Heating The Pool Using Solar Energy
Friday, December 11th, 2009Have you been thinking of utilizing solar power to heat your swimming pool? You can! Installing solar panels to heat your pool won’t cost you much. You can even build them yourself for less than 0 in materials and less than a weekend’s worth of work. An added benefit is that, after the initial installation cost, you won’t be paying an ongoing fuel bill.
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Before you decide to install solar panels to heat your pool, there are a few key things to think about. First, will your solar panel system be exposed to ample sunlight during the course of the day? The solar panels used for heating pools are simple passive collectors. They normally consist of plastic, water-filled coils encased in shatter-resistant glass. As water collects in the coils, it gets heated by the sun, then pumped into the pool.
If your property has a lot of shade trees, there may not be enough sunlight for a passive solar pool heater. However, a clear south- or west-facing rooftop is an ideal location for solar panels to get the full benefit of sunlight.
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Next, how much difference is there between the outside air and the temperature you want your pool to be? For example, if you’re trying to heat your outdoor pool in Michigan to 78 degrees in freezing weather, you’ll want to stick with a pool cover and a serious gas heater. On the other hand, if you want to heat your outdoor pool in Florida to 80 degrees in 50-degree weather, then a solar heating system would be ideal.
When you do install a solar heater, you’ll still want to cover your pool for such times when the air is cooler than your pool’s water temperature. Any time you notice steam rising from the pool’s surface, it’s best to use the pool cover to retain the heat.
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If you’re new to solar heating systems, here’s a word of caution. Some people mistakenly believe that they might save even more money if they used the pool’s solar heater to heat water for their home. Sorry, but the two systems don’t combine well. The water in your pool contains chlorine and muriatic acid. It won’t do any harm to swim in it or to swallow a little, but you really wouldn’t want to add it to your home’s drinking water system. Solar water heating for your home is an whole different project.