Heat pool using solar or hot tub?

[shinomen]

Our 15ft round 52 inch deep pool is under some pine trees and last summer stayed relatively cool to where it was tough getting in the pool and enjoying it because it was too cold. We are trying to be as cheap as possible and want to heat up the pool a little bit better this year so it's bearable.

Our first idea was to use a very long black hose we have and coil it up on a trampoline in the sun and use a slow flow pump to try and heat up the pool by running water from the pool through the hose and back in. Then we realized that we have a hot tub that stays on alot which we don't use so much and thought that maybe we could coil up tubing inside of the hot water of the hot tub and try to extract heat from the hot water to slow flow into the pool.

I was wondering if the solar method would be better than the hot tub water method? Again, we would not be transferring any water between the pool and hot tub, we would just put the coiled hose/tubing into the hot water of the hot tub (coiled up) vs. having it in the sun.

Does anyone have an opinion on which way may be the better way to go?

 

[jmikeb]

Our 15ft round 52 inch deep pool is under some pine trees and last summer stayed relatively cool to where it was tough getting in the pool and enjoying it because it was too cold. We are trying to be as cheap as possible and want to heat up the pool a little bit better this year so it's bearable.

Our first idea was to use a very long black hose we have and coil it up on a trampoline in the sun and use a slow flow pump to try and heat up the pool by running water from the pool through the hose and back in. Then we realized that we have a hot tub that stays on alot which we don't use so much and thought that maybe we could coil up tubing inside of the hot water of the hot tub and try to extract heat from the hot water to slow flow into the pool.

I was wondering if the solar method would be better than the hot tub water method? Again, we would not be transferring any water between the pool and hot tub, we would just put the coiled hose/tubing into the hot water of the hot tub (coiled up) vs. having it in the sun.

Does anyone have an opinion on which way may be the better way to go?

i really want to know what you find out!

 

[ajw22]

It will not cost you much to give the science experiment a try. Actual tests are much better then opinions.

Let us know how it works out.

 

[chayne]

here is what my solar heater looks like, and the temp that it puts out into our pool

 

[YippeeSkippy]

Chayne, can you share the deets, please? How do you have this powered to pump? How did you determine how much hose to use.....we're gonna need ALL the details man!! This is clever!

I'll even toss out a Hook'em Horns for your handiness! Could an Aggie have managed so well....? (Don't answer that. My sister was a Longhorn, my brother is an Aggie, lol)

Maddie

 

[chayne]

the way i decided to pump the water is, i come off my main return to the pool with a "T" and reduce that down to a 1/2" pvc ball valve, that way i can control how fast the water goes through the heater. too fast and it wont heat. the way i determined how much hose to use is just by trial. i ended up using 300ft. i will tell you this, do not skimp on the hose. dont use cheap stuff. made that mistake the first year. use the thicker hose. the thin stuff will literally melt because of the heat. my set up is a 4' x 8' with a clear acrylic sheet to cover it up. i decided add a thermometer just to see how hot this thing could get.
if you can see it in the first pic, that 1/2 pvc that goes under my Intex robot, that is the one that goes to the heater behind my fence. the 1/2 pvc that you see going up the right of the skimmer is the return coming from the heater.
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