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Want A Homemade Solar Pool Heater?
Basic Instructions for a Homemade Solar Pool Heater
Unless ice cold pool water is something you love, a some kind of pool heater is usually needed inmost places. Being able to heat the pool without having to add to the electricity bill, makes a solar pool heater attractive. And since they are neither very complicated nor contain very expensive materials, homemade solar swimmingpool heaters are quite popular. (Well, readymade heaters are popular too, of course, check out this swimming pool heater.)
Anyway, a homemade solar pool heater is considered as one of the do it yourself projects that can be installed in your home without using more technical knowledge and by not spending more money. It can be installed by spending a max amount of $ 500.
Components of swimming pool solar water heater
Solar pool collectors This is the main part of the solar pool heater. It is made of unglazed, plastic, flat plate collector. It is generally installed near the pool or over the roof. It consists of absorber which converts the sunlight into heat. Then with the help of riser, water is circulated through the collector and thus cold water from the pool gets heated. You can read more about solar collectors here.
Pump Generally, use a new ¾ Hp pump for your pool. Small and high efficiency pump will be very cost effective. Try to run it for a shorter period in a day, it will not only save electrical energy but also make pump’s life longer
Filter Dirty filter will give more loads to the pump and thus make it less efficient. So try to use a new filter periodically. Cartridge filters will be the best ones to use as filters.
Windbreaks Installation of windbreaks will save around 300% of energy by hindering water evaporation by the wind.
Automatic control It allows to set the pool temperature normal. You can set your own comfort zone, by means of changing the high temperature limit.
Diverter valve This valve will help in sending water back to the pool from the collector or from the pump.
Associating piping
How to get most from your pool?
The most important part of a homemade solar pool heater is its collector. So a perfect positioning of the collector will make a difference. You have to place it either near the pool over the ground or over the roof so that maximum amount of sunlight gets trapped in it. So be careful when installing the collector.
How many collectors do I need for a swimming pool?
The size is usually predicated using pool's square footage as oppose to volume.
For example if you have a pool by size of 16 x 30 foot, it is not shaded and it is protected from the wind.
The calculation is : 16 x 30 x 0.5 = 240 square feet of collectors.
But this system has to be installed on a west-facing roof, so we factor in an adjustment of an additional 50 percent, which gives us 360 square feet of collector area (240 x 1.5 = 360).
If we plan to use 4 by 10 foot panels (40 ft.2; 3.7 m2), we divide the 360 by 40 to get nine panels to do this job.
If we were able to mount the collectors on a south-facing roof, we would have been able to do the same job with only six 4 by 10 collectors.
Final installation of solar swimming pool heaters
The very first thing you have to do is to arrange the collector. After that, connect your collector with a PV-driven submersible pump. Arrange 1,000' roll of 1⁄4"tubing, which yields around 21 square feet of collector. In the mean time, get the junctions that fit the tubing. After that get the solar PV panel which will come for around $30. The valve should be connected to the pump properly. You need both a filter pump and a heating system pump. The filter pump can run for two hours a day in the night time, but the solar collector should run in the daytime. Use automated system to control the pool temperature to a reasonable one.
Solar Pool Cover
Adding a solar pool cover decreases the need for heating and lowers the initial cost of a solar heating system. Evaporation of swimming pool water accounts for a whopping 70 percent of a pool's total heat loss. This goes for both indoor and outdoor pools. The best solution to curb this energy and money drain is to invest in a solar pool cover.
There are many type of solar pool covers. A simple “bubble” cover, like this one - similar to bubble packing material - usually can be purchased for less than US$100.
Vinyl covers are more durable and long-lived, but also are more expensive. They are available insulated or uninsulated, and can be integrated with an automated roll-up system to make coverplacement and removal hassle free. Prices range from a few hundred dollars for a basic cover to more than US$1,000 for covers that come with a motorized reel.
A solar pool heater is can be a very effective way to use solar energy at home. Regardless if you out in the effort to build your own or if you simply buy it.
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- similar to bubble packing material - usually can be purchased for less than US$100. 
