Solar Pool Heating Recommendations

Q: Has anyone had any experiences with solar heating for your swimming pool? I'm considering buying a system from a company called Heliocol (sp?) that ties into my pool's filtration system. The filtered pool water is pumped up onto the roof of my house, where there are 8 solar collectors, and then the heated water flows back down into the pool. The pump would need to run during the day instead of at night. The system would cost $3995 and I would get a 25% tax credit from the state of Arizona. The system would extend the swimming season to be from mid-March through October. I'd like to know people's opinions on the concept and any experiences people may have had with this company.

A: In the last house I was in, 35th Ave and Bell area, I rigged up my own solar heater for the pool. I tapped into the filtration system, diverting a part of the filter outlet water up to the patio roof, where I had laid 1500 feet of 1/2 inch black plastic irrigation tubing in parallel strips. It cost me a total of about $100 in materials and a couple of weekends to do. It worked extremely well. Even if you don't want to build your own system, nearly $4k for a pool heater sounds expensive to me. A couple of other caveats: You might find you need to use a solar cover on the pool to be able to use it in mid March through October. You lose alot of heat over night when the night time temperatures are below 80. (black body absorbtion effect of the night sky!) Check the HP rating of your pump. If its less than 1.5, it might not do the job. I, too, have a friend who installed his own do-it-yourself system but with real solar panels. It worked great for years, if I remember correctly, but then the water stopped flowing for some reason (I forget why) and MELTED the pipes. I'm pretty sure he has since fixed that problem. I thought I'd mention this in case you decide to do it yourself and this would affect your choice of materials or whatever. Yes, it's recommended the tablets be placed in the skimmer holes whether or not you have a pool cover. The reason the pool stores give me is that, if the chlorine is going into solution near the top of of the water it "evaporates" (or whatever chlorine does) faster (into the air?) It would also be warmer at the surface I suppose, hastening the reaction and using more tablets. 'Course - then there are the purists who will remind you that there are some metal parts in the filtration system and they get hit with a lot more chlorine when it's right in the intake. But the floaters don't tend to move around very fast. I actually had my pool turn green with two floaters loaded with three-inchers and the filter running 7 hours a day, When I have my floating pool cover on, I make sure the floating chlorinator is at the edge of the pool/cover. That way, any gas can escape to the atmosphere. Failure to do so will quickly bleach the cover at that spot and make the plastic brittle. I also put it near the skimmer figuring that the constant flow of water past the floater while the filter is running helps circulate the chlorine. FYI, our last house had an in-ground vinyl pool. Initially, I put the chlorine tablets in the skimmer. When the time came to change the vinyl liner, I was amazed at how stiff/brittle the vinyl around the skimmer had become. Between that damage and the concern of what the concentrated dose was doing to the pump/filter, I started using a floater after that.

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