I just installed a 27x52 pool last year. I've been given the opportunity to possibility of installing 3 4x8 Solar water heater panels. My question is is 3 panels gonna be over kill or not enough or am I wasting my time. I'm located around Chattanooga TN and we get a amount of sunlight where the pool is. All info is appreciated.
Solar water heater help
- Thread starter fishindude911
- Start date
sktn77a
Gold Supporter
I take it these are passive panels? Really depends on your sun exposure and the water volume you are trying to heat. The installing contractor should be able to answer your question but, as a rough guess, I don't think 3 panels will be anywhere near enough.
Your 3 4'x8' panels would make up about 96 sq.ft. of solar heating. It all depends on their type, but I have 5 panels on my roof that total about 288 sq.ft. for a 9000 gallon pool with 700 gallon overflow spa. I'm in Orlando, Florida and I can get my pool to 86+ degrees from April through October. I usually turn it off in July/August to keep the pool from getting too warm. I'm guessing your pool is probably 40 - 45,000 gallons based on the size, so i guess it all depends what temperature you want to achieve, and when you want to achieve it.
A quick calculation on this calculator says you would need about 800 sq.ft. of panels to get enough heating for your pool from solar, but i'm not sure what temperature they are trying to achieve. The calc was pretty spot on for my setup though, and mine works well.
Pool Heater Calculator For Sizing Swimming Pool Heating Panels
A quick calculation on this calculator says you would need about 800 sq.ft. of panels to get enough heating for your pool from solar, but i'm not sure what temperature they are trying to achieve. The calc was pretty spot on for my setup though, and mine works well.
Pool Heater Calculator For Sizing Swimming Pool Heating Panels
- Jun 7, 2017
- 9,050
- Pool Size
- 29000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Jandy Aquapure 1400
I don't think 3 panels will do anything for you at all. It just simply isn't enough surface area.
Pretty cool tool but ... I wish they made it for volume not surface and give some indication of what results are expected like a delta for temperature. Is there any other similar calculator you guys could recommend ?
- May 3, 2007
- 16,880
- Pool Size
- 20000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Hayward Aqua Rite (T-15)
Back of the envelope. Panels will typically add about 1000 BTU/sq-ft on an average day. I have had mine reach 1500 btu/sq-ft in the summer. You can then figure out how much the panels raise the pool temp each day. But where it gets tricky is in estimating heat loss which is a big component into panel performance and where a lot of web sites really fall short in their estimates.
I built a spreadsheet which attempts to capture all of the heat gain and heat loss components. But unfortunately it is a bit complicated to use and requires some detailed information about the pool, panels, sun exposure and weather conditions. But if you are game, the spreadsheet is in my signature.
I built a spreadsheet which attempts to capture all of the heat gain and heat loss components. But unfortunately it is a bit complicated to use and requires some detailed information about the pool, panels, sun exposure and weather conditions. But if you are game, the spreadsheet is in my signature.
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