I need help building a solar heater for my pool.?

Question:

I have an in ground 13,000 gallon pool that I use a solar cover on to retain heat, but I would like to swim earlier and later in the year and I was thinking of building my own solar heater. Your suggestions are welcome please! I had thought of a 6' X 3' X 6" deep box that would have densely packed piping going back and forth to the other side where the water would be returned to the pool. The class topped box would concentrate the heat and warm the water passively I believe. Any other suggestions or suggestions on what materials to use? I can draw the water from the filter without having to add a seperate pump.

Answer:
It sounds to me like the set up you envision will work in a limited fashion to heat the water enough to raise the temp 5-8 degrees. If you want this to be a relatively inexpensive project to simply expand the swim season I believe you are on the right track. Good luck!

There are geothermal options.
It does not require much space. A hole is drilled into the ground say 180 meters deep a pipe is inserted all the way down and brought back up(it forms a u shape). As the ground is a good insulator for heat the temp will be constant by using a heat pump(carnot engine)
Its one option that saves on space and is used to heat houses as well. Very common here,

please use this http://www.solardirect.com/ph/sph/sph00/...
to arrive at an approximate area of the heater for inground pools.. Please not eyou may need all this area, as the table assumes worst possible case. You will need a roof with a southern exposure (it would be most efficient way to go). You must make sure the roof is strong enough to handle the load.
The most common material used is black-anodized copper tubing. The soldering is tricky because of the severe thermal cycling during the 24 hour period. Leaks are common and building the panel takes high degree of skill. The way to go would be to install an insulated storage tank in your basement.
That way you will have hot water on demand. The system would be configured in such a way as to have continuous circulation, with the storage tank or without.
The material to cover the box would be plexiglass.
For above ground http://www.pcpools.com/products/deluxeso...

You may wish to have a lot more heat than obtained from such a small box.

Look on the Internet for solar pool heater. You will find both systems to purchase and do it yourself information.

I need help building a solar heater for my pool.?

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