DIY solar heaters? Any info?

[cj133]

Hi all,

I keep struggling with getting our pool to a comfortable temperature.
I'm using a solar blanket and reel and that's become a huge pain to deal with as well.

I'm curious if there's any info out there on making home made solar heaters, maybe out of black PVC pipe etc. I'd need to know how big I need to increase the temperature etc.

I want to raise the temperature of 8500 gallons 5 degrees or so.

 

[JohnT]

The homemade heaters really aren’t very good. People are convinced they work well because the water coming out is very warm, but that’s actually a symptom that shows why they don’t work well.

To heat a pool, you want a lot of water warmed a little bit. Efficiency is much better because the water temperature is closer to the air temperature. Commercial solar panels for pools have either 1-1/2” or 2” inlets and outlets to allow for high flow rates.

Even with a heater, you’ll find you may still need to use a blanket. The primary purpose of a solar blanket is to prevent evaporation which has a large cooling effect on the water, especially overnight.

 

[cj133]

The homemade heaters really aren’t very good. People are convinced they work well because the water coming out is very warm, but that’s actually a symptom that shows why they don’t work well.

To heat a pool, you want a lot of water warmed a little bit. Efficiency is much better because the water temperature is closer to the air temperature. Commercial solar panels for pools have either 1-1/2” or 2” inlets and outlets to allow for high flow rates.

Even with a heater, you’ll find you may still need to use a blanket. The primary purpose of a solar blanket is to prevent evaporation which has a large cooling effect on the water, especially overnight.

How would a few of these do?
I assume I plumb my entire filter through them?

If these are decent, how would I go about figuring out how many I need?