Solar heat swimming pool

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ashtondav
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Solar heat swimming pool

Postby ashtondav » Sat Apr 28, 2018 1:56 pm

Hi

I have had a look at utube and am inclined to build a simple solar heater for the pool. Probably a submersible solar water pump and 200 metres of black irrigation tubing. Does anyone have any tips, experience or best in class tutorial. Please bear in mind I am a technical numpty!

ashtondav
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Re: Solar heat swimming pool

Postby ashtondav » Wed May 02, 2018 8:28 am

Quick update. I have had problems sourcing a sufficiently powerful solar pump but this one will operate up to 1350l/h so with nine hours sun I will recirculate about 20% of the pool which should lift the temperature 2C to 3C, hopefully. I will use about 50m of 13mm black irrigation hose coiled on black painted board. For a number of reasons I may not get around to this project until September but will report back then.

If anyone’s interested this is the pump

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/CE-IP68 ... 34837.html?

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Re: Solar heat swimming pool

Postby casita-bonita » Wed May 02, 2018 10:23 am

We have a professionally installed solar heating system fitted to our pool, although for a number of reasons it's not in use at the moment.

Why do you want a separate pump? Our heating tube is inline with the normal water flow through the main pump.

You're probably going to need a lot mor than 200m of tubing. Ours is configured as 24 lengths of approx 32m in parallel. So getting on for 800 metres. Is special ribbed pipe and is ridiculously expensive, last time I bought some to make repairs it was 1.60e per metre.
Regards

Bob

ashtondav
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Re: Solar heat swimming pool

Postby ashtondav » Wed May 02, 2018 5:41 pm

I am basically copying a neighbour who is achieving a 3C to 6C increase in pool heat with 150m of 13m tube. Not interested in connecting to the electric pump as I want solar. He does not have a solar pool cover like we do so it will be an interesting experiment.

andrewhesketh
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Re: Solar heat swimming pool

Postby andrewhesketh » Tue Jun 26, 2018 9:42 am

just get a solar pool cover and leave it on at night. order it from the UK and get it deliver

El Cid
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Re: Solar heat swimming pool

Postby El Cid » Tue Jun 26, 2018 10:30 am

Why get one from the UK?

I would hazard a guess that there are slightly more pools in Spain than in the UK!

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Re: Solar heat swimming pool

Postby TorreDelAguila » Tue Jun 26, 2018 11:34 am

A large (100m) coil of 25mm black 10-bar polythene water pipe is ludicrously cheap here (c.€30 last time I bought some), and can possibly be laid somewhere in a flat spiral. No need for special piping, as this will absorb solar heat really well.
A circulation pump of some sort will be needed, but not sure that small pond pump above is quite up to it.
Chris

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Re: Solar heat swimming pool

Postby peteroldracer » Tue Jun 26, 2018 1:40 pm

Be aware that the black water piping can become brittle if exposed to the sun. We buried ours (inside corrugated flexible red tubing to ease removal/repair if necessary) after an exposed section started suddenly springing tiny leaks. Of course you can fix each leak spot by cutting a short section out and fitting a coupling, but it could cost a lot on money in lost water before it is noticed.
IMHO what you propose is a bodge.
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ashtondav
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Re: Solar heat swimming pool

Postby ashtondav » Tue Jun 26, 2018 2:16 pm

I have hundreds of meters of irrigation pipe exposed to the sun for years with no or little degradation. The solar pump I quote delivers 1,300 litres an hour so in 8 hours it will probably heat 20% of the swimming pool water. I reckon the total cost will be under €100, so i’m prepared to experiment.

I will report back in September/October. I’ll ‘fess up if it’s a bodge. Here’s hoping......

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Re: Solar heat swimming pool

Postby TorreDelAguila » Tue Jun 26, 2018 4:21 pm

Some of the thin-walled black plastic pipe will, like many plastics, degrade in the sun. Black polythene 10-bar or 16-bar poly pipe (typically used for main pressurised water supply, and 3-4mm wall thickness, does not, and, like ashtondav, we have several hundred meters of it here, for irrigation, and exposed to sun for 14 years plus with not a problem.
JFYI, I don't do or suggest bodges.
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Re: Solar heat swimming pool

Postby olive » Fri Jul 20, 2018 4:17 pm

I was going to start a new thread but this one covers the subject.

We had some visitors that were surprised at how "cold" our pool was. I used a thermometer which gave a reading of 25 deg C. My rule of thumb is the pool temp is about the minimum daily air temp plus a third of the difference to the daily max. Anyway this led on to "why don't you use a solar panel like the ones we see everywhere to heat your pool" Putting aside they generate electricity rather than heat we cited we had tried some years ago putting 100 metres of 50 mm black pipe in the pool pump circuit. It worked to a point but you had to run the pump to get the benefit and the 100 metres was an eyesore, a safety hazard and potentially a failure point so we removed it but left the valves in situ.

What are the options? Today I saw Leroy Merlin were selling covers you had made up for your pool. I could see that apart from keeping down windblown debris that the days starting temp would be higher but suspect that for p.m. bathing there wouldn't be any difference between using or not using a cover.


I am surprised that there isn't an off the shelf Solar panel (as per water heating) with a small panel for driving a pump and piping and a coil that you just drop in the pool for aftermarket install.

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Re: Solar heat swimming pool

Postby El Cid » Fri Jul 20, 2018 4:37 pm

Most pools here get so hot without any help that heating is not usual. Cooling it down in August might be more useful. Ours gets to 28c pretty quickly (which we find perfect) and 30c is possible but that is getting too hot. Solar bubble covers do work and will raise the temperature significantly. They are a pain to use unless you have them on a roller. We had a heated pool in the UK and used a solar cover and it was really effective. I think you might find that a solar bubble cover is a better bet than panels unless you want to use the pool outside the summer and then, if you are a serious swimmer a heat pump is the best (but expensive) bet.

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casita-bonita
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Re: Solar heat swimming pool

Postby casita-bonita » Fri Jul 20, 2018 7:58 pm

El Cid wrote:Most pools here get so hot without any help that heating is not usual. Cooling it down in August might be more useful. Ours gets to 28c pretty quickly (which we find perfect) and 30c is possible but that is getting too hot. Solar bubble covers do work and will raise the temperature significantly. They are a pain to use unless you have them on a roller. We had a heated pool in the UK and used a solar cover and it was really effective. I think you might find that a solar bubble cover is a better bet than panels unless you want to use the pool outside the summer and then, if you are a serious swimmer a heat pump is the best (but expensive) bet.

Sid
Don't think that most folks have heating in order to raise the temp in mid-summer. More likely, like us it's to extend the usable period. We turn our heating off in the summer and use it to gain additional comfortable use spring/autumn.

If I wanted water at 30deg I'd run a hot bath.
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Bob

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Re: Solar heat swimming pool

Postby TorreDelAguila » Fri Jul 20, 2018 9:37 pm

olive wrote:I am surprised that there isn't an off the shelf Solar panel (as per water heating) with a small panel for driving a pump and piping and a coil that you just drop in the pool for aftermarket install.
Trouble is, a small solar panel wouldn't make much of a dent on the temp of an average 8x4x2 pool. Would be rather like trying to boil a large saucepan water with a cigarette lighter! The Laws of Physics can be a pain sometimes. :shifty:
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Re: Solar heat swimming pool

Postby ashtondav » Sat Jul 21, 2018 10:55 am

We have a bubble cover. I reckon it raises the temperature 3C or 4C.

Our pool (without cover) is usually 20C in April, 25C in May, 28C in June, July and August. Below 25C I remain on the loungers wondering how the heck I used to swim in the North Sea as a child! Hardy, or stupid?

Using the solar pump and 150m of coiled tube our neighbours raise their pool temperature by 5 or 6C, which makes April and November swimmable.

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Re: Solar heat swimming pool

Postby Wicksey » Sat Jul 21, 2018 1:17 pm

Our pool has been 32 degrees for the past couple of weeks ... it is a bit like a warm bath now. Last year it reached 34! It is only small and cools down pretty rapidly once the evenings get chillier and we rarely use it after late September. Would be nice to extend the season a little longer as we won't get in it below 27.

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Re: Solar heat swimming pool

Postby spanish_lad » Mon Jul 30, 2018 2:25 pm

ashtondav wrote:Quick update. I have had problems sourcing a sufficiently powerful solar pump ...

If anyone’s interested this is the pump

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/CE-IP68 ... 34837.html?


why not get a small solar set up - a 20w / 50w panel, and a bike battery - and a small "sump pump" ... probably under 100€ for the lot?

something like this : https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/25w-40w-50w- ... H9U9fmw4cA

a 25w panel, with charge controller for 48 pounds, then get a battery and a pump.. fit it all with a bit of cable.. should be more appropriate for your application? the pump is 20€ in bricomart.
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