We are new to owning a pool. We had a sailboat on the east coast of Canada and enjoyed it greatly when we actually sailed. It was very inconvenient to get to the boat, then there was a lot of work prepping, and if you forgot something it was an hour back to the house and an hour back to the marina. Weeknights were difficult to pull off so it was basically nice weekends.

Now we open up a patio door and there's a pool off the deck. We think we are going to like it

We have a 16' x 48" round above ground pool and that is all we think we really need. Although that is what I said about a 26' sailboat -lol, and that changed quickly.

I hooked up a solar heater, just a cheapie, basically black tubing that lies on the ground. Trying to stay cheap until we learn if we will actually use a pool. When I attach the solar heater, the water pressure drops dramatically. The water that was coming into the pool was definitely warmer though and I could see it making a difference over time.

I expected some drop, but the drop was a lot. The pump is 1500 gph, the hose is 1-1/2" for the pump to the pool. I have to reduce the hose to 1-1/4" where it attaches to the solar heater.

I am going to install a bypass valve to keep the water pressure up and hope this works, unless there is a better suggestion. I am also not sure what size hose to use in the bypass, I was thinking 1-1/4", but maybe that doesn't matter.

Thanks for any ideas, or for mentioning something of which I am not thinking.

Scott