- Nov 12, 2017
- 12,032
- Pool Size
- 12300
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
I've built a few roofs: shake and composite. Worked on or under many. Fixed a few leaks. That's all. But the principles of them are simple enough in terms of what we've been discussing.
To sum up for the OP, solar will heat your pool. Not as well as NG. Probably not as well as heat pump (depends on where you live). But at a fraction of the cost of either. It will extend your season a bit. It will make your season more comfortable. Whatever cons were listed in this thread don't, IMO, negate its value enough to not consider it. Overall rating, very few cons. It works for me, and no other heat source is an option (mostly because of expense).
A cover will enhance any heat source's efficiency, so it's not really at issue in terms of getting solar or not.
The months and temps and seasons are what they are, based on the pool and where you live and the system you choose. You can maximize their output, but that's all that can be done. That might be a con. Solar maxes out, it has a finite limit in how much heat it can put in a pool (based on available mounting area, number of hours per day, number of days per year, where you live, etc). Where, if you have the money, you can run NG 24-365 and get the pool as hot as you want.
Regarding the pump, that's off topic here, other than how it affect solar performance, but I thank you for the tips.
To sum up for the OP, solar will heat your pool. Not as well as NG. Probably not as well as heat pump (depends on where you live). But at a fraction of the cost of either. It will extend your season a bit. It will make your season more comfortable. Whatever cons were listed in this thread don't, IMO, negate its value enough to not consider it. Overall rating, very few cons. It works for me, and no other heat source is an option (mostly because of expense).
A cover will enhance any heat source's efficiency, so it's not really at issue in terms of getting solar or not.
The months and temps and seasons are what they are, based on the pool and where you live and the system you choose. You can maximize their output, but that's all that can be done. That might be a con. Solar maxes out, it has a finite limit in how much heat it can put in a pool (based on available mounting area, number of hours per day, number of days per year, where you live, etc). Where, if you have the money, you can run NG 24-365 and get the pool as hot as you want.
Regarding the pump, that's off topic here, other than how it affect solar performance, but I thank you for the tips.