24' x 48" Pro Series Frame Pool how to heat in Oregon

Hello My name is Jenny. We own a 24' x 48" Pro Series Frame Pool and live in the state of Oregon. We have nice summers we average from 75 to 85. we do get some rain days. This is our second year with the pool and last year was some trial and error for sure. One problem we had was we have a sloped yard and even with days of works it was not level enough. This year we hired someone to come level it. The other problem we had was it being too cold last year to really enjoy until late into the summer. We are on a pretty tight budget and was wondering if there is any way for say 100 to 150 dollars that we could get some actual heat into it. I have looked at solar heaters on ebay/amazon etc but worry we may not get enough heat everyday here to make that work well. Has anyone had luck with the solar heaters? We wondered about a small used electric or propane spa heater or something but we were not sure if that would be safe etc. We saw that intext does sell a electric heater for above grounds but only for england . Is there anything similar here in the us? any helpful hints will be appreciated..TIA
Jen

If you are on a tight budget, electrical heat is NOT an option. I've known of several folks getting electrical heaters; I've never known anyone to CONTINUE using them past the first couple of invoices.

I'm not sure that there's any option for you EXCEPT solar. Heat pumps can work well, but the cost is multiple thousands. A propane pool or span heater will work, but even there, few people use them after the first few invoices.

Sorry!

Solar panels do a great job on my pool. Especially when combined with a solar blanket to keep from losing the heat overnight that you gain during the day.

If you don't have a solar blanket, that's the first thing to get. A 24' round solar cover runs from $70-$120 and WILL make a big difference. Combine that with solar panels and you can warm your pool nicely inexpensively.

Your pool is in the 13,000 gallon range. My parents had an AG pool that size and I installed a 20x4 and 10x4 solar panel for them and, with only 6 hours of direct sun, their pool went from 78 deg, max, to 84 deg, all summer. But they used a solar cover.

I heat my pool with solar and, already, today, it hit 83. But I MUST use a solar cover to insulate, especially overnight.

Carl

Thank you all so much for the advice. Sounds like the first purchase needs to be a solar cover and then a solar heater. My son and his friends braved the cold but I really just can not enjoy it too cold. We are thinking of setting it up next week so hopefully we can get a cover first at the very least. Is that different than the cover that came with our pool?

Solar covers look like heavy duty blue bubble wrap.

I just purchased AquaQuick Above Ground Solar Pool Heater by mail not sure if it is a good one had bad and good reviews. Hopefully it will help. we have been unable to find a solar cover in our size though.

Is there a way when it arrives to get the best results from this heater? We were wondering if buying longer black hoses and maybe coiling them in the sun would help the heater make the water warmer.

Essentially, you are asking, "If I couple my new solar water heater, to a secondary smaller, home-made, solar water heater, will I get more heating?"

This is a question I can answer with an absolutely definitive, "Maybe!" ;)

If you
+ using enough tubing, and
+ don't screw up the flow by introducing too much pressure loss, and
+ connect everything properly,
then, you'll get a little more heat . . . if the sun is shining brightly.

LOL sounds like it might work maybe possible