Going Solar need your help

[towney]

Panels can face East or West, but North is a waste generally. But watch where the sun is. It moves South in the winter, and North in the summer. For me the difference is SIGNIFICANT and I turn panels on and off accordingly.

Solar heat isn't just "heat". You have to decide what you what it for, when you want it, and how much you want. Typically, salesmen tell you the panels should have a surface area near that of the pool. Like all things, this depends on what you expect of them. My panels are only about 35% of my pool's surface but they do GREAT because of what I expect them to do: Extend my swimming season to early May and mid-to-late September, and warm the pool during the summer so it isn't a shock to get in--and that's living in Northern NJ.

Most solar systems have the advantage of being easily expandable--especially the rollable panels--so you can always make a small system bigger if it is not adequate.

Solar's BIGGEST advantages are that it is basically free to operate--just the pump, but the heat is free, and it can double as a cooling system merely by running it at night. It's disadvantage is that it doesn't work without sun, or in the rain.

After having tried the opaque blue-on-top, black-on-bottom cover, the transparent blue cover, and the totally clear heavy-weight cover, I like the last best. Heavier covers insulate more and take longer to pop their bubbles. Clear covers allow the sunlight to penetrate the water and heat it directly, rather than trying to use conduction and convection currents.

Last, if you get a reel, get a good one, a metal one. I don't like the plastic ones--I had the plastic bearings self-destruct, making it hard to turn, and then the handles broke!

Thanks Carl
I would be getting approx. 75% of my surface area. I'd love to be able to extend season to mid Nov (Florida). If I go heat pump I could heat pool year round, but at a cost. The panels would amount to 7 on my West side. Any thoughs on heat pump?

[RavenNS]

Heat Pumps are awesome!
Everyone I know (locally) has closed up over a month ago; we're still swimming ( even though we've already been having "frost" at night & the leaves have half changed already)

Being that you're in florida, you could literally swim all-year-round

If you have the cash, I'd go with solar panels & a heat pump.
just set the heat pump to the "minimum" temperature that you like to swim at...
& let the solar panels bring it up to what you really like the temperature to be at ...

Happy Swimming :-)

( I'm so envious... wish I could swim year-round...lol)

[CarlD]

I don't know much about heat pumps--just a little. Pool heating is an ideal application--the outside air is warm (in heat pump terms--in the 50's or higher) so they get into their super-efficient range, far more so than gas.

H/Ps have a bad rep because they were used for heating and cooling houses in Northern Virginia (near DC) where it's far too cold for them to be efficient in the winter. But for pools they are supposed to be terrific.

They are expensive to install--2 to 3x what a gas heater costs, but far more efficient. If you need to heat a pool fast, though, they aren't so good--gas is better. But keeping it warm? I gather they can't be beat.

Are they better than solar? In some ways yes, in some ways no.

If you can do both, it would be great. You are in Florida, though, where you get lots and lots of sun.

[TMan]

One question about the return line - Ive noticed in the ads for the prebuilt panels (the kind they show on the ground, standing tilted near the side of an AG pool) that the return lines are flexible pipe.
Can you use the flexible return lines like most AG owners have currently? Isn't the water too hot for flex? I was planning to use my current flex so I don't have to buy any more fixtures but was thinking about the heat?
I'm currently in the 'build' stage of my home built solar heater.
We get over 300 days of sun here in AusTX and we stopped swimming 2 weeks ago, just because we got 2 'cold' fronts and temps dropped into the mid-80s during the day. Yesterday it was 90+ and today it will be also, 9hrs of sun. I'm using 1/2" poly pipe off a 5-outlet header into 50' of hose each, 250' of hose, coiled in a used hard pvc pond (empty of course). With the sun I'm hoping for an added boost of 2-3deg. to current pool temps of 75-77. Night temps in the upper 50's are dropping the pool temp so any recovery is slow. Hoping a little help from my home-built will have us swimming in the evenings/weekends.
TomC

[towney]

I don't know much about heat pumps--just a little. Pool heating is an ideal application--the outside air is warm (in heat pump terms--in the 50's or higher) so they get into their super-efficient range, far more so than gas.

H/Ps have a bad rep because they were used for heating and cooling houses in Northern Virginia (near DC) where it's far too cold for them to be efficient in the winter. But for pools they are supposed to be terrific.

They are expensive to install--2 to 3x what a gas heater costs, but far more efficient. If you need to heat a pool fast, though, they aren't so good--gas is better. But keeping it warm? I gather they can't be beat.

Are they better than solar? In some ways yes, in some ways no.

If you can do both, it would be great. You are in Florida, though, where you get lots and lots of sun.

Thanks gain CarlID
If this is of any help I do have a Starite 400K propane heater so I could use this in conjuction with either. But I still at an impass on which one.

[tphaggerty]

Solar should not get so hot that you can't use flex, BUT, there is no way you can tie that into your normal pump system, you would have to have a separate return to the pool (I think Poconos does it this way, he has a return running on the deck under his diving board just for solar - excuse me in advance if I'm wrong! Someone is doing it this way). Generally, an efficient solar system will return water that is no more than 5 degrees or so above the current pool temp.

[CarlD]

I use separate returns for my solar panels. In fact I have mine as two independent systems, each with its own return.

[Poconos]

That's me...separate return hoses dumping into the deep end and running under the diving board to keep them out of the way. I tie a bleach bottle loaded with sand to the ends to keep the hose ends deep.
Al