Advice On Heating Above Ground Pool

Jump to latest Follow Reply
C

cdogstu99

0
Oct 7, 2014
111
Braintree, MA
Hey guys--four year pool owner here, and I've decided that my pool is just too cold. There's partial shade over my house, albeit with some sun, but I'd like to try to get the water a bit warmer.

I have an 18' x 24' oval above ground pool with a connected deck.

See picture here: https://image.ibb.co/j1eeYa/IMG_9468.jpg

I'd like to do this somewhat inexpensively (maybe a few hundred or so).

I realized there are a few different options, but would my best bet be a solar cover? And if so, do i attach the reel to the deck?

Or due to the existence of some shade am i better off with a better contraption?

Thanks!
 
A bubblewrap solar cover by itself will probably raise the water temp 4 or 5 degrees. At least, that was my experience. You might even do better, since your walls are surrounded by warm air, not cold dirt.

If that ain't enough, then a couple solar panels. Don't waste time with coils of polyethylene irrigation pipe. I did. Didn't work. Yes, the water did get pretty hot, but there's not enough volume to heat the pool.
 
Thanks a lot guys. I'll give the bubble cover a shot. I see the reels too, which I imagine makes life easier when trying to put the cover on and off. Is there a way to do this with the setup I have with the deck? I imagine the cover reel ends going across the middle of the pool, but then i wonder what happens when people want to swim--i imagine its in the way?
 
cdogstu99 said:
Thanks a lot guys. I'll give the bubble cover a shot. I see the reels too, which I imagine makes life easier when trying to put the cover on and off. Is there a way to do this with the setup I have with the deck? I imagine the cover reel ends going across the middle of the pool, but then i wonder what happens when people want to swim--i imagine its in the way?
Click to expand...
I can't help with that. I just drug mine off and heaped it up on the end of the deck.
 
The solar covers do help, particularly through a significant reduction in heat loss overnight but they are also a pain if they are large, which yours would be.

I dealt with mine for 3 seasons or so, then I bought a gas heater and just stopped using the cover altogether - didn't even take it out of the garage last season or this one.

To remove the cover for swimming (when I did use it) I would jump in and roll it up on a pvc pipe and then drop it over the side. If it was just the wife and kids swimming, sometimes I would just kind of roll or crunch it up to one edge of the pool and use bungee cords to secure it to the railing. This was far easier and my pool was easily large enough that it kept out of the way.

If you do get one, get the thinnest (and thus cheapest) you can. Forum members have found no real benefit to the thicker ones and they are much heavier. Regardless of thickness they all seem to last about 3 seasons.
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
I use a reel for my solar cover it makes it very easy to take on and off the pool. They don't have to mount on the pool itself. You can set them up so they are totally out of the way. I paid like 150 for the reel and about 70 for the cover. Its mounted on 2 4x4x8 posts.

It takes about 1 min to put the cover on the pool and about 5 to take it off because of how that corner of my deck sticks out and I like to roll it up perfectly smooth.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_20180429_101144.jpg
    IMG_20180429_101144.jpg
    98.8 KB · Views: 44
  • 20160619_133247.jpg
    20160619_133247.jpg
    95.2 KB · Views: 43
CJadamec said:
I use a reel for my solar cover it makes it very easy to take on and off the pool. They don't have to mount on the pool itself. You can set them up so they are totally out of the way. I paid like 150 for the reel and about 70 for the cover. Its mounted on 2 4x4x8 posts.

It takes about 1 min to put the cover on the pool and about 5 to take it off because of how that corner of my deck sticks out and I like to roll it up perfectly smooth.
Click to expand...

That's a sweet setup! Thanks for the inspiration!

- - - Updated - - -

Pauls234 said:
The solar covers do help, particularly through a significant reduction in heat loss overnight but they are also a pain if they are large, which yours would be.

I dealt with mine for 3 seasons or so, then I bought a gas heater and just stopped using the cover altogether - didn't even take it out of the garage last season or this one.

To remove the cover for swimming (when I did use it) I would jump in and roll it up on a pvc pipe and then drop it over the side. If it was just the wife and kids swimming, sometimes I would just kind of roll or crunch it up to one edge of the pool and use bungee cords to secure it to the railing. This was far easier and my pool was easily large enough that it kept out of the way.

If you do get one, get the thinnest (and thus cheapest) you can. Forum members have found no real benefit to the thicker ones and they are much heavier. Regardless of thickness they all seem to last about 3 seasons.
Click to expand...

Great intel, does sound like it could be a pain. I might try it for a season or two to see if it makes a difference. Thanks!
 
It will make a notable difference in temps and a set up like Chuck has pretty well mitigates the nuisance aspect.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply