I am also seeing about 1/4" per day loss also. It has been keeping the pool 85 - 90 running about 10 hours per day. That was the desired goal.
Thanks for that follow-up.
Thanks for that follow-up.
Dane's "How To" for a quick & easy pool cooler
- Thread starter DaneCE
- Start date
OK, for anyone out there reading this who is still skeptical about whether or not these thing actually cool your pool off.
I live in Southwest Oklahoma, we are going on 56 consecutive days of 100+ temps. The last 3 weeks have averaged between 105 and 110. Last Saturday it was 114. My water temp was going on 95 and rising . After only 3 days of running my fountain, my water temp was about 84. I now only run it at half power (shooting up about 2 1/2 feet).
Even with constant sun and hot temps my pool sit right at 89 degrees at 6:00 pm. This is the perfect way to keep your pool cool and refreshing.
Now I am getting the heck out of town and headed for the beach. Lounge chair and a frozen adult beverage. Hope the temp in the Atlantic isn't too warm because that is gonna take some hefty PVC pipe to fix.
I live in Southwest Oklahoma, we are going on 56 consecutive days of 100+ temps. The last 3 weeks have averaged between 105 and 110. Last Saturday it was 114. My water temp was going on 95 and rising . After only 3 days of running my fountain, my water temp was about 84. I now only run it at half power (shooting up about 2 1/2 feet).
Even with constant sun and hot temps my pool sit right at 89 degrees at 6:00 pm. This is the perfect way to keep your pool cool and refreshing.
Now I am getting the heck out of town and headed for the beach. Lounge chair and a frozen adult beverage. Hope the temp in the Atlantic isn't too warm because that is gonna take some hefty PVC pipe to fix.
Thanks for your input Tim. I'm a believer too. I hadn't cooled my pool in 2 days and it was 89 today so I decided to run it today and overnight. After mowing the lawn I needed a cool off and 89 is too warm. I like 83~86.
I had mentioned buying the Acu-rite thermometer earlier in this thread. I like its performance except it has leaked twice :x causing the reading to skyrocket. Both times there was just a couple drops inside. Today I exchanged it for a new one and this time I put a thin skim of clear silicone around both edges of the blue gasket and sealed the screws. I used Energizer Lithium Ultimate batteries in hopes that it will be a long time before they die.
I had mentioned buying the Acu-rite thermometer earlier in this thread. I like its performance except it has leaked twice :x causing the reading to skyrocket. Both times there was just a couple drops inside. Today I exchanged it for a new one and this time I put a thin skim of clear silicone around both edges of the blue gasket and sealed the screws. I used Energizer Lithium Ultimate batteries in hopes that it will be a long time before they die.
bcobb
0
Framer/Dane:
I'm certainly a believer in this but I just can't seem to get my aerator to cool off my pool what-so-ever (I'm in Cincinnati). From 10pm or so at night, until 7am in the morning, I get a very consistent 3 degrees of cooling in my 25,000 gallon IG pool from two temp sources (thermometer and my salt chlorine generator) without my aerator running. With the aerator running, I get the exact same results. I'm wondering why? Here are my numbers:
The first night I used the pool cooler, I had it in my deep end (8 foot) and it was only shooting about 2' high. The next two nights I decided to get a baseline without the cooler. After that, the next two nights I cranked the cooler up to a height of about 3' and then 6' respectively. My results did not very at all! I'm so disappointed!
As you can see our humidity has been sky high here with the most oppressive being in the middle of the night (according to the national weather service) and the lowest humidity being around 3 or 4pm. I'm thinking it's maybe the humidity overall, or maybe I need to run this thing during the day?
Thoughts?!
Thanks all!
-Bryan
I'm certainly a believer in this but I just can't seem to get my aerator to cool off my pool what-so-ever (I'm in Cincinnati). From 10pm or so at night, until 7am in the morning, I get a very consistent 3 degrees of cooling in my 25,000 gallon IG pool from two temp sources (thermometer and my salt chlorine generator) without my aerator running. With the aerator running, I get the exact same results. I'm wondering why? Here are my numbers:
The first night I used the pool cooler, I had it in my deep end (8 foot) and it was only shooting about 2' high. The next two nights I decided to get a baseline without the cooler. After that, the next two nights I cranked the cooler up to a height of about 3' and then 6' respectively. My results did not very at all! I'm so disappointed!
As you can see our humidity has been sky high here with the most oppressive being in the middle of the night (according to the national weather service) and the lowest humidity being around 3 or 4pm. I'm thinking it's maybe the humidity overall, or maybe I need to run this thing during the day?
Thoughts?!
Thanks all!
-Bryan
Bryan,
The only thing that comes to my mind is the seemingly low volume of water that is running through your cooler.
The only thing that comes to my mind is the seemingly low volume of water that is running through your cooler.
bcobb
0
Funny, I was just out by the pool watching the kids swim and I thought the same thing. I have 4 returns and I have been closing only one of my returns (and turning another into the aerator), then turning my pump up a little (it's an Pentair Intelliflo variable speed). I think the percentage of water going through the aerator is probably much lower than what you all are pumping through it. Unfortunately, code in my county required me to buy the Intelliflo pump with the SVRS, so my pump will shut down if I close up all of my returns other than the aerator.
I'm going to try to find the sweet spot where I can get most of my water going through the aerator and I'll let you all know the results. Thanks for your quick response and enjoy the rest of your weekend!
-Bryan
I'm going to try to find the sweet spot where I can get most of my water going through the aerator and I'll let you all know the results. Thanks for your quick response and enjoy the rest of your weekend!
-Bryan
Why does the cooler work? If it works for the same reasons "swamp" coolers work in the desert, then humidity does effect the efficiency. Dry air passing over water will lower the temperature of the air. I don't know what effect it has on the water.
I can say that I have had great results here. The outdoor temp is high (right now: 113) and the humidity is relatively low. between 20 & 40%. One way that I can tell how well it is working is to feel the water temp just as it is coming out of the fountain, and then feel the temp as it hits the surface of the pool. The difference is very noticeable.
I am betting that my low humidity is the reason mine is working so well. I also hope that the holes in your PVC are small enough to allow the water to begin the evaporation process before it reaches the pool.
I am betting that my low humidity is the reason mine is working so well. I also hope that the holes in your PVC are small enough to allow the water to begin the evaporation process before it reaches the pool.
Yeppers! same here although I've lost count I think we are closing in on almost 60 days of 100+ temps here!!FramerTim said:
my waterfall fountain has done an awesome job keeping the temps down 
. Although today we did hit 113 and the pool shot up to 89, the hottest it's gotten all season! Been going thru about 1/2" of water loss a day but that's better than an oversized bit tub for a pool!
bcobb
0
My holes are 1/16" which everyone seems to standardize on here. And yes, I can feel the water coming out of the cooler and it's warm but the water falling into the pool seems much cooler. I think my biggest problem was that only 40% (guessing) of my total recirculated volume was passing through the cooler (if that). I was able to run my pump at a higher rpm and keep 2 of my returns open (the cooler and another) and my "fountain" was reaching about 8-10' in the air. Between that and the humidity lowering, I did see a little more of a differnce (1 degree). However now my pool is staying in the mid-80's (84-88) by itself so I haven't been playing with it anymore.
I'll post more if I learn more! Thanks again all!
-Bryan
I'll post more if I learn more! Thanks again all!
-Bryan
bcobb said:
My pool finally dropped to 90 by itself. Plus I keep having to fill it every couple of days because of this stupid weather.
I've never had to do that (evaporation is a
).
I finally got my software to create a chart showing the cooler working. (see attachment) The blue line is the pool temp, red line is outside temp and the yellow is sunshine.
The first 4 days are with out the cooler running. You can see that both the outside temp and pool temp are over the 90 mark. On days 6 - 9, the outside temp is well over 90. By running to cooler the water temp was lowered at night and did not get above 90 during the day.
The live chart can be viewed here: http://www.cavecountryweather.com/pooltemp.php
The first 4 days are with out the cooler running. You can see that both the outside temp and pool temp are over the 90 mark. On days 6 - 9, the outside temp is well over 90. By running to cooler the water temp was lowered at night and did not get above 90 during the day.
The live chart can be viewed here: http://www.cavecountryweather.com/pooltemp.php
Attachments
I realize that this is a late post to an idle thread, but doesn't your PH skyrocket with all the aeration?
It can and it must be monitored but aeration doesn't have the same effectiveness when the pH is 7.6+ as it does when you drop pH down to 7.0 - 7.2
- May 4, 2011
- 634
When running my fountain last year it gained an average of 0.2/day (~10hr run time). I was adding MA every 2 days.
High humidity slows the rate of cooling immensely. This method uses "evaporative cooling", meaning some of the water in the streams evaporates when it passes through the "dry" air, taking the heat with it. That is why you notice a water loss, and that water loss is proportional to the amount of cooling you achieve. Really humid air simply cannot hold much more water, so it's less able to take on more. You can speed up the cooling by using more holes that are smaller in diameter ... making smaller droplets. The smaller the parcel of water ejected the greater portion of the droplet will evaporate during it's short "flight" time.
In really humid conditions, a mister is likely your best option. Evaporative cooling won't work well, but the hot water mist can still be cooled by aeration ... but be careful NOT to ram your pump's whole volume through it (too high pressure). In the case of a mister, use a ball valve to adjust the flow to the mister pipe so you maintain constant pump pressure. The excess water will go back to the pool through the other side of the tee for circulation, which is equally important for sanitation purposes.
I believe you can obtain mister heads from your local in-ground sprinkler, or greenhouse, supplier. Figuring out how to plumb them in depends on the actual parts you purchase. That's the fun part! You'll need a special filter to place in line with your mister system, as a pool filter does not remove the smallest of particles that -will- clog a tiny mister orifice. When you start a system like this the first time, have the ball valve to the misters CLOSED then open it a tiny bit at a time until the mist is sufficient. NOTE: It would be wise to aim the mist down from only a foot or so above the water, to keep even the slightest breeze from blowing all your mist away from the pool.
In really humid conditions, a mister is likely your best option. Evaporative cooling won't work well, but the hot water mist can still be cooled by aeration ... but be careful NOT to ram your pump's whole volume through it (too high pressure). In the case of a mister, use a ball valve to adjust the flow to the mister pipe so you maintain constant pump pressure. The excess water will go back to the pool through the other side of the tee for circulation, which is equally important for sanitation purposes.
I believe you can obtain mister heads from your local in-ground sprinkler, or greenhouse, supplier. Figuring out how to plumb them in depends on the actual parts you purchase. That's the fun part! You'll need a special filter to place in line with your mister system, as a pool filter does not remove the smallest of particles that -will- clog a tiny mister orifice. When you start a system like this the first time, have the ball valve to the misters CLOSED then open it a tiny bit at a time until the mist is sufficient. NOTE: It would be wise to aim the mist down from only a foot or so above the water, to keep even the slightest breeze from blowing all your mist away from the pool.
Question...I have a one speed 2 HP pump...Should I...1.) put more somewhat larger holes in my cooler? Or does that matter? If I went with the smallest drill bits I could find and drill wholes for more of a mist...Wouldn't that put a lot of pressure back ward into my system with a 2 HP pump...or should I...2.) install with a ball valve so I can control precisely the amount of water flowing to the cooler, while maintaining a flow into the pool through the return. I want to keep the water circulating right?
I will also be plumbing this in line with a solar bear solar panel...4X20...of coures that would be off, if I needed to be cooling my pool. Last summer saw a very hot late June and Early July...On the 4th everyone comes to my house to swim...but no one wanted to because of the water temp...Heater was off...it was 96 and couldn't cool it down. What do you all suggest...1, 2 or both
Thanks...
Beave
I will also be plumbing this in line with a solar bear solar panel...4X20...of coures that would be off, if I needed to be cooling my pool. Last summer saw a very hot late June and Early July...On the 4th everyone comes to my house to swim...but no one wanted to because of the water temp...Heater was off...it was 96 and couldn't cool it down. What do you all suggest...1, 2 or both
Thanks...
Beave
Hi Beave, thanks for checking out this thread. I'd go with option #2. If I had more pump power I'd want to have some circulation in addition to the cooling. I mentioned earlier here that lack of circulation was a problem where surface trash gets pushed to the far side of my pool. It's not that bad really because I will have been running my pump for several hours prior to installing the cooler.
If I get motivated this summer I might make a version that attempts to allow circulation. My return fitting is a Dane original made from a threaded->female fitting connected to a 90 elbow connected to an end cap with a 3/4" hole drilled. It works much better than the stock type that swivels on a ball.
I believe that the smaller the hole the better. I first used 1/8" holes and It seemed like it would work better with 1/16". My theory was that a larger surface area would allow better cooling.
If I get motivated this summer I might make a version that attempts to allow circulation. My return fitting is a Dane original made from a threaded->female fitting connected to a 90 elbow connected to an end cap with a 3/4" hole drilled. It works much better than the stock type that swivels on a ball.
I believe that the smaller the hole the better. I first used 1/8" holes and It seemed like it would work better with 1/16". My theory was that a larger surface area would allow better cooling.
FramerTim said:
I like this design! I'm off to the Depot tomorrow for parts. I"m going to try a 90 degree elbow at the bottom. I'm thinking that if I set it to point to one side I'll get a nice counter clock-wise swirl if/ when I open the Tee. Good for when I add chlorine.
I just got my second set of Intermatic timer tabs so I can run the filter from noon to 4 pm - to turn over the pool then again from 10 pm to 6 am to cool things off.