Let me preface this with saying that I am in Texas and when the sun is out, it's HOT. Your mileage may vary depending on your climate with this setup.
I know that many people are down on this idea because it's not efficient, but for me it was a cheap and easy thing to try in order to get the pool warmer and it works!
My pool is 90% covered from the sun with trees. Which makes it significantly colder than almost every other pool in my area. Most pools get over 90 degrees in the summer and mine stays about 75 at the hottest part of the summer. So I went in search of something that someone with basic skills could do.
The setup:
- Two PVC Tees with adapter to threaded 1/2 inch
- PVC 1 1/2 inch ball shut off
- 1/2 inch PVC to garden hose adapter female
- 1/2 inch PVC to male garden hose adapter
- Two brass garden hose shutoffs
- 500ft Black Rubber garden hose (I bought these over time from sears as they went on sale, usually under $30 each and lifetime warranty)
Check out the photos for how I set it up, you will have to do it differently based on your plumbing. Important to note is that it's after the filter on the way back to the pool. To turn it on, I just open the two garden hose valves and turn the shutoff just a bit and the pump has plenty of juice to push the water up to the roof/pull it back down on the lower pressure side. It does increase the pressure by about 5-10 psi, but this doesn't seem to affect the overall pump operation.
I just have the garden hose running across the top of the roof rather than coiled. Pretty simple and effective for me.
At the end of the day, this will bring up the temperature 2-3 degrees on a hot/sunny day here. Brings the average pool temp for me up from about 72 to about 80 which makes a world of difference for Texans who are cold water wimps. I also keep floating pool rings on the pool to prevent evaporation, since it's a bean shaped pool and solar blankets have been an utter failure for me.
I'm not an expert by any means but just wanted to share what I did in case it helps anyone else out.
I know that many people are down on this idea because it's not efficient, but for me it was a cheap and easy thing to try in order to get the pool warmer and it works!
My pool is 90% covered from the sun with trees. Which makes it significantly colder than almost every other pool in my area. Most pools get over 90 degrees in the summer and mine stays about 75 at the hottest part of the summer. So I went in search of something that someone with basic skills could do.
The setup:
- Two PVC Tees with adapter to threaded 1/2 inch
- PVC 1 1/2 inch ball shut off
- 1/2 inch PVC to garden hose adapter female
- 1/2 inch PVC to male garden hose adapter
- Two brass garden hose shutoffs
- 500ft Black Rubber garden hose (I bought these over time from sears as they went on sale, usually under $30 each and lifetime warranty)
Check out the photos for how I set it up, you will have to do it differently based on your plumbing. Important to note is that it's after the filter on the way back to the pool. To turn it on, I just open the two garden hose valves and turn the shutoff just a bit and the pump has plenty of juice to push the water up to the roof/pull it back down on the lower pressure side. It does increase the pressure by about 5-10 psi, but this doesn't seem to affect the overall pump operation.
I just have the garden hose running across the top of the roof rather than coiled. Pretty simple and effective for me.
At the end of the day, this will bring up the temperature 2-3 degrees on a hot/sunny day here. Brings the average pool temp for me up from about 72 to about 80 which makes a world of difference for Texans who are cold water wimps. I also keep floating pool rings on the pool to prevent evaporation, since it's a bean shaped pool and solar blankets have been an utter failure for me.
I'm not an expert by any means but just wanted to share what I did in case it helps anyone else out.
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