DIY Solar Pool Heater

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Try using solid/opaque stain. I get mine at Lowes and they can tint it any color. It is so much better than paint. It doesn't peel, flake or chip. No scraping when it is time to recoat, just stain again. I'll never use paint outside again.
 
Ok guys, I've read all of the pages of this thread, and in others, where you say DIY isn't ever going to match commercial dollar wise, but I'm still skeptical. I can get 100' of poly pipe from Home Depot for $60.

1-1/2 in. x 100 ft. IPS 100 psi NSF Poly Pipe-X2-150100100 - The Home Depot

My pool is not typical. It is an inground vinyl, but the plumbing reminds me of an above ground pool (which I kind of hate, but that's another story). There is a skimmer housing overhang type thing built out of deck material and positioned into the concrete so that it hangs over into the water. This decking contains the skimmer and a return jet, which do all of the water moving for the pool. there are no drains, other jets, or anything. The PVC is 1.5" all the way, about 15' from pool to pump pad. All that to say I've got a very short plumbing path.

I don't see why I couldn't just take that 100' of poly pipe, plumb it into my return line after my filter, and use valves to divert the water up into the poly pipe when I want solar on. The poly pipe I hoped to coil up on the roof of my pump cover, or find somewhere for it. Still kind of working this plan out.

In my mind, if I don't break up that 100' of pipe and try to put a bunch of joints in it, then leaking shouldn't be much of a problem. I'm adding 100' to my plumbing system, but with such a short run to begin with, I don't think that would be a problem either.

So why shouldn't I go this route and instead spend what looks like $2k or better at solar direct?
 
The pipe is an outside diameter of 1.7" x 100' = 14 sqft for $60 ... so $4.28 per sqft
Inexpensive Ebay 2 x 20 panels = 40 sqft for $90 ... so $2.25 per sqft. {And the price drops if you get more like 80 sqft for $165 or $2.06 per sqft}

Panel roughly 1/2 the cost and will be more efficient.
 
jblizzle said:
The pipe is an outside diameter of 1.7" x 100' = 14 sqft for $60 ... so $4.28 per sqft
Inexpensive Ebay 2 x 20 panels = 40 sqft for $90 ... so $2.25 per sqft. {And the price drops if you get more like 80 sqft for $165 or $2.06 per sqft}

Panel roughly 1/2 the cost and will be more efficient.
Click to expand...

Ahh, ok, I hadn't seen the $90 ebay panels. I found one, so I'm with you now on why that works out better.

My only concern is whether I have a place to go with something that large. My roof is obviously the best option, but I'd have to bury some plumbing to run water back to the house to get it on the roof. My thought with the 1.5" pipe was that I wouldn't be creating any restrictions, and flow out of my single return jet shouldn't be compromised too much. Is flow out of these panels good enough that I won't screw up circulation in my pool?
 
Yeah, the 20' are a bit cumbersome. I did see some 4 x 10s (which is a more normal size), but they were around $175 for the 40 sqft ... which is a similar cost to your coil proposal, but still running in 100s of tiny parallel tubes is going to be more efficient that 1 100' long tube (which is going to add a lot of headloss and reduce the flow rate).
 
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Got most of the rack finished. just need to plumb everything up.


I looked into doing the coils, but after reading through everything I decided to go with the panels. Efficiency and costs swayed my decision.

Found a vacuum breaker on amazon which looks like it will work out nicely.

Amazon.com: Cash Acme 22398-0000LF Vr-801 Drill Vent 3/4-Inch Vacuum Relief Valve with Dust Cover, Lead Free: Home Improvement
 
Also something to think about.
Its better to heat more water with a higher flow rate at a lower temperature, then less water with a lower flow rate at a higher temperature gain.

5 degree temperature increase at 100gph vs. 20 degree temperature difference at 10 gph. I know these are extremes, but something to think about.
 
Yes, optimal heat transfer for solar heaters is high flow low temperature difference, ideally you want the return water only a couple of degrees warmer than the inlet side water, if you want that in GPM, it is somewhere around 4 GPM per panel optimal flow at which point increased flow has diminishing returns.
 


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Low flow bypass

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Capped pipes are ready for the second set of panels. Gotta build the rack first.
 
Everything is finished and she's up and operational!

Started out with the pool water being 78*. I'll let you guys know what kind of gains I see by end of day.
 

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