Thoughts on a DIY solar pool heater

[waldreps]

Living in Minnesota and not having a pool heater, I have a very short swim season. I've been thinking of ways to make a solar pool heater. I'm thinking of trying to use black plastic irrigation pipe to make a collector like some have but instead of leaving it open, I was thinking of putting it in concrete painted black. I would love to hear others thoughts on the concrete idea. I was thinking that since concrete will absorb the heat from the sun, the many pipes running inside and through the concrete would absorb the heat from it which would then transfer to the water running through. Any thoughts? I got this idea from a photo I saw of a pool being built that was having pipes being run all under the concrete decking so that heat could be absorbed from it to heat the pool water.

[CarlD]

Poconos (Al), one of the Mods here, did something similar creating his own solar panel. However, if you shop, 4'x20' rollable panels aren't that expensive, and surely less than your plan.

[waldreps]

Yeah, Watermom contacted Poconos for me to let him know that I would like to see pictures of his setup and how he made it. I'm not sure about the costs. I'm thinking I could do mine for around $100 or so. The more I read now though makes me think that the concrete wouldn't be a good idea. It would absorb heat pretty good but doesn't seem to transfer it too quickly.

[Watermom]

By the way, I reminded Poconos today that he was supposed to do this. He said he was sorry that he had forgotten about it, but would do it tomorrow.

[33feet]

We built a shallow rectangular box, painted it black, glued on a clear plastic top. Before gluing on top we took a black hose and coiled it inside, so both ends of the hose were coming out a small hole at one end. Also used wood wedges to keep hose in place. We used a sump pump to move water from the pool through the coiled hose and through an additional black hose on the ground. With the sump pump on a 30 minute cycle timer, it helped raise the temperature.

Hope you get warm soon.

[AnnaK]

33feet, I like your construct! We don't have the space to put up solar panels anywhere near the pool but we could easily manage a box such as yours. How long are your hoses? How many 30 minute cycles do you run? Does the box have a solid top under the black vinyl? On second thought, probably not . . . the vinyl is your solar collector, right? Is the box tilted to allow rain water to drain off? Any chance you could post some photos? If so, please e-mail them to poolforum at gmail dot com with reference to this thread and Ben will post them.

[33feet]

I have sent a photo. The overall box is 44" x 33", made of a plywood bottom and 2 x4 sides. It is painted dull black. I am not sure how long the hoses are, we used two to coil in the box. One of the hoses was green, spray painted black. There are two wood pieces that are attached to keep the hose in place. On top of the box was a clear plexiglass sheet to help heat the hoses. In the upper left corner of the photo you can see the in and out hoses. The in hose was hooked to a sump pump in the pool. The sump pump was placed on the timer at 30 minute on/off. It was running whenever it was warm enough to heat the water. The out hose was connected to a black hose that laid on the ground and returned to the pool for additional heating. The box was was nailed together.
It could be tilted to allow rain water to drain off. It is very portable and we are currently not using it now as the pool water is warm enough.
Hope this helps someone.

[AnnaK]

Thank you much for the additional description! I know we have all of the bits out in the garage and the loft, including the plexiglass, to make the box. We'd have to buy the hoses and the sump pump. The little swimming pool cover pump we have is likely not powerful enough. Looking forward to the photo!

[donnaspool]

I found a ton of detailed plans for DIY solar pool heating, here is a link to the one I am going to try hopefully, but follow links on page to other versions including similiar to pocono one mentioned above. Very detailed down to type of tubing to use.
http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects...wCollector.htm

ps also looking at one for potable hot water, veryinteresting stuff out there

[AnnaK]

Thanks for the link!