Would you like to heat your pool with solar power? Excellent! Solar panels for heating water are less expensive than you might think. You can even build them yourself for under $100 in materials and less than a weekend’s worth of your time. The main benefit is that once you have invested in the cost of installation, you won’t have any ongoing fuel bills.
Take The Do It Yourself Route To Building Solar Energy
However, before you go forward, you’ll need to take a few thing into account. First, will the system be getting enough sunlight throughout the day? These types of solar panels are passive systems. They’re normally made of plastic coils filled with water and sandwiched between sheets of shatter-resistant glass. The sun heats the water that has collected in the coils. The water is then pumped into the pool.
If your area has many tall trees that cover your house and yard, it may not receive sufficient sunlight for a passive pool heater. But an unshaded rooftop that faces south or west is an excellent location for solar panels to get ample exposure to the sun during the day.
Take The Alternative Route To Building Solar Power
Next, think about the difference between how warm you want your pool to be and the outside temperature. For example, if you’re wanting to heat your outdoor pool in Michigan to 78 degrees in freezing weather, you’ll want to stick with a pool cover and a heavy-duty gas heater. But if you want to heat your outdoor pool in Texas to 80 degrees in 50-degree weather, then a solar heating system would be ideal.
When you do install a solar heater, you’ll still need to cover your pool whenever the air is cooler than your pool’s water temperature. Anytime you see steam rising from the pool, it’s best to put on the pool cover to keep the heat in. That way, the heat will stay in the water instead of dispersing it into the air.
See This Brief Video and Learn The Simplicity of Building Solar Panel Cells
Here’s a note of caution if you’re just becoming familiar with solar heating systems. Some people mistakenly believe that they might save even more money if they used the pool’s solar heater to heat water for their house. However, the two systems should not be mixed or used together. Your pool water is going to contain chlorine and muriatic acid. It’s okay to swim in it and even swallow some, but it would be unwise to combine it with your home’s water system. Installing a solar water heating system for your home is an entirely separate project.
