The Real Solar Pool Heaters Performance

Are you thinking about using a solar pool heater to get your pool up to temperature? What is the real solar pool heaters performance? There is a great way to answer this question and with the personal experience that can be gained by not only building the heater yourself, but also enjoying the benefits of a longer season of swimming and warmer water. Here is what you can expect.

First, let us go over what exactly a solar pool heater is and what the best choices are for this type of heater. A solar heater for a pool is basically one that uses the sun to heat the water in your pool. There is a pump that will pump the water up through a set of black plastic tubes that will heat up from the sun. There are a few problems with most of solar heaters that are on the market though, so here is what you should do.

You should build your own heater because it is much cheaper and will do more for you as well. You will need some pvc piping, a shut off valve, a pump, and a large amount of black tubing. All you have to do is use the pvc tubing to get the water out of the pool and, then back in as well. Install the shut off valve on the end of the pvc that is going to run the water back into the pool.

The black tubing runs in between the two sets of pvc pipes and needs to be very long. You will want to coil this tubing on a roof top going back and forth. You can secure it with a couple of 2 by 4s with holes cut in them. You will have to make sure this tubing is in direct sunlight as much as possible and run the heater during the hottest hours of the day. You can plug the pump into a timer that can turn it on and off with the hottest hours of the day.

So, what is the real solar pool heaters performance? Having had personal experience with this in a climate that allows for good swimming from Memorial day to Labor day or shortly after. Our pool went from the low 70s with not heater to the mid 80s with our solar heater. We were also able to extend our swimming season into the beginning to middle of October and we opened the pool at the beginning of May or end of April instead of Memorial day.