How to Build a DIY SOLAR POOL HEATER for Less Than $100 | Swim University

[@SwimUniversity]

Have you tried to build one of these before? Let us know in the comment what's worked and what hasn't! And if you need more pool maintenance help, grab the free Pool Care Cheat Sheet at www.swimuniversity.com/cheatsheet

[@ericjohnson9080]

So this is an unproven theory of yours?

[@GodsChild145]

@@ericjohnson9080 how is it unproven? How is it a theory? He literally just gave us a DIY solar heating cover, get over your attitude and be grateful!!!

[@ericjohnson9080]

@@GodsChild145 A pool heater requires a thermometer to see if it works. No thermometer here. No temp differential in vs out. No time to heat 5000 gallons 5 degrees. No facts. No data. Un proven theory! For any sheep I have a great used car extended warrentee to sell you.

[@150DT]

Has anyone tried this with 1-1/2 black pipe added straight inline with your pool pump and filter system.🤔

[@instinct525]

That's what I want to do

[@kenmathews4522]

I have made a heater years ago with copper tubing painted flat black and incased in a glass covered box. It worked very well.

[@RayHimes-v9c]

Built a shallow box, painted interior black and covered it with clear corrugated plastic sheeting. You must use GFCI receptacle for your pump supply. By using a garden hose splitter on the outlet of the pump, i can bypass a portion of the flow back into the pool and get better retention time of the warming water in the solar collector.

[@chrisbvt11]

I built one for a 4500 gallon pool last summer. There is no way you will be able to coil 200 feet of tubing in a 4X4 box. I was able to get 100 feet into a 5X5 box. I painted everything black and topped with thick crystal clear vinyl (look for clear vinyl tablecloth). I used a non-submersible pump at 4 gallons/min. It did do something, but it only a few degrees more than just the pool being in the sun. I improved upon it this year by adding 12 feet of copper baseboard heater fins in the box on top of the coils (leftover from home renovation). I painted it all black and added a loop through heater fins before the coil. I also added four small computer fans to keep the air flowing through the fins when the pump is on. This really increased efficiency! On a cool day in the 60s, with the sun shining, I get a 10 degree rise in the pool, even though air temperature never even gets up to the pool temperature. We were swimming in an 80 degree pool this year during the last week of June (In Vermont!) I automated it with Hubitat and a temp sensor in the box. Pump comes on when box temperature gets to 80, and goes off when it drops below 80. Doing it again, I would scrap the hose coil and use only baseboard heater fins, filling the whole box, but that gets very pricy if buying new.

[@pothos9913]

Really appreciate your advice. Thank you.

[@RichardBaileyrichoncode]

Mostly followed this. Used 8 lengths of electric fence ribbon in pairs (across, vertical, and diagonals) to weave above and below each pass of pipe. It was easy, fast, cheap, and very secure.

[@makeandbreak127]

If you don't wrap it in clear tape, if you paint the inside white, it will be warmer than a black background by a good amount. Black absorbs heat so it will just make the plywood warmer instead of reflecting it to the back of the tubing.

[@kiabass8798]

I'm gonna build one and just hook it up to the pool pool return hose

[@dempseyandleland1932]

That’s what I was asking. Why not

[@SolarProjectsSweden]

Nice video filled with good tips & trix. 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. Keep up your good work

[@moniquewarren6789]

I plan to try this this week before the holiday along With a solar pool cover. I’ll try anything to avoid a cold pool 🥶

[@doctordutch]

Can you redirect the water from your pool pump to coils (before or after its been clean) instead of a seperate sump pump?

[@rs-vl2im]

What if you just used 200 ft or more of black garden hose hooked up to a sump pump?

[@murraybritton3202]

And restrict the flow with a nozzle set on mist

[@scottie370]

This absolutely works!

[@patrickohara1653]

Not sure if this is valid but most of these videos involve very slow waterflow to deomonstrate. Sure the water gets hot in that situation but will take a long time to have a significant effect on even a small to medium size pool.

[@pamdiprima]

Awesome idea. I've got grandkids coming next week, but although it's warm outside, pool water is still a bit chilly for swimming. I'll give this a go this week!

[@cnicole1118]

Did it work?

[@themdg]

How did it go?

[@Carl_in_AZ]

💦I use a 5W 12-volt solar panel and Rule 1100 GPH 27DA standard submersible bilge pump connected to a roll of PEX tubing mounted flat on 4x4 foot 1/4 inch plywood all painted black with Plastic Dip. This keeps my spa warm so I use very little propane in the winter to heat it up quickly to104F.💦

[@JayKillTheComedian]

Hey what do you mean my plastic dip? I want to try your idea, it’s sounds like an awesome setup

[@JackKalla]

i have a 20 foot round above ground pool. It is about 4 feet deep. What size/how powerful sump pump should I buy?

[@gisellellanes2977]

Times like these I’m glad I’m in Florida and our down time is only a few weeks 😮‍💨

[@Mike-qz4by]

Florida is the best. Swam in my pool almost every week

[@gisellellanes2977]

@@Mike-qz4by yup! I was back in starting February 😂

[@BradySzabo]

instead of a sump pump at the bottom of my pool, is there a way I can just add a 1.5" to 2" PVC Pipe (so the kids aren't banging into the pump in my round pool? I think it would better to be out of the way and close to the wall if possible? Thanks. I subscribed last week and have learned so much about pool systems. I am going with the saltwater system, a little nervous, but I bought the Saltwater 8000 and it arrives next week. I still need my chlorine generator and see what you mean by upfront cost being high. Any recommendations on a chlorine generator that you like?

[@terrilhargrovejones]

Thanks for the tip! I don't want anyone here past Labor Day, so there's that...😅😅😅 My 16' x 32' inground pool gets full sun all day on a sunny day, so that by the early evening, it's like being in a bath of very tepid water.

[@jerricorbett7461]

Awesome information. I plan to build this. Thank you for the share

[@TheMono25]

I know this takes a lot of work but I have noticed that if I leave the solar heater off for a while let it heat up really hot And then turn the pump on To dump the hot water into the pool For ten minutes Then I turn off for half an hour and repeat Do you think This will heat the pool faster Then just leaving it on all the time 🇬🇧

[@scotstevens204]

No. You will certainly "feel" more heat using this method. However, heat transfer happens faster the greater the difference between the hot/cold items. This is the same reason they suggested putting the pump in the deep end where the water is the coldest and making sure the exit and return lines are as far away from each other as possible.

[@ericrandall3539]

That's all in your head. The most efficient heater will have the highest flow and lowest temp rise. The hotter the water in the tube, the less heat it is absorbing. So at the end of you run, you're gaining very little. You want to always be picking up that first few degrees, dumping it in the pool, and repeating. The volume more than makes up for the temp... you'll heat the pool faster.

[@gemsettingirl]

Great how-to for solar cover! Thanks 😊

[@shellstachowicz]

Do you just unplug the pump when you swim?

[@LelandHeflin]

Can this be added in to the pump filter line

[@Dwigt_Rortugal]

I want to do that, too. Here's my idea: Place the inlet side of the hose leading to the heater coil into the pool, adding a strainer on the end to keep debris from being sucked into the heater coil. Plumb the outlet side of the heater into a tee off the inlet pipe or hose between the filter basket and the sand filter. Then, the suction of the pool pump should divert some of the water that would normally go through the basket through the heater coil. You could add a valve maybe inline with the heater hose so that the flow can be adjusted. This is what I'm planning on doing unless I see a better idea on here. Afterthought: You could also do this on the outlet of the pool pump, where water would get pushed through the heater coil instead of getting sucked from the pool through a strainer. That would probably simplify the design by omitting the need for a strainer.

[@MSB1080]

My whole backyard is pretty much shade. So how long can I have the tubing go? I would need maybe 100ft just to get into the sun.

[@johnl636]

I don't think the length would matter. its the height and how high the pump has to push the water that matters. The higher the height, the weaker the flow.

[@dongkim5127]

My question is PEX tubing was recommended for better stability and shelf life, but all my research seems to point at PEX tubing vulnerable to UV damages, what to do?

[@t.a.b.o.o3346]

Spray the PEX tubing with matte black spray paint, idealy which includes a primer. It will both help with heating the water and also protect the tubing.

[@Bigcbiscuit]

Let's see those setups!

[@timothyburton5131]

Interesting you use a sump pump separate from the normal pool pump - would it be possible/advisable to add this type of system to the normal pool pump instead? Pros/cons?

[@niaralosusa]

@@scottie370 How is your system working? I am preparing the supplies list to build one and curious to know if it works. BTW what volume pool do you have?

[@scottie370]

@@niaralosusa 15,000 gallons last week we had a night that hit around 32 degrees followed by 2 days of 85 air temp. on Thursday the pool was 63 by Saturday afternoon late in the day after day 2 of mid 80’s air temp I got the pool to around 79. Temp rise out of the hose the Morning and evening I would get a 4degree rise and midday full sun it was around 9. I’m running it full flow as much as it can do. I changed a hose to get more flow to get that 9degree down to a 6 degree rise. you can get really in the weeds with Thermodynamics here. but to break it down I used water hose I have around 500 feet of it. i used 4x4 plywood and put one hundred feet coiled around with a clear plastic roofing material over it. The other hundred is getting from the pool and back. From what I figure I have around 15,000btu of heat. To put that in perspective the smallest natural gas heater is 150,000btu. that being said. My kids swam this weekend and as a kid I never swam in April where we live. so I’m hopeful I can added more days with this heater and a solar cover working together.

[@niaralosusa]

@@scottie370 Thank you for the response! Interesting information. I'm collecting the parts now and hope to have the heater built before we open the pool for the season next week!

[@rhondamendonca2648]

Love it! I have everything on hand (my husband was a bit of a construction material horder!) Going to give this a try! I be be in heaven if the water was worm enough for me to swim in the morning before all the grand kids take over the pool!!

[@Swiftstar2]

Would have been nice if you would have included real world footage of your tutorial, in this video.

[@villap4066]

Right😂

[@dantheman9852]

Whats the math to figure out what size pump I need? I built this with about 400' of line and a 75gph pump won't push it through. Thanks

[@ThePizzaman74]

How long do you run the sump pump each day?

[@MrEfren77]

Great project for fall, thanks!

[@SwimUniversity]

Heck yea!

[@matthewgarrett7739]

What size hp submersible pump is recommended using 200ft of 1/2 PEX tubing? Would 1/2 hp be appropriate?

[@MILGEO]

PVC would be cheaper that PEX and easier to find than Teflon. I've considered trying to tap into my main pool pump circulation line using something similar since it's outside the fenced in pool area and wouldn't be seen. I've even considered running the line up to the shed roof that the equipment sits behind but realized how much work it would be to put it in line and on the roof. It could be tied in and just use the coil design. This might be a challenge for a homeowner though. I have a heat exchanger connected to my boiler which will bring the temperature up nicely overnight but rarely use it due to the cost of heating oil. I have a thick clear solar blanket that works well but find that it's 1 more reason not to bother getting in the pool. It doesn't get the amount of use that it once did.

[@kennyspringer7668]

; awesome idea I don't know where to find irrigation hose that doesn't drip can you help me with this

[@badiraslan]

Great, but does this work effichency in winter season

[@lauratatsch1066]

Es buen artículo baja la temperatura del agua siempre y cuando la luz solar esté presente

[@patsalty]

what about toxicity of these types of hoses after sitting in the sun? Would a PEX hose be safer?

[@MrMedicalUK]

Couldn't you just pipe this so after your filter it pushes through this?

[@Steve-ig4td]

At 90 degree temp full sun how much heat will this add per day do you suppose ? Thanks

[@SwimUniversity]

The goal is to maintain a 3-5 degree difference between the water going in and the warm water re-entering your pool. It depends on the size of your pool how long that takes.

[@RyanGunderson-pd9li]

I plan on making a solar heater but I’m leary of using a submersible pump. I see all these videos of people using them but none of them say not to swim with it running. Do people actually swim with a submersible pump running?

[@chamillet1955]

I absolutely would not. Someone suggested a sprinkler pump

[@SteliosTsaldaris]

hi,thank you for your video.i have a small pool 2m x 3m ,about 4 cube metres litres. how many irrigation hose will i need,cause if i do your math,it comes about 3metres of hose?i do something wrong obviously....

[@stevebrown6993]

I👍INTERESTING - I'll give it a try, but live in North Idaho a cool area. So we will see. Thanks

[@chrisasst]

Does an irrigation hose get hotter than a garden hose. Because i know they get hot.

[@sunsetatshabooms4558]

Wont this burn up the pump by putting the flow restricter on it?

[@feyzacelik7732]

How many volt water pump do you recommend?

[@munro4398]

I understand the surface area of the pool but it doesn't take in to consideration the depth of the pool or overall volume, why not? Another question is in regards to the pump, how do you determine the wattage which interprets directly to flow rate, the higher the flow rate the less heat will transfer, but too slow and not enough hot water fast enough to pool to make a difference? Please help with comments.

[@9211982]

I am running into these same questrions. I like to overthink something as opposed to failing 15 times first, lol. Not to mention, this is extreamly pertinent information. Have you found anywhere that explains it, over complicated or otherwise?

[@senator558]

Actually, the higher the flow the more heat will transfer. A one degree rise in temperature at 1000 gph transfers more heat than a ten degree rise at 50 gph.

[@ericrandall3539]

Evaporative and convective cooling of the pool depends on it's surface area. That's what you're fighting. The pool to ground interface mostly insulate the radiant heat lost to the ground (somewhat).... the first 2 involve surface area. The depth matters, but most pools are close enough in average depth. Nobody has a 20-30 ft deep pool, so it's not worth including in the math to keep things simple.

[@ElijahPerrin80]

An attic may be the easiest source of heat year round ish and reducing cooling in the night while protecting the hose from the elements and uv light while cooling the house ish.

[@ryanjstreeter]

Genius. Turn your attic into a heat exchanger!!! Now It's just a matter of whether the pump can handle the vertical roundtrip and keep a good flow.

[@kumarmalgave7504]

Can I use this for 200 litre plastic tank solar heater?

[@feyzacelik7732]

what volt should it be

[@bettyjeanperez2590]

Dose this work well for an in ground pool?

[@nadiacoffey2609]

My dad’s an engineer and I bet he’d love to help me build this!

[@Emily-ui7xi]

Has anyone tried the Beluga Little Pool Heater Solar Heating Device?

[@bbshoney]

Does anyone have an example of connecting this to their pool pump? I don’t like when electricity is mixed with water. A variable speed pump would be great.

[@dferns1961]

Use a fish pond pump - made for water

[@desvariosdeuncamionero8856]

Your pool pump is mixed with water too 🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️

[@michaelshaw9140]

@@desvariosdeuncamionero8856 Your pool circulation pump has way too much pressure to do this. I use a 12vdc system powered with a solar cell, controller, 12vdc submergible pump and a marine battery. So there's no expense after it's built. Also if you don't like 12dc in your pool, just remove it when you swim. Hard to find a pump that actually sucks. It actually pushes the water rather than sucks it. You could improve it by putting a timer at about 10min on and 10 min off. That way the water gets hotter. Also an on-off switch for it is very necessary.

[@kenmathews4522]

U could use an electric pump outside the pool and just have the hoses in the water. Tractor supply has a good selection.

[@MrDon967]

how about putting the coil on steel surface? waredown too quick? also is 2700g gallons small or medium or big? its a 14x14 bestway :D

[@MrDon967]

also is the pump filter able to be connected to this? the only issue i see is flow rate and intake placement

[@johnl636]

I would not get into a pool with a running electric sump pump. If the pump malfunctions it could be quite shocking.

[@antisocialjusticewarrior2073]

Every pool you've ever swam in had a pump most likely running while you were swimming

[@stbam1965]

Do you really need to unwind the hose and wind it so it lays flat. Cant you just keep the 500 foot hose all rolled up like how you bought it and just do the ends ,fittings to the pool and a pump to move the water through. Especially when its sitting out facing the south and has direct sunlight from 10am to 7 pm. This would save space and a bunch of time

[@_Patrick_]

You can but the hose on the 2nd 3rd 4th layer and so on won't be hit by direct sunlight. So wouldn't be nearly as efficient as every loop getting fully blasted by sun. This is why you should wind it up to lay flat.

[@ryank1191]

This idea is great in theory. Once that first blast of hot water runs through the system, the water goes cold again. The only way you can sustain hot water coming out of the black tubing, is to get a timer that will click on for about five minutes or so in 10 minute intervals.

[@senator558]

That’s actually not true. You will increase your heat transfer efficiency by maintaining a steady water flow through the tubing. A couple of degrees of difference between the inflow and outflow may not seem like much, but over time you will raise your pool temperature more by maintaining the steady inflow than by turning it on and off.

[@jjackson3240]

What's a record on a turntable? ;)

[@Beergardenfla]

Gonna be much more than $100

[@kenmathews4522]

Probably not a good idea to use PEX. One if pex's biggest issues is that it has no UV protection and should no be used outside.

[@TimLewallen]

I have an in ground pool but I picked up an above ground pool pump for this application. What sort of fittings would I need to make this work?

[@SwimUniversity]

Are you trying to connect this to your pool pump system or a sump pump?

[@TimLewallen]

@@SwimUniversity Neither. My in ground pool has a circulation pump and a secondary pump to run the Polaris vacuum. I picked up a third pump, but it is not a sump pump. It is an Intex pump designed to be used with an above ground pool.

[@cajinguy218]

@@TimLewallen I am considering the same concept. Would love to hear if your project came out successful and what lessons you’re able to pass along.

[@TimLewallen]

@@cajinguy218 I have not done it yet. Perhaps this year.

[@johnmoore4]

What hp should the sump pump have?

[@themdg]

I'm going to try with the pump I use to clear off my winter cover.

[@dferns1961]

Can you use corrugated black hose? Will it heat the same as flat hose?

[@themdg]

Bet it would. Seems like the black is what you're looking for.

[@kenmathews4522]

Corrugated would probably work even better! More surface area to absorb the sun's heat.

[@AAsSpinebuster]

Instead of plie wood, would a piece of metal roofing work better? Or would they damage the hose too much?

[@wileywakeboard]

I made one and laid it on black roofing tile. Stacked a couple layers so it really absorbed heat. Used 300 feet of this hose. I could never pump the water more than about 700 gph to keep the water current slow enough to not just cool the hose down. All in all, it SORT of worked. If the day was really hot, I could bring my pool temp up a couple degrees in one day but it would just dissipate overnight. Felt nice to let it pour on your back in colder pool water though. It came out the end of the hose about 104 degrees F but like I said, I had to pump at such a slow rate it really didnt make much of a difference.

[@JasonMcDonald228]

@@wileywakeboard I'm planning on making one of these diy pool heaters to work along with my solar cover. The solar cover should help keep the pool temp from dropping over night. Perhaps this would solve your problem too.

[@stantrim5156]

Electric pump in pool is not safe for swimmers

[@Demon_Mx2277]

Is this drip irrigation piping?

[@campbelldlc67]

drip irrigation tubing can be used

[@CycloneCyd]

The only reason for painting the system black is for cosmetic appearance. You could paint the system any colour to get it to blend in with it's surroundings. It won't make a jot of difference to the absorption of electromagnetic energy.

[@stevendreiss98]

NO Black absorbes the heat better Thats why its painted black

[@earl2688]

Electromagnetic?

[@joelong1159]

Cost less than $100. Same price as a solar blanket

[@RickCreating]

Doesn’t work. I’ve tried it. It works for the first 2 minutes because it throws out the hot water that was already in the water hose. It will not heat up even under a 109° F temperature. Don’t do it. It’s not worth it.

[@twatbass]

ok you stick to toys bud.

[@manoahvanderwolf3259]

Here's one for ya ! just build a bitcoin mining rig, they get scorching hot (i mean for real though), make an extra turn on your filtered pool tubing before it heads back to the pool, make a steel box, connect it to a stainless steel (thick) tubing so that the PVC don't melt from the very local heat, and voila, sudden heating. pair it to a solar panel and batteries to save on energy cost and reap the benefits. now, running your pool heater won't COST you money, it'll MAKE you money. thank me later. mic drop.

[@mdinatale12]

I was dreaming of the same thing lol

[@ryanjstreeter]

Now THIS has me intrigued! I wanna see the setup!

[@manoahvanderwolf3259]

@@ryanjstreeter ain't profitable anymore, bitcoin is worth cr*p. the hype is over.

[@scottiencali]

Or.. just put the pool cover on.

Nice video but please use metric it's way simpler to make maths... ;)

[@markwolven3527]

Do NOT waste your time and money doing this. The physics simply doesn't work. How many gallons of water are you moving compared to the gallons of water in your pool? I built one - for the first few minutes, the water coming out is hot. 130 or more. But as you continue to push cool water from the pool into the box - the cool water cools the tubing and the air inside the box and within a few minutes, you are getting pool temperature water coming out of the box. The sun just simply doesn't work like that.

[@JAMikdiena]

What happens if you decrease the flow back to he pool? Then theSun could warm up the water in the coil.

[@markwolven3527]

@@JAMikdiena it does. But heating the pool is a math problem. If you have a 15,000 gallon pool, how many gallons of water can you heat up in an hour (the GPH rating on your pump) and what temp is it coming out of the hose? If you are only doing a small amount of water per hour, you aren't going to significantly change the temp of the pool.

[@twatbass]

obviously youd need a huge array of these to heat 15k gallons ya dingis. this is for something like a 12ftx30 inch kiddy pool.

[@Anthonyisthe1]

I have some copper tubing laying around, do you think that would work better?

[@bhagyeshpatel3831]

Can this will workout with 10k liter water capacity pool ??