solar pool heating

[John]

I had though of running 3-4 inch ABS black pipe and allow the water to flow through it. Then have the pump shut on and off periodically to allow the water to sit in the pipes to heat up. If it sat for an hour and flushed out for 5 min. and then sat for another hour again. In the evening it could run steady to keep the pool clean. It is only an above ground.
Did anyone try it or have opinions on it.

[Pool Helper]

You will get more heat out of this setup if the water flows through the pipes all day, gradually taking the heat to the pool rather than in short bursts.

Running the pump in the cooler evenings will result in heat loss to the surrounding air.

I have heard people mention that the exposed surface area of pipe needs to be at least half the area of the swimming pool to get good results. That sure is a lot of pipe!!

[FGO]

They're a nice idea but they really don't work. Gas pool heaters add hundreds of thousands of BTUs/hour to pool water and they can only raise the temperature about 1.5 degrees f an hour if they are properly sized.

What chance does a 5,000 or 10,000 btuh device have when compared to a standard pool heater?

There's a good reason you don't see a lot of them around.

[Fontana]

They're a nice idea but they really don't work. Gas pool heaters add hundreds of thousands of BTUs/hour to pool water and they can only raise the temperature about 1.5 degrees f an hour if they are properly sized.

What chance does a 5,000 or 10,000 btuh device have when compared to a standard pool heater?

There's a good reason you don't see a lot of them around.

This could not be more wrong. I built a heat exchange for my pool that raised the temp 10 -15 degrees using black hose, tempered glass and solar blanket that works AWESOME!!! I built this for around 150.00 bucks, and it is sitting on my patio cover right now.

The reason you do not see this more often is NOT because they are not effective, it is because you can't make as much money selling them as you can the heat pumps in my opinion.

[jtweney]

Fontana
Where did you purchase your supplies & can you give me the specs you used to designthe system? I have a 21 round above ground and would love to solar heat but research suggests I'd have to spend approx $4000.

[sam060459]

Fontana -- can you give us more info on your design?? I am interested in trying it, especially if it can be made to look fairly nice. Thanks!

They're a nice idea but they really don't work. Gas pool heaters add hundreds of thousands of BTUs/hour to pool water and they can only raise the temperature about 1.5 degrees f an hour if they are properly sized.

What chance does a 5,000 or 10,000 btuh device have when compared to a standard pool heater?

There's a good reason you don't see a lot of them around.

This could not be more wrong. I built a heat exchange for my pool that raised the temp 10 -15 degrees using black hose, tempered glass and solar blanket that works AWESOME!!! I built this for around 150.00 bucks, and it is sitting on my patio cover right now.

The reason you do not see this more often is NOT because they are not effective, it is because you can't make as much money selling them as you can the heat pumps in my opinion.

[dizzey]

Fontana posted on the forum about heating his pool water using tempered glass, solar blanket and rubber hose. Could you elaborate on that as to exactly how you put the package together?[/b]

[nellster]

I would like to know the specs and specific supplies used to make this solar heater,, very interested for 27 above round.
Nova Scotia, Canada