Question

[poolheater]

I'm new here and I'm trying like heck to figure this solar heat out. Last year we put up a 15 ft round pool, 48 inches deep, Intex steel frame pool. I need heat, I'm disabled and the cold hurts me bad. I went out and got 2 Fafco solar panels, 4' x 20' each and also got a pump to pump it on top of my roof, 1 floor. The pump is 1 hp. (I was told that one panel would be enough, but just barely, so I got 2. )
I had a blue bubble solar cover and a clear blue cover that I used last year, this year I have the clear white bubble solar cover. (I was told it is better than the blue.) After we are done swimming for the day/evening, I put the solar cover on, then I put all the floats on top of the cover, which covers most of the surface. I finish up with the clear cover over the floats. When I go out in the morning to turn on the pump, I don't take off the top cover until it warms up some, like 70-75 degrees. When I take the cover off, the heat under the cover pours out. I figure that will help keep it warm over night since we tend to drop down to 60 - 70 degrees in the summer. As it warms up and the sun starts to hit the pool, I take the cover and floats off. The sun hits the pool from 10:30 am till around 5:30 - 6:00 PM. The sun hits the panels on the roof from 9:30 - 10:00 am till around 6:30- 7:00 PM.
I'm not happy with the panels. Hubby put shut off valves on the in take and on the out take (Is that what they are called?) so we could adjust the flow. It pumps pretty darn good. I think it pumps to strong and barely can get it down enough to get the water hot. When it first comes thru, it's hot as it can be, but it only last for about 5-10 min. Then it cools off till it's only a few degrees warmer than what's in the pool. Does that sound right? Did we do anything wrong? Is there anything we can do to make it better?
thanks

[poolheater]

wow, no one even tried to help. Looking for a new forum...

[lbridges]

You might consider bumping a question before going away mad.

I didn't see you original post, but I can tell you that a good target temperature difference is about 4 to 5 degrees. Your pump should also be matched to the flow rating of the panels, something you don't address.

[floridapooltech]

2 panels doesn't sound anywhere near enough to heat up a 15ft. round pool. We will need more information to decide what is going on.

1. Unheated average pool temperature
2. Desired pool temperature
3. solar panel dimensions
4. Are the panels located East/West?
5. Pool volume
6. When are you running the system in order to heat?

This information will likely get you a speedy response. Hope this helps! I apologize nobody got to you earlier to ask these questions.