Hi folks:

Has anyone heard of heating pool water by ciculating it through a long black garden hose on the patio?

My pool builder suggested I give this a try after we found it too costly and troublesome to retrofit a propane heater. I'd have to excavate a lot of patio and driveway. Electric is still an option, but the initial cost is high, the BTUs are low. I think you have to run an electric heater all the time because of the low BTUs compared to propane.

It looks like a garden hose will connect directly to my sliding board water line. My patio is often hot to stand on and I have enough of it to spread 300-400 feet of hose. Then there is blacktop after that. I realize it will probably be a pain to setup and take up the garden hose, but I want to give it a try.

Oh and I don't expect the kind of results a real heater would produce. That would be silly. I am reading online of pool owners in climates North of me getting 20 degree warmer water after it runs through the hose. The problem is there isn't enough of that 20 degree water to make an incredible different. I am expecting a 3-5 degrees in the entire pool.

Thanks,
Bill