Intex Solar heat mats 11 sq ft.

[Havlc2u]

Just wondering if any one else has tried these I hooked up 4 of them.
I am actually using a sump pump on a 15 min timer to pause the heating of the water.
So it will pause 15 mins warm up the water then run for 15mins. Seems to work pretty good overall.
Just not sure of it will do any good early in the season in North Dakota.


Here is what a single one looks like I have 4 of them hooked up.

 

[Isaac-1]

This is one of those places where common sense and real world physics don't line up. The best heat transfer will always involve the lowest change in temperature from a solar panel. This means it is always better to heat a lot of water a very small amount than heating a little water a lot, so that the output of a solar heater should be just barely noticeably warmer than the input. Also no matter the gimmicks with ridges, domes, cones, etc. Solar heat for a pool comes down to surface area, and to get a meaningful amount of heat you need solar panels with an area of at least half the surface size of your pool (some people may say 1/3, it all depends on how you define meaningful) and in many cases more than this.

 

[jblizzle]

I agree with Isaac ... the best heating you are going to get out of those is to run the water through continuously ... and certainly use a cover at night.

With only 44 sqft, you may not get as much heat as you would hope for. Isaac and I both have 500+ sqft