute exposure could result in third-degree burns.
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Found your pics helpfully.... I will be building one this winter.. may try mounting it up on the roof of my shop and see if I can get convection to push that high.. probably will not work..lol.. if it performs as good as the test did last year I should get a 5-10 temp change daily..
Now if u turn your Flow up so it's running around 80-90 degrees u would probably turn about a 1/4 of the water daily..
 
chayne said:
that is putting in about 10 gallons an hour. yes, it can scold people if they touch that water coming out of the hose. it is not like my pool is 155 degrees. the heater runs about 3 hours a day so it is not like i turn the pool water over each day.
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80 pounds of water X 75 degrees is about 6000 BTU. If you can crank the flow way up you'll actually gain more heat during the day. The transfer of heat from sun to tubes and tubes to water is higher, and radiation from tubes to air is lower when their temperature is closer.
 
when i crank the flow up it is nowhere near as hot because it really does not have time to heat up. it is only a few degrees hotter at full blast. i am actually using the pump that came with the pool to run the solar heater. i do not use the main pool pump for the solar heater. i have the secondary pump on a timer that only runs at certain times a day.
 
The fact that it doesn't have time to heat up is the entire point. If the water is that hot you're losing some of that heat back to the air as it travels to the pool. You're way better off heating a lot of water one or 2 degrees than 10 gallons by 100 degrees.
 

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