PhantomAndy
05-23-2007, 01:57 PM
I'm just curious if anyone has either considered or done a concrete deck based solar heating system for their pool.
It occured to me about a year after I built my pool that the concrete deck is terribly hot, especially during the hotter parts of the summer. As I soaked my semi scalded feet in the water after skimming the pool, I wondered:
If before pouring the deck, and possibly even pouring a thicker deck to compensate for possible structural losses, if anyone had placed some bypass plumbing _inside_ the concrete deck itself.
This could produce a two fold benefit. First, of course the hot concrete could transfer heat to the water as it passed through the pipes embedded in the deck, and of course second, this heat transfer would yield some significant cooling to the deck itself making it more comfortable to walk on.
I considered the following facts while I pondered:
Adding the pipe/hose to the deck would compromise the structral integrity. This would create the need for additional structural enhancement of the concrete and possibly a thicker pour (thicker than the standard 4 inch residental used for most pools in my area.
Adding such a system would only be benefical during beginning and end of the swim season, and would have a reduced benefit during those times due to the sun being at lower angles, and not as hot.
There would have to be a bypass system in place to enable easy removal of this section of the plumbing during the hotter months, unless of course you wanted a 25000 gallon hot tub in August.
The piping/hose would need several drain points or some method to easily drain/blowout the system for winterizing.My interest is currently peaked on this topic because I'm considering adding some additional concrete decking (only went with the standard 4 foot deck at original build). It probably wouldn't be that difficut to build such a feature into the new decking, but I'm hesitant to be the first with such an expensive project.
It occured to me about a year after I built my pool that the concrete deck is terribly hot, especially during the hotter parts of the summer. As I soaked my semi scalded feet in the water after skimming the pool, I wondered:
If before pouring the deck, and possibly even pouring a thicker deck to compensate for possible structural losses, if anyone had placed some bypass plumbing _inside_ the concrete deck itself.
This could produce a two fold benefit. First, of course the hot concrete could transfer heat to the water as it passed through the pipes embedded in the deck, and of course second, this heat transfer would yield some significant cooling to the deck itself making it more comfortable to walk on.
I considered the following facts while I pondered:
Adding the pipe/hose to the deck would compromise the structral integrity. This would create the need for additional structural enhancement of the concrete and possibly a thicker pour (thicker than the standard 4 inch residental used for most pools in my area.
Adding such a system would only be benefical during beginning and end of the swim season, and would have a reduced benefit during those times due to the sun being at lower angles, and not as hot.
There would have to be a bypass system in place to enable easy removal of this section of the plumbing during the hotter months, unless of course you wanted a 25000 gallon hot tub in August.
The piping/hose would need several drain points or some method to easily drain/blowout the system for winterizing.My interest is currently peaked on this topic because I'm considering adding some additional concrete decking (only went with the standard 4 foot deck at original build). It probably wouldn't be that difficut to build such a feature into the new decking, but I'm hesitant to be the first with such an expensive project.