Above Ground Pool Solar Coil Design

long lengths of black garden hose will work. Coil them up in a flat circle.

Any black plastic tubing will work.

Copper is too expensive and likely to be stolen anyway.

Chlorine wil eventually attack some plastics as will UV over time.

There are insulated bubble sheets that you can cover the pool at night with to reduce cooling.

There are also solar bubble sheets that are supposed to warm the water, but I don't know how effective that is. Maybe just submerging a black plastic sheet below the pool water would do that, too. Just pull it out when you want to swim.

Note, that heating a pool will increase the risk of algae growth, so stay on top of the pool chemistry.

GA, simple and effective. I can't touch the water that comes out of my hose in the summer in the sun.

Just to add: Don't hook it up to your filter system so that it is always going. The water will get too warm. Get a cheap inline pump for the hose that you can turn off.

Or a simple diverter valve like we have on our in-ground pool.

Yeah, but I could take two 50' lengths of black hose with a cheap pump between, and have it set up in 10 minutes. If he wanted to get real crazy, he could put a timer on it and cycle the hot hose water at predetermined intervals.

Yes, and that would be easy to do.

didn't you say you wanted a solar preheater for your water heater?

couple rolls of 5/8 drip, some brass garden hose barbs

let's hear suggestions for tanks, pumps & valves

Yeah, it seems stupid to be burning propane in the summer to heat water. I want to be able to set it up/pick it up easily though. Just black heavy duty garden hose would do the trick. For storage, I would just get a couple of bad electric water heaters, (free), where the elements had burned out, but the tank was good, shut down and bypass the propane unit in the basement, run a feed to the inlet of the garden hose from the well, to the tanks, (outside), and tie that into my inside hot water lines. An outside hose faucet would work.

In the winter, put the garden hose away, drain the tanks, and go back to my propane heated tank in the basement.

The water that comes out of a garden hose here in the summer is almost hot enough to blister you. I actually take most of my showers in the driveway using the garden hose in the summer................quick, easy..............and I don't have close neighbors.

The easiest way is to thread bottomless glass jars or plastic bottles over a length of black plastic hose trailing over the ground and pass the water through it. Instant solar collector.

Of course, one does have to have a bit of ground to trail the hose over, as solar energy has a low flux.

Hi

I once designed a "Hotbrella", an umbrella covered with 10mm black poly pipe in a spiral configuration. It worked by venturi and was attached to the pool pump and had a valve to shut it off. You might have to strengthen the umbrella a bit.

It was wiped out after a cyclone and I never put it back up again. We have less of a problem with heating but rather with cooling pool water in the summer months. It did work though and with a minimum of materials.

Cable ties and black poly pipe is all you need and a fun weekend to set it all up. Shade and heat at the same time, you should try it.

Have fun, Ky.

They do manufacture clear plastic bubble solar pool covers that float on top of the water which can be cranked around a central spindle and removed from the swimming pool in a matter of minutes. It's durable, cheap and efficient, and will heat up your pool water in no time at all. An additional benefit is that leaving it in place during the night will greatly reduce the heat losses.

We've been using one on our 21-foot aboveground pool for 6 seasons now and never have had a problem with it...not even a rip in the plastic....

Why complicate things?

Enjoy the water in this heat wave!

Thanks to everyone for your ideas. I do have a solar blanket which works great for the 1st foot (top) of water in the pool. Once you get in past the 1st foot the water drops about 10 degrees ferenheit (eg: the thermometer that floats on the pool surface reads 82 but the water below it is 72.

My original plan was to create a solar coil using black 5/8" poly tubing, black garden hose, sheet of 4X4 plywood (painted black), and a sump pump.

I live in eastern Canada and our summers are fairly short so I am looking to extend the swimming season a bit if possible.

Thanks again.

Look at these -

1) Black pipe coil pool heater http://www.mmattera.com/bin/Solar_Pool_Heater_Coils.jpg

2) Black pipe coil pool heater http://rimstar.org/renewnrg/solar_pool_heater_diy_fp.htm

looks like one of my early prototypes.

Welcome back to the hot waters of CR4

Not to mention the hot air

Thank you!

How are this wonderful day (or night)?