Each day we get one day closer to pool season! That is the good news. The bad news is you are going to have to heat that pool. How do you heat your pool; electricity, natural gas or the dreaded propane? If you use any of these a solar pool heating system will save you money on those heating costs. When I was younger, and had hair, my family had an outdoor in ground pool that was heated by coal! I didn't really think anything of it at the time other than I hated to fill the boiler from this little storage area under the pool. We've come a long way since then and that was the 90's.
Boilers have definitely become more efficient but to heat the amount of water to fill a pool still take a lot of energy. If you have an outdoor pool, solar energy just makes sense. Why not use the greatest energy source the world has known?
Pool systems offer an inexpensive way to heat your pool during the warmer months and are simple enough in design that many people install the systems themselves. You don't need to know how to sweat pipe or how to wire in a pump (in most cases). It is just a matter of connecting plastic pipe with glue fittings and some simple low voltage wiring.
In most of the country outdoor pools are used six to nine months of the year. Pool collectors are normally made of polypropylene, a high temperature plastic that can consistently operate in the 200°F range.
- The collectors are black in color and should normally keep a pool in the 80°F range throughout the pool season.
- The same pump that filters the pool is used to circulate pool water through the collectors.
A quick rule of thumb for pool design sizing is one square foot of collector surface area to every two square feet of pool surface area. This can give you a good idea of how large a pool system is required. You will need more collector surface area if your pool is left uncovered, especially in the spring and fall. The pool collectors should face within 30° of true south and are tilted at an angle of latitude minus 15° from horizontal. Virtually all of the pool systems we install today use a simple mechanical timer to control the pump.
You simply filter and heat the pool during daylight hours. Outdoor pool systems probably have one of the quickest returns on your investment of any solar energy equipment. In most cases it is simply foolish not to consider heating an outdoor swimming pool with solar energy.
- The collectors are black in color and should normally keep a pool in the 80°F range throughout the pool season.
- The same pump that filters the pool is used to circulate pool water through the collectors.
A quick rule of thumb for pool design sizing is one square foot of collector surface area to every two square feet of pool surface area. This can give you a good idea of how large a pool system is required. You will need more collector surface area if your pool is left uncovered, especially in the spring and fall. The pool collectors should face within 30° of true south and are tilted at an angle of latitude minus 15° from horizontal. Virtually all of the pool systems we install today use a simple mechanical timer to control the pump.
You simply filter and heat the pool during daylight hours. Outdoor pool systems probably have one of the quickest returns on your investment of any solar energy equipment. In most cases it is simply foolish not to consider heating an outdoor swimming pool with solar energy.
More information about pool heating can be found in the AAA Solar Supply's catalog which can be downloaded here.
