Dec
18
Introducing the Solar Pool Heater
Filed Under Equipment
Swimming pools make a great escape in the hot summer months, but there’s no reason why that escape can’t be extended into the colder months. If you haven’t considered heating your pool for year-round use, stop for a minute to think about how enjoyable that would be. Then when you get back from your fantasy, we can get back to the basics: The Sun.
Solar pool heaters in fact, are gaining interest for several good reasons with energy savings being the most significant. Since these heaters operate from solar energy, they can reduce or even completely eliminate the energy costs associated with electric, gas or oil heating devices.
Of course reaping the most advantages from a solar heater requires a little creative thinking. You’ll need to think about your overall climate and then think about the position of your pool. Obviously, pools that are shaded decrease the advantages of natural sunlight while pools that face the south or southwest direction virtually purge the need for a heating system for most of the swimming season. If you have a pool that faces a different direction, a solar collector would help keep it warm.
Solar collectors are unique devices that maintain a pool’s temperature through heat transfer. Separate from the pool itself, a solar collector that sits on top of a roof for example captures heat with a black metal plate. A system that sits on the ground on the other hand, can be positioned close to the pool that it warms. As a “temperature” filter of sorts, a solar pool heater essentially removes cold water from a pool and then replaces it with water warmed by its solar plate. But because it sends heat through water filled tubes, a plumbing system that’s situated far from a pool will actually lose heat. Adequate warmth is then only achieved with a solar collector that measures 75% of a pool’s surface area. That’s a pretty big and cumbersome system and it’s a pretty big drawback as well.
Even a solar pool heater that sits on a roof may require an additional pump — a pressure pump in fact that’s strong enough to push water through long tubes. That’s why solar collectors aren’t 100% self sufficient.
Some solar heaters are part of a combination system. Combination systems employ the use of conventional, electric pool heaters during times when solar collectors aren’t usable. Winter months and dark rainy seasons are good examples that warrant the need for a combination system because sunlight isn’t available every day or all day. When a solar heater fails to adequately heat a pool, the electrical component of a combination system will kick in to compensate.
Be aware that this sort of heater comes with a hefty price. When looking to buy your own solar swimming pool heater, expect to pay around $3,000 to $5,000. You’ll want to look for a heating unit that puts out 20,000 - 200,000 BTUs of heat. (A BTU is a British Thermal Unit and it represents how much heat is required to raise a single pound of water one degree.) Generally, year-round swimming will need a heater that puts out more BTUs than summer pool activity - a period in which a 50,000 BTU heater sufficiently removes the uncomfortable sting in pure cold water.
