DIY Solar Pool Heater?
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Answer:
Tried the black pipe on the roof one and even in high summer it gave a quick burst of hot water once the pump came on but just not enough ooooomph to warm up the pool. Work out the volume/mass of water you are trying to heat up. 18 foot diameter with (guess) about 4 foot deep makes about 30 tonnes of water. You really need some therms to raise the temperature significantly. On top of that you need to reduce heat loss from pool sides and surface evaporation. Best solution I have found so far is to have a cover made up, or make it up yourself of tough grade bubble wrap. Doesnt have to be black, mine is light blue but it acts to reduce heat loss and when the sun does shine it acts to trap heat into the water layer just beneath the surface. This way my pool with 80 tonnes of water is up to 28C this week and we havent even hit high summer yet. Leaving the cover off just one night results in a one degree fall due to surface heat loss. They do actually sell it as a pool cover material but it does carry a danger that if any kid or animal were to get trapped beneath the floating cover, there is no air to get so ...
You pays your money and makes your choice.
Ok what you can do and its not very expensive
get som black 2inch pvc pipe attache it to the outake hose or outlet that goes to the pump and place the pipe on the top of the house or garage then run the pipe back to the pool make sure you have it hooked up to the pump
it does'nt have to be on the roof you can place it on the lawn but it will kill it
Good luck
the PVC that Dad D is talking about would work- mount it on a fence if there is one nearby. Otherwise, buy some black visqueen plastic available at Lowes and cover your pool or use the garbage bags.Or just invite a group of kindergartners to use your pool and they can pee in it at the same time! (j/k)
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