DYI Solar heater

[jkoch]

WOW, Thanks for all the great response. The 1 hp with 2000 lbs filter I know is oversized but I paid 100 bucks for the Hayward filter and pump, pump being 2 years old. This is my first pool and with the 100 dollar system, the Intex pump and filter still sits in the box, thank goodness. Its just amazing how easy this pool is to maintain with the oversized filter. I just run the pump on a timer for fewer hours and time of day to help with energy cost.

Anywho, If i am understanding the information you kindly provided, I will need to buy a separate pump to do a solar heater as you described. Is that correct?

Thanks,
Jim

[waterbear]

Not necessarily. Much depends on how you build an plumb the collectors. Start by reseaching on the internet for DIY solar pool heaters and take it from there.

[mas985]

If you use a single line of 1" pipe, the head loss will likely be quite high and flow rates very low. However, if you use 10x100' lines in parallel instead of a single 1000' line, the equivalent head loss will be close to 100' of 2.5" line which is a much better situation. 20x50' line would be the equivalent of 50' of 3" line which would be even better.

Also, 1" line is probably going to be less efficient than using smaller tubes like many solar panels. 1000' of 1" line is only about 80 sq-ft of surface area so that is less than 20% surface area coverage for your pool which is a little on the low side. While it will probably add heat to the pool, don't expect too much of a rise.