DIY solar pool heating

 

How many of us look at the pool and wish it was warm enough to use for longer periods of the year?
Then fall over at the cost of adding heating to the swimming pool

I decided to see what alternatives were available and if it was possible to do it yourself with minimal out lay.

A friend kindly sent me the following document

>>>>click here to down load<<<<

You will need word installed on your PC to view it

The web site owner here has also very kindly made the above document into an web page and it can be viewed directly here
This e-book will show you how to harness the power of the sun for your very own solar heating system for your pool

After initially laughing it off, as it is obviously done for a kids paddling pool.
The shops mentioned are UK diy retailers for those that are not UK ex-pats

My friend mentioned that he knew someone doing something similar with good results.
The guy was said to be using black hose, layed out on the garden beside his house. The type of hose used to water the orange groves that cover the Spanish country side
All the guy was doing was pegging the hose out on the ground, with no glass or anything else to increase the heat from the sun
He did not mention what pumping system was being used to circulate the water
I have also found that the area of hose needed, should be equivalent to at least half the swimming pool surface

At this stage I got cold feet and have not had the time to pursue the experiment

If anyone does try the above, please post your findings and if it is worth taking the plunge

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This how now been redone along with having its own web site to make it easier for non members to find

I'm intrigued by the simplicity of the system and would be interested to find if anyone does try building a working system

You can find the newly done version of the diy solar swimming pool heating below
This will show you how to harness the power of the sun for your very own diy solar heating system for your pool

It does look like the average kid could build it, along with only two parts needed to create it

But I will also add, we take no responsibility if anyone tries building the diy solar pool heating and it damages their pool in any way

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We have now gone one better and given the solar pool heating its very own web site and address to find it
If you search ebay, you will find several people selling plans for diy solar pool or diy solar swimming pool heating.
If anyone has any other plans for diy solar swimming pool heating they wish to pass on to us, I will be more than happy to host them, along with rebuilding the web site to accommodate them.
Of course we do not believe in paying for the plans, but are more than happy to add them to the web site without cost

 

Another discussion on DIY solar pool heating can be found on the link below
http://www.thespainforum.com/off-top...tml#post132063

The method in question is using old radiators as the source for collecting the heat to warm the water as it flows through them.

 

Regarding using old radiators to heat a pool.
Reading some other forums this does not come recomended.
I am not a chemist but working in a foundry I know a bit about metallurgy. Chlorine tends to react with most metals especially iron, brass and copper. I think the reaction between the chlorine and the copper/brass would create a pool contaminated with copper chloride. I think when it comes to pool heating it is best to stick with Stainless Steel and Plastic.
Sorry.

 

A simple way to make a parabolic trough Solar collector.

parabolic trough made easy -- an easy source of cheap and abundant energy

Have Fun ....

Rick.

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Rick...

 

Just thought I would report on my el cheapo solar heating system. Extended my black painted, blackboard paint, 100mm plastic pipes laid out in the field giving a total run, mostly East West, of 260 metres. Gives a total heat pickup area of about 50% of the pool area. Pool 5 x 10 metres by Desjoyaux, approx 75 cubic metres. Making the assumption that just under one third of the pipe circumference picks up significant amounts of heat.

Tried various flow rates and the best flow rate/temperature rise product was at 54 litres/min, a small proportion of the flow through the pump, giving a typical rise of 5 to 6 degrees between input and output. Other flow rates tried were 36, 27 and 15 litres/minute.

The pool has been too hot of late, maximum noted 34 degrees, and I had to run the pipes at night from time to time to get it down to 30 degrees. Lower flow rates gave a greater rise in temperature, 9 degrees at 15 litres/minute, between input and output but a lower flow rate/temp rise product. I have nearly always run them during the day even if the pool did not need heating as to leave them siting in the sun without flow produced in-pipe water temperatures of up to 45 degrees. Don't know how long they would stand that. I think pool temperatures in excess of 30 degrees might shorten the life of the liner. Current pool water temperature today of 29.5 degrees.

It would be very helpful to me if some of you good folk who use solar heating for the pool could post your heater performance figures. i.e. flow rate and temperature rise. I need the data to see if my humble efforts have been worth doing or otherwise.

A heater goodness factor (HGF) could be obtained by multiplying the flow rate through the solar heater in litres per minute by the difference in temperature between the pool and the water returning to the pool having passed through the heater.

For my own DIY pool heater I get the following figures at the moment. Flow rate through the solar heated pipes 54 litres/minute 5 degrees rise (Celsius) on the return to the pool HGF 270, 36 litres/minute 7 degrees rise HGF 252, 21 litres/minute 9 degree rise HGF 189. Pool is 75 000 litres and solar heated pipes are some 260 metres of 100mm plastic pipe painted black with non-reflective blackboard paint................JR.

 

Having looked at American pool sites I have done the following calculation.
My problem is that all I have is my experimental results obtained simply by measuring the flow rate with a bucket of known capacity and a stop watch and a thermometer. I have guessed that about a little less than a third of the circumference of my 4 inch (100mm) diameter pipe picks up significant energy from the sun and I have taken readings at the solar peak when the pipe is broadside on to the sun which is when, I assume, the energy picked up should be at a maximum. From this I deduce that the area equivalent of my DIY system is about 280 sq feet (26 square meters), i.e. a tad more than half the surface area of the pool.

American flat plate manufactures quote performance figures typically in term of BTUs/square foot/day and whilst it might be possible to convert my figures to such I must confess I am at a bit of a loss to know how to do that, just getting old and silly I guess, so I am finding it difficult to make comparisons. Any suggestions?.................................JR

PS If I take 1000 BTUs/Sq foot/day as a typical flat plate collector figure and assuming a day when there is a reasonable amount of sunshine is 8 hours then this equates to 2.08 BTUs/sq foot/minute. Taking my own reading of 14.04 gallons/minute or 112.32 pints/minute and a temperature rise of 9 degrees F gives me 1010 BTUs/minute over 280 square feet gives me 3.61 BTUs/sq foot/minute. However my figures were taken at the solar peak and near the beginning and end of an 8 hour period the temperature rise obtained would be less so an average BTU input would be less than the 3.61 BTUs calculated. So my system will not be as good as it appears to be at first sight. A comparison therefore is still not really possible or have I got my maths wrong which would not surprise me in the least?