DIY SOLAR POOL HEATER AND SOME MORE

In this video, I will share with you how I created my very own DIY solar pool heater. I also got creative and used my own landscape to add additional solar heating. This is my first time doing a project like this but hopefully, we can learn from this build and create a better solar pool heater build next time. Something to keep in mind when you are building your DIY solar pool heater, the longer the piping, the better the flow and you will also heat up your pool faster. A correction on the submersible pump, you need to connect your hose first, drop the pump and plug it in. Just need to cover all bases.
00:00 Introduction, expectations and things to know
01:06 Building the foundation
02:16 Painting the wood and piping
02:57 Installing the hose and controlling the flow
03:57 Using the landscape as a heater
04:58 Putting it all together
05:49 Alternative to using the pool pump
06:25 Testing
07:19 Final thoughts and the big splash
Update video : • Solar pool heater update

[@Vunderbread]

Gardener's tip - large pools make for excellent thermal buffers. The area right around your pool will stay slightly cooler in the heat, and slightly warmer in the cold.

[@Matthew21v42]

Awesome dude. This is real engineering!

[@janegrassmarket1414]

Another great vid. For the rest of the world 90 F = 32.2 C. That is hot.

[@Striperman]

Very cool Rob. So when are you starting your own business of installing these 🤔😁

[@grassthief1280]

Congrats on the pool 👍

[@ronm6585]

Thanks for sharing.

[@douglasgramann8230]

Very cool

[@abelincoln6785]

Excellent

[@sarahmangone7785]

I love the idea! After you've gone through 3 months, how did the hose hold up? My idea is to put the hose on spools where I can move them a bit in September as the sun changes directions. We have shade on the pool until almost noon and it has not much chance to get warmed up. There is sunshine all around the pool, so need something to get that sunshine in the pool. South Carolina has been a bit cool this season, which didn't help. Solar blanket and solar pump is a must have for next season. Thank you for letting us know about the hose, it sounds perfect! An end of year review on the hose would be much appreciated.

[@TheALG]

So far, the hoses have held up. There are no signs of any breakdown. I have added another 50 ft of hose because this system has been very effective. I think the weakest link is the wood which will breakdown faster with wet weather. I will wait a year for a follow up.

[@SolarProjectsSweden]

Nice video filled with good tips & trix. I didn't understand if you are running the pool pump 24/7, because that heater will acctually decrease the temperature alot if it runs during night time. I'm setting up a solar powered pool heater right now and my goal is 30°C / 86°F in the pool. I'm starting with 250 meters / 820 feet of 20 mm / ¾ inch PEM hose in a flat rooftop setup. A 20V rainwater barrel pump (2,000 liters - 528 gallons / hour) will be connected directly to a solar panel, so it's a completely automatic system controlled and powered by the sun. No sun = no pump = no heating. Since I'm located at 60° latitude in the northern hemisphere, I'll guess it'll be some problems and math to solve along the way, but it'll be fun. I've spent 250 USD for the hose, 50 USD for the pump and 50 USD for the solar panel. If it works, I'll have a pool heater for a total of 350 USD that doesn't require any manuel labour and it'll run for free. You can follow this project and more on my new channel. Keep up your good work

[@TheALG]

The pool pump runs independently. The solar heater is only active when there is sun.

[@SolarProjectsSweden]

@@TheALG Good choice

[@cyncyng123]

Thank you for making such a well put together video. Question: do you think this would be a more efficient system if I used a black metal roofing panel instead of plywood?

[@TheALG]

I will work. The only issue you will have is metal retains cold more easily than wood. Should not be much of an issue if you constantly have full sun.

[@-windycitysammy-]

Fantastic video! 2 quick questions. How many gallons is your pool and what was your total expense? Thanks!

[@TheALG]

10000 gallons and total for the hoses was 250 dollars, wood and paint about another 100. This is an estimate.

[@Windycitysammy]

Thanks so much for your quick response!

[@mffisher123456]

Curious how well the garden hose has held up to the chlorination. Considered using Pex, but have read where it can break down with chlorine pool applications. Also considered using soft copper, but read where you could be introducing too much copper chloride into the water. So that leads me back to using a garden hose and also whether the time and effort is really producing good results. In the past I've used solar covers on our pool. I'll admit, these covers work well. But the last one I bought $175 only last me 2 yrs. All the bubbles started to pop and created a huge mess in the pool. So now been looking for alternative and inexpensive way to heat up the pool.

[@TheALG]

I have a salt water pool so it is a bit more gentle. So far it's only been 1 year and it has held up. I did seriously consider pex piping but went with this. I would spray on a clear coat spray paint in a can to increase UV resistance on the outside of the tubing. The system is staying outside so I will also rate how well it survives winter. I will do a 2 year review once I hit the 2 year mark.

[@sweet2551]

Nice build, how is it holding up?

[@TheALG]

Still running about 6 hours a day

[@BrazilianRealtor]

Thanks for the tip, how can I connect the system in a pool pump?

[@TheALG]

That will be tricky, I am currently trying a few things but as of right now, it's not possible. External submersible pump is the way to go.

[@JanieBee83]

I have been wanting to try something like this here in Michigan and put the panels up on the roof of our pool house. Our pool is 30000 gallons though. I wonder if this puts extra strain on the pool pump at all? Also I wonder if you put a panel of clear plexiglass on the top if each wood panel, it it would help trap even more heat like a greenhouse?

[@TheALG]

There might be a little bit of extra work for the pool pump, but if it's sized right, you should be fine. Glass on top will help to keep the heat in longer, but I had trouble finding some locally, which is why I didn't use it in the video. You will need maybe at least 3 to 4 of the panels my size in order to feel the difference. Also, having a pool solar cover will help retain the heat you gain and prevent it from being lost too fast at night. Also, having it in full sun all day is key for this to work. The longer the sunlight, the better this works.

[@JanieBee83]

What submersible pump are you using? I saw another video where the person said their submersible pump got all messed up due to the chlorine. I also have a saltwater pool, plus I am thinking the external pump would help decouple it from the actual pool pump (since I wouldn't necessarily run the solar on the same schedule as I run my pool pump) so just want to make sure I get one that wouldn't be harmed with the pool water.

[@TheALG]

I got the Superior Pump 91014 1/4 HP High Flow Thermoplastic Utility Pump It still works but only been two years. I since made an upgrade to where I did the hook up to the pvp pipe directly using the zodiac elbow sweep. I hooked up a .5 inch spigot to my and hook it into my hose attached to the solar panel.

[@JanieBee83]

Ok, so are you saying the elbow allows you to connect the return line from the solar panel to your main plumbing that returns to the pool? If so, I was wondering if there was a way to do that, or if it would cool down too much before returning to the pool. This Sounds like a good idea for a video update to visualize this part of the system. 😉 Thanks for your help and insight!

[@TheALG]

Other way around. The elbow is connect to the pipe after the filter. It then goes to the panel, through all the tubing to warn up and then I to the pool. Great idea about the video, I will post one about it next.

[@cyncyng123]

Also what’s that red hose called? Thanks in advance for this

[@TheALG]

The red hose is your standard washing machine hose on the hot water side.

[@ponyboy6666]

Do you use this over the fall/winter where you're at?

[@TheALG]

I'm in GA. I do use this over the fall and it does work. It won't work as well once the air temps consistently stay below 65 degrees. You lose way too much heat for the the solar to keep up with.

[@Striperman]

First