Heat Your Pool With Solar Energy

Published April 13, 2011 | By Jerry

Did you know that your swimming pool can be heated using the power of the

sun? Yes, you can heat your pool with solar energy. The cost can be minimal

if you do the work yourself. By using the proper material and instruction you

can build your own solar collector. Building your own solar collector can

increase length of your pool season by 1 to 2 months, depending on what

part of the country you live in. Below I have listed different ways of how to

heat your pool with solar energy.

Direct flow solar heater-The first type we will discuss uses your pool pump to

circulate the hot water. This type of system will raise the temperature of

your pool by 10 degrees or more. A series of tubes or piping is placed on your

roof. It is all sized according to the volume of your pool. This is a do-it-

yourself installation with included instructions. Can be installed on roof,

ground, or a rack system. The system must be easy to drain for winter. There

are no added electric cost or fuel bills to pay, strictly runs on solar energy

with the use of your existing pool pump.

Solar pool heater with existing system-If you already have an existing pool

heater, gas or heat pump type, then you can save money by installing a

direct flow system. Incorporating the same system as mentioned above with

a system of valves, you can save money on your energy cost to heat your

pool.

Indirect flow solar heater-Some bigger systems or commercial pools may

need to use added pump motors to help circulate the heater pool water.

These systems use what are called auxiliary pumps to aid pumping the water

into the collectors.

So how do all these systems work? Using solar collectors; which are made of

special polypropylene, water is circulated through a series of tubes in these

collectors. These collectors are made to withstand ultra violet rays of the sun

and usually have a warranty of ten plus years. The sun’s energy is used to

heat the water in these tubes, and then is circulated back to the pool. Some

systems can be made totally automated by controlling the water

temperature using a special controller. Unlike solar hot water heating

systems which are mounted inside of a collector box, and operate at higher

temperatures, these pool heater systems operate between 85 to 100

degrees F. if you want to extend your swimming pool season then you may

want to heat your pool with solar energy.

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