When do YOU stop passive heating?

[mknmike]

This year is the first year that I started early with:
1) The clear solar cover going on every night and coming off near every day.
2) The 24 watt fountain pump running water through my black garden hose on my black driveway during the sunny parts of the day (returning water 90+ degrees).

I hit 78 degrees by Memorial Day weekend and have gotten the temps up to 86 F at times. The water is warmer than the air almost all the time here near Philadelphia. The nightly lows have been getting into the 50’s and 60’s, but we are due for our first heat wave coming up where the lows will be in the 70’s and highs will get into the upper 90’s. That gets me wondering if the pool water temperature is warm enough, and I should stop my heating. The temp has been normally getting as low as 79-81 in the morning and then gets up to maybe 84 most days. It’s still “the warmer the better” right now, but I’m wondering if I will regret my efforts when it gets warmer this week. It takes less effort to plug in and unplug the garden hose heater, but kicking the hose around the driveway can get old. Pulling the cover out and rolling it back up isn’t too bad either. But I don’t know if that has a more positive or negative affect on the water quality. When I roll up in the morning, the debris and bugs all end up at the shallow end where I can quickly scoop them out.

I want to extend the season as long as possible, but I realize that there’s little I can do when cooler fall temps keep people from wanting to take a dip. Late in the season the open pool is just nicer to look at than the green mesh cover.

Trying to think ahead in my third year of ownership, but first year that I feel I almost know what I’m doing.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Bromine in ground 28’x15’ pool with 7’ deep end.

Thanks!
Mike

 

[Newdude]

Hey Mike and Welcome !!!!!

Ideal temp is way too subjective IMO. Then the weather makes or breaks you at will. Lol.

If the pool is too warm at any point, stop the hose heat and leave it uncovered and in 3 days it'll be where it would have been on its own. Maybe less if it's breezy too.

 

[mknmike]

Thank you! I don’t think we’ve ever had it too warm. So I will keep at it just to see how warm I can make it. I think I will add a timer to the 24 watt fountain pump that sends water through the hose too. Little bits of progress every month.

 

[mknmike]

I went away for a day and left the cover on all day long AND left the black hose pump on while I was gone too. I came back to 87 F last night and the black hose water was actually cooler than the pool water. My wife and Mother In Law have said they’d get in when it hits 90 F, so this is a bit of a science project at this point. This week the lows will be above 70, and highs in the upper 90’s. I turned the AC on in the house (upstairs at night to sleep and downstairs to work during the day). So I bet everybody stays in the house to stay cool instead of using the pool. I typically just dive in and get right out and let the evaporation cool me. I know that worked real well in Arizona, but it’s much more humid here and evaporation is much slower.

Last year I ran a fountain on the return to pool shooting like a sprinkler in the air, but this year running the black hose like a fountain gets me that one water feature that might help increase the PH. I may need to switch back to that to cool the pool, stop heating it, and also keep the PH up.

I’m learning.

 

[superdave5599]

I've been shooting for about 86 degrees. Have a larger homemmade hose-type heater that does add some amount of warmth, though I don't know how much exactly. And a bubble cover like yours. I still have the pump timer set to turn on the hose heater during the sunny parts of the day, but stopped messing with the cover last week.

Though, I'll probably put it on tonight as it is going to get cool for a day or two, before getting hot again! This morning I checked and it was closer to 82 degrees.

 

[mas985]

This year is the first year that I started early with:
1) The clear solar cover going on every night and coming off near every day.

For most pools, that is counter productive. Removing the cover only really works when the humidity is very high and there is zero wind. You will lose more heat through evaporation and convection than you will gain heat by the cover being removed. Unless you are swimming, I would just leave it on.

 

[mknmike]

For most pools, that is counter productive. Removing the cover only really works when the humidity is very high and there is zero wind. You will lose more heat through evaporation and convection than you will gain heat by the cover being removed. Unless you are swimming, I would just leave it on.

Well, you are right about that. We do use the pool for swimming nearly every day and also like the way it looks when open. Putting it on at night is to prevent radiative cooling and evaporation and provide a layer of insulation between the cold air and warmer water.

Last night I left for a <24 hour work trip and did Not Leave my garden hose heater running. I think the water was around 86-88 F but I can’t remember exactly.

I DID put the cover on the pool when it was really hot today, probably high 90’s. I just put my hand in the pool and was surprised to see how hot the water is. It is nearly 95 F!! It’s certainly over 93 F. This is the shallow end, but still, I’ve never seen temps that hot before.

Anyway, now I’m REALLY entering science project mode because this doesn’t feel like it would be a pleasant temperature for swimming. I wonder when the people who like warm temps will finally give it a try.

 

[mknmike]

I've been shooting for about 86 degrees. Have a larger homemmade hose-type heater that does add some amount of warmth, though I don't know how much exactly. And a bubble cover like yours. I still have the pump timer set to turn on the hose heater during the sunny parts of the day, but stopped messing with the cover last week.

Though, I'll probably put it on tonight as it is going to get cool for a day or two, before getting hot again! This morning I checked and it was closer to 82 degrees.

Well, I did the opposite today. I left the cover on and did not run the garden hose heater. And I gained at least 6 degrees to near 95 F. It seems a clear bubble cover on a sunny day is one heck of a heater.