Want to build solar heater/cooler

[Austintatious]

Hello everyone.

I am wanting to build a solar heater. Mainly to extend the swimming season (start sooner end later). I want to also design it in a way that will allow me to push water through it at night and blow air over it so that I can cool it off during the really hot days.

Is there any websites or threads that you can point me to, to get the ideas flowing?

I have a great place in mind, up above the pool equipment like a big awning facing Southto catch the spring/fall sun.

I would also need to install some Fans to move air across it for cooling. That got me to thinking about what I would use as a heat exchanger and I started to wonder if it would be possible to use an arrangement of car radiators.

I am all ears on I dead and resources

 

[pooldv]

There is no need to run air on the solar panels to cool the water at night. I run my panels at night in August to cool our pool and warm it in spring and fall. I did my research and bought my panels from Solar Direct and I installed them. I also did research here, there are lots of diy solar threads. There are pics of my solar in my pool thread, link in sig. The most important piece is the solar controller to open and close the valve when heat/cooling is available.

 

[jblizzle]

I am just going to point out that DIY is fine ... assuming you mean buying commercial solar panels and installing them yourself.
If you mean trying to lay a bunch of hoses down, then it is not worth the effort. The commercial panels are more efficient that you can DIY and at a lower cost for the sqft of sun exposure you get.
I agree that a controller is very important to optimizing your heat gain or cooling.