Solar Powered Pool Heater for Under $200! (Please read description about the music)
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- čas přidán 25. 05. 2020
- ***READ ME BEFORE COMMENTING**** I've been made aware that the music is overpowering for some viewers. I'm not sure what makes it louder for some than others but I'm removing the music from future videos. Thank you all for your feedback! Hopefully the content makes up for the music!
I created a pool heater that is capable of heating the pool water over 35 degrees on a 65 degree day using only the sun, some tubing, and a pump. Materials cost under $200 at Home Depot. It was a terrific DIY project that is far more effective than the solar heaters you'll find online and for MUCH less money.
Submersible pump for the solar heater - amzn.to/33RuStE - Jak na to + styl
awesome pool heater! I want to try this for an outdoor shower. ps I have a studio setup - very accurate speakers - no problem hearing your voice over the music. thanks!
I am 75 years old and just have a kiddie pool. But this makes such a big difference. Even oldies need a pleasant experience. We deserved these.
I like your design; I love your music and your presentation. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you very much for the kind words! If you liked it, please consider subscribing. Lots more fun stuff to come!
Always a good video when someone wants to diy. I use a 12v rv pump tied to a battery and solar panel, together with a bypass on the pump to regulate the flow. Even if the water comes out pretty hot, it takes a long time to heat 10,000 gallons of water, and 8 or so hours of cooling in the evening helps cool it.
if you have amazon links that'd be awesome
This would be a comparable rv pump.
RV Pump- amzn.to/2TixJdr
Very cool demo of the temp differences between black and no black. Black Tar paper is another thing I’ve seen many other folks use too
The past years i have learned a lot by watching stuff like yours. I live in San Diego about 20 miles off the coast, and the average air temp is around mid 70s to mid 8os. I have a intex above ground 18x48. Last year i built two 4x4 solar boxes and put 200 ft of 5/8 high quality water hoes with brass fittings, in each box ( Good Year water hose ) pay now or pay later. I got the cheap water hose at first and tried the irrigation plastic stuff also. The plastic irrigation stuff melted inside, it got to hot. I cut the ends of some soda cans and put as many as i could inside the boxes with the waters hoses. The cans act like a vortex of heat. Spray painted every thing flat black. I had an old front window from my house and just laid it down on top of one box and some old shower doors, 2 of them and laid them down on the other box. I have a 12 inch intex sand pump that i Y off of. Run the big hose into the smaller one to slow down the flow of water so you can a continuously run hot water into your pool. I use a solar cover on my pool when not in use, helps keep the heat in. I only lose a couple of degrees at night. Just push the cover to the end of the pool when ready to swim and use a couple of bungee cords to hold it tight to the pool, don't have to take it out. I also wrapped my pool with 4 layers of 4 mill plastic. I keep the water temp in my pool around 84 to 86, us old people like our water warm. I have had the water temp up to 90. Those boxes get very very hot. I made a lot of mistakes at first. My neighbors have there fancy nice looking pools but can't get in the water because it to cold. I'am in my pool sometimes at 6 in the morning when the air temp is cool and the water temp in my pool is at 84. I learn something new every time by watching what you have done. Thank you sir .
Your setup sounds amazing! I could definitely learn a few things from you my good man! After this video was made, a few lessons were learned. Like I shouldn't have sealed it with the adhesive since I needed to get back into it a few times. But in the DIY world, it's all trial and error!
@@dontburnthehousedownvideos
Just use screws . Like i said, I made some mistakes and a lot of bad words
,
Well done I might have to give this a try. I have wanted a warmer pool every year.
We want to build one of these so I’ve been watching different videos, but I really appreciate that you leave the mistakes in-it’s helpful to know pitfalls! That’s why you got my subscribe. Good enough is what I strive for. :)
You did excellent. I wouldn't worry about that mistake you made. From 59 degrees to 90+ degrees is pretty darn good. Good job.
That's a great idea, I may use it as a pre-heater prototype for my off-grid property when I get to that point. Thanks for the great idea!
That could absolutely work! I was thinking about something similar. Maybe doing two of them in series and then finding a really insulated holding tank. You could heat it during the day for use in the evening/night.
Pacific Norwester here. I'm trying to design a powerless hotwater system, and I'm curious how much sunlight is required to maintain it's effectiveness? Also, have you seen the TV Screen magnifier. I was thinking of ways to maintain it's efficiency in colder or cloudy environments? Any response is appreciated.
Thanks for the comment! It works really well and heats the water to over 100 degrees with the pump I'm using now. However that's in direct sunlight. Under cloudy conditions, as long as it isn't cool, you'll still see some heating but not nearly as much as in direct sunlight. You may see a 2-10 degree warm up of the water whereas in direct summer sun, it'll be 20-30 degrees hotter. And I haven't seen a TV screen magnifier. Just need to be careful that you don't concentrate too much heat into one spot of the tubing as it will likely melt.
Great video. It would be nice to know the water flow rate if you have a way to measure it. Knowing the flow rate plus the temperature rise you can figure out exactly how many watts or btu's per hour you are getting.
I followed your design. I started with irrigation tubing, but I got a few kinks running the tubing. Set the frame on the south side of the house at a 27 degree angle. I got a 940 gph pump. I put a meat thermometer through the 2x for noting the temp. Temp outside was 71 degrees. Temp inside frame went up to 200 degrees. Water instantly started leaking at the three kink points I had. Pipe had melted at the kink points. I then shelled out $139.00 for 500 feet of Pex (about 400’ inside the frame). Painted the Pex flat black for UV protection.
Changed the legs on the frame so it lays flat outside ( pump was having trouble pushing water through 75 feet of hose and the tubing. Temp in the frame went down to 150 degrees. The water in the bucket for my dry run went up to 134 degrees in 20 minutes. That was after I purged the system using my garden house to start with 60 degree water. The water is running very slowly, probably due to the rise (about 12 feet) and the length of the hose. I don’t have the gallons per minute yet. I might connect it directly to my filter pump with a valve to moderate the pressure.
I think that this will raise the temp of the pool at least ten degrees over a few days. Thank you for the video and hints!
Update: I’m only getting 40 gph using a Pondmaster 940 gph pump. The frame is getting up to 150 degrees with full sun, and the water temp going into the pool varies between 90 and 100 degrees. Pool temp is 80 degrees. Using a solar cover is a must to decrease heat loss at night. I plan to connect the solar heater to my pool pump to increase flow rate. With the increased flow rate will come a decrease in the temp of the water coming out of the heater. If I can maintain a 5 degree difference in temp, I believe this will be more effective considering this is a 14,000 gal pool.
Yeah the most efficient is as low of temperature that you need. Increase that flow and you should be good, or have a way to adjust as needed.
We are looking forward to your next project!
Thank you!!
I finished my solar powered heater using black garden hose. Two 100 ft coils, plus another 50 feet of cold flow in, and 50 feet out of the coils and across the rooftop and back down to the 5,000 gallon pool. All in a total 300 feet exposed to the sun, when it shines...I flow 2 gpm and am seeing an 8 F to 9 F degree rise in water temp steady-state, or about 3 deg F for every 100' of black hose. To validate; the btu's needed to raise water flowing at 2 gpm 8 deg F rise in Temp is 8,000BTU's/hr. Sun at its highest provides 283.6 BTU's/sq.ft./hr. My two coils are about 3.5 ft diameter, calculating it all out + the straight hose I should get 8,168 BTU's/hour heat affect for a sunny day overhead, and that's nearly exactly what thermodynamics say I'm getting. So grab some black rubber hose, string it across the roof or lawn and get the same BTU/hr heat affect as if coils. The sun does not care, just make sure it's black hose toward the full sun.
Love this idea, your video is great with all the "mistakes" included! Showed to my husband and know it'll probably 2 yrs of procrastination before it gets done, but will be worth the early/late use of pool. In NE PA and get some hot sunny days early, but really cool nights. Thanks for sharing your build! And love the "Cassette Tape" paint idea comment!
Thank you!
I can only imagine how high the water temp would be with two 100' coils of 0.5" copper tubing. I am glad to see you added the extra tubing, nice set up. Look online to find out what the optimal angle is for the collector, the angle changes as the seasons change.
you're a very patient father. good parenting there
Thank you!
As a british guy with shit weather i found this amazing .. you need more Subs man your videos are wicked so id just like to say thank you .. for not covering your mistakes but showing us LOVED IT keep up the amazing work and hope your enjoying the pool
Thank you so much for the comment and the kind words. The pool is still going strong!! I hope all is well across the pond!
@@dontburnthehousedownvideos That's amazing thinking of doing a pool here soon as we have a inflatable 12ft Good but they pop over time and yeah good as can be expected over here .. take it easy
Nice job! We are going to try this here in Ontario, Canada. Thanks for the video.
Thank you for the comment! Good luck!
Nice! Thanks for the ideas!
Hopefully it works out for you!
Your music is NOT an issue. Just people nit picking. Anyways. I just got all my supplies and am planning on filling my pool WITH the hose water. 😉 Two birds one stone. Thanks so much for such a descriptive video! PS. Tell Emma I said 👋 😀
Excellent. All good. You’re the man. Thanks a lot. The best of all the videos ~10, I watched so far on that issue. Thank you indeed.
Awesome! Thank you so much!
My suggestion is to leave s small hole or two in the case (maybe in the underside) to allow for pressure relief when the internal air is overheated. Otherwise, great vid!
Thanks for sharing your ideas and adventure.
Thank you for the comment!!
Watched your vid after I started my own project. Yeah, big tip that you all ready said, use a roller and paint. I did spray paint too. A roller would definitely be easier!
I used tar paper for mine. Paper gets VERY hot. Not sure how it compares to painted plywood though, but I had the paper so why not just use it :)
Great job my friend! I just made mine this afternoon out of peks red tubing 100 feet of it. Single 48 x 48 Square plywood. Painted black tubing and wood. It was about 75 degrees out with partial sun, after 20 mins. 120 degrees! With a garden hose.. I still have to get the plexiglass and silicone.. tomorrow... So it definitely works .. 👍
Nice work!!
i would be inclined to line the back with a reflective metal surface behind the tubing. It should decrease the heat shed by cooling the tubing,( the natural thermal cooling process of heat transfer) acting as both a heat shield and insulator.
Thanks much - very impressive!
Nice!! Now... I have to build it!
Wondering for ease of disassembly. Get 1/4-1/2. foam/rubber door striping. Make a few 1/4 holes around through gasket with brass wood inserts all around and make a sorta of a gasket seal. Instead of just silicone or rtv.
Love the build
I love your dog, so sweet. Don't forget to drain the hose if temperature going down to freeze.
Funny you should mention that! I happened to be out of town the weekend of our first hard freeze of that year and didn't get the heater moved in the garage in time. The hose split right down the middle in several spots. 😔
@@dontburnthehousedownvideos Ho No! I am, so sorry about it 😮💨. The reason I say that is it happen to me as well, but with $15.000 expensive solar water heater watching you I could have saved myself a lot of $$ cheers man.
I was a 18. Yrs old in construction and did a little shower surround job.
I used liquid nail and it melted the surround. Needless to say, I had to buy new surround. Your mistake was minor, we all make them.
My ears, my ears!
Have you thought about experimenting with a faster motor than the one you linked on Amazon? Roughly 525gal/h would seem like it would take days to turn a pool, and counting for evening heat loss would be an even bigger obstacle to keep and quickly build the heat to a usable water temp.. the 35 degree increase is nice but the output just seemed to trickle. I'm wondering if doubling or tripling the speed would bring an approximate 10-15 degree increase but in the end your pool would fully turn and realize that actual temp increase. Just curious ! Thanks for making the video and your candor, also appreciate the comment about spray vs other methods of painting !
do you know the dead space/volume of the tubing as compared to your pool? how much effect does it have on the actual pool temperature? thanks!
I finished my version of the same design. I thought the more tubing used the better.. What could go wrong ?? I used about 400 feet of 1/2 tubing which ended up biting me in the butt.. I have a bypass on my return line from a 1.5 HP pump so that served as my water supply to the heater and the resistance from 400 feet of tubing was to much. I got next to no flow at the other end of the heater. I had to slice the tubing between the 2 coils to get the water running so instead of running the water in one long series it was split to run parallel between the 2 coils.. Still works but in this case bigger (longer) is not better.
Nice job.
Best way to learn is by your mistakes. You could if you need too. Tape the flexi glass just past the mess you can see and spray black it. It might even look good. It’ll hide it if it annoys you 👍👍👍
I would think using 1/4 inch instead of 1/2 would have more surface area heating the water. However you have to run it in Pararell with different circuits to maintain the same flow as your hose. Also put insulation on the bottom.
Curious what was the highest temperature you got the pool to? I'm also in Minnesota and it was too cold last year and nobody wanted to use it.😬
Great video, i love that you just leave your mistake in it, i am going to try it myself and am sure that i will drop a stitch here and there but it is for my own use so it doesn't matter.
Thanks for the feedback! If you like seeing mistakes, wait until my next video! 😶
Can you provide the temperature increase and flow rate, date, and your latitude? With the first 2 we can calculate the BTU flux and get a sense of how effective this would be for our own pool size. Thanks!
bare in mind it will take many days to incrementally increase the heat of the pool.
Use this 'poly pipe' system alongside a solar pool cover and she'll warm up in no time at all.
Also, there is no need to use silicon to make the case airtight. it's extreme overkill. this black pipe system will work with no cover at all. so tiny air gaps from small imperfections in the timber will make shit all difference.
If you are going to cover your pipes, make sure you get genuine Polycarbonate/Lexan Plexiglass, don't fall for a cheap acrylic knockoff. also, to save money your plexiglass can be extremely thin. in fact, you could just use clear plastic sheets like that used in greenhouses and you could just staple that stuff on.
very good effort. enjoyed that.
Thank you!
I hope you fix your pool legs !! Having the wood under the feet is going to wear a hole in your liner over time those should be installed level with the ground I’d replace them with patio bricks and dig a hole to the depth of the brick and set them in place !! But like they say your pool your money I’m just trying to help !! Happy 2022 summer
Good and nice job i would to ask about type of pipe and long and diameter of the black pipe you are used thank you very much
Nice video. Two suggestiins: get a pool.cover to keep heat in and prevent.evaporative cooling. And. Lower the music volume since it drowns out your voice.
Awesome vid, nice that you pointed out your mistakes because we all make them. Back ground music didn't bothered me, it kinda drownded out the wifes movie noise in the other room.
Haha! Glad I could help!
Hi. Enjoyed watching and learning. Have you devised a way to regulate your pool temperature?
Thank you for the comment! If it's too hot, I leave the cover off at night. Too cold, I keep the cover on at night and run the heater during the day. It's not precise by any means but it seems to work OK.
Great video 🙏 , I have built my own heater that looks similar to this but for some reason after 5 min of heating it goes back to 70 (I didn't get the plastic cover yet) not sure what I did wrong
Your initial burst of heat is from the water that was already in the tubes after you turned it on. Once that water runs through, you will get the real temperature that your heater will heat the water to while running.
You don't need any wood box and glass. It won't last and it will rot. The gains by closing are minimal. You can just put the rolls directly on the roof it will work better with less problems.
Assuming you can reach the roof and don't mind putting holes in it.
Your opening comment alone about the world going insane over a cough is enough to hit the subscribe button.
I appreciate it! I've actually received some hate for that one. 😂
People need to lighten up.
Nice job, we all make mistakes, even the pros! I’m going to tackle mine this weekend. Thanks
Thanks! Send some pictures when it's done!
Good vid but omg get rld of the music so people can hear what you are saying
Thanks for the feedback. I try to keep the music low enough that it doesn't drown anything out. It's much better than listening to me breathe the whole time! Lol. I'll keep an eye out for spots where it drowns out the dialog.
Just lose the music all together.
I can him with no issue. As an AV guy, I will say he has his volume at a good level. I would listen on a computer versus you phone (or use earbuds) as most phones have crappy speakers (yes, even iPhones)
@@jcs23576 Having some experience in this area, music that is intended to accompany something, including musicians accompanying a live singer, always has to be in the background - that's why it called accompaniment (try to tell that to a keyboard player). The background should be about one-third/half on average the intended content. In this video the music is almost equal to the intended content and also the two contents (speech and music) are in widely separate frequency ranges the higher frequency sometimes becoming predominate (although equal in volume) just because of the way humans hear different frequencies. (see Fletcher Munsom Curves). You see these comments all over CZcams with complaints about accompanying music being too loud, distracting or inappropriate. So general rule don't let the the background overpower the intended content.
@@georgeb1364 I have quite a bit of experience in this are myself. Listening from PC with (and I listened with my in-ears, then my speakers) the BGM sounded about 1/3 to me (I usually shoot for the music to be ~8db lower than than the vocals in my work).
I have noticed though, sometimes if I dont scoop from 800-2Khz certain mobile devices will still have intelligibility issues (I blame overcompression by either the device or YT/FB, lol)
Great job man! Quick question, did you pre-drill the holes in the plexiglass before putting those screws through? Seems like it might crack/split if not, so I'm guessing you did. The one "improvement" I might add to mine will probably be some brass gate-handles on the top and sides to help when you have to move it. I'm definitely feeling inspired, thanks!
Thanks for the comment! I absolutely pre drilled the holes in the plexi before putting the screws in. I laid the plexi down and pre drilled through the glass and wood. Just don't use the sealer as I did in the video! Watch my newest video for some follow up advice. And I thought about handles but it's honestly a two person job to move it and hand placement has never been much of an issue.
Any info on how you connected the hoses.. half inch to half inch and hose clamps i see.. what are the blue things on the
Great job mate 🙂
Thank you!
Great video. I’ve just built a 10x8 summer house and going to put my lay z spa in it. And build one of these ready for the summer. Do you think bolting this to the roof so it’s permanently there and out the way would be fine? Or would I need to upgrade the pump to a more powerful one to manage the gravity? Thank you
I think you'd be perfectly fine with bolting it to the roof. As for the pump, I'm not sure. It would struggle to get it uphill to the heater but it would also have a syphon effect when coming back downhill. You'll probably just have to try it and find out.
You should paint it like a cassette tape. haha,.
Greetings from Chisago City, MN neighbor!
That would be awesome! "Slippery When Wet." 😀
Fantastic idea. Anyone who recognizes what it is would be close to 30 or older
Would insulating the back side add to the temperature?
It definitely wouldn't hurt!
Hi, great video. Did you run the hose through the pool filter pump or separately?
Since 11:13, Emma has heeded her father's advice of never letting a drop of water come near any type of plumbing again. Ever.
*PLEASE DISREGARD THE FAULTY O-RING ISSUE*
Great job, cool video
Thank you!
If u would have done shingles instead of plexi glass might have worked better and used it as a roof for the pump house but well done and great idea I just put pool in a month ago
great job
Thank you!
Good job brother 👍 ❤❤❤ this video
Thank you very much for the comment!
Thank you for sharing the video.
How long can a person consider the tubing to last under the UV effects of the sun?
What were the adapters to the 3/4" garden hoses?
The tubing hasn't warped or had any sun damage yet and it's 3 years old. The only issues I've had were my own fault when I left it outside late in the season and it froze. The adapters are available at any hardware store. I just took a piece of the tubing in and said "I need this to go into a garden hose" and they set me il.
550 gallons means it will take 12 hours to raise the temperature in my pool. If I had 2 different systems going at the same time so I have a 1100 per hour then we'd be talking. Nice video
Thank you!
After siliconing you can spray the surrounding area and your finger with windolene and run it down the joint to get a nice, clean finish
Thx so much for sharing!!!! I'm also a none professionell. Making mistakes is part of my live too!!! 🙂🙃😉 Greetings from germany Christoph 👍 👍 👍 👍 👍
Thank you for the comment!
You’re hilarious! Somebody in China coughed! Kind thanks for the vid!
Thanks! It's all in jest. Some folks seem to take offense to that joke but I'm just having fun with it all.
Don't Burn the House Down!
I can’t believe it’s still Riot Season? I still have my Covid19 decorations up!
You did a great job ! Put a lot of effort and precision. I’m wondering if this would work for my inground pool 16x32?
That's a lot bigger than mine so I'm thinking your results may vary. If you had a few of them you would be great!
@@dontburnthehousedownvideos Thanks for info! I have sun but I have neighbors that refuse to cut corner trees which effect the sun at certain times of day for me . So I figured try this before buying a solar heating system 🤷♀️
if you push more water faster youll get more overall energy transferred to the pool even though the output temp will be slightly lower. neat build! the plexiglass couldnt have been cheap!
The plexi was about $90 so not terrible but not great. Thanks for the comment!
where can you get a 4x8 plexiglass for 90?? cheapest is 250 at lowes
@@danielroden9424: In my area there are plastic companies (TAP Plastic, All Plastics) and they sell 4’x8’ sheets, but NO it ain’t cheap!
@@b-radg916 i am going to attempt one with corrugated clear roof panels which are 2x8 and only 20 dollars each
@@danielroden9424: Let us know how it goes please!
Great project, thanks for including your ‘learn from my mistakes’ re-dos! I just have one request, please don’t use background music. It’s very distracting.
Very well aware of the music being too loud. Thanks for the comment.
I love your build. I will build one with a few of my own mods. How many gpm is your pump?
First off, great job. I’m going to build one. Secondly, any pros or cons regarding two 4x4 pieces of plexiglass versus one piece of 4x8? I would still have a divider between the two sets of coils and the center block to support the plexiglass.
Whatever you prefer! I would have done the 4x8 piece but they didn't have one. Either way should be good!
Excellent Video! After watching dozens of videos, I believe your design has the potential to be the BEST design. I want to improve on your design and want to tell you my intentions for feedback. 1. I'd like to install Aluminum Flashing inside the floor and spraypaint flat black. Will this amplify the heating in the closed chamber? 2. I'm going to add 2 handles to lift this badboy easier. 3. What size dowel rods did you use? At the end of the rods (towards the inside), did you build a support block underneath it to secure the wrapped PVC pipe securely? I have reason to believe that the wrapped PVC will shift during transport. 4. I'm going to add weather stripping between the 2x4s and the Plexi so the plexi sits better. 5. Is 5/8' +400' available? Or is that too thick to use? Thank you for your replies!
Thanks for the comment! Here's my answers to your questions (as best I can.)
1.Aluminum flashing would probably make a nice addition as it would make the entire enclosure radiate heat.
2. Definitely add handles! Chances are though, it'll still be a two person job to move it.
3. I'm not sure on the dowel rods. I bought the eyelet screws first and then test fit dowel rods until I found one that fit
4. There is no support block holding the tubing in place. The dowel rods are pressing firmly and evenly against the tubing which prevents it from moving. Roll out the tubing first and then install the eyelet screws JUST outside of the tubing. Make the eyelets sit up JUST high enough that the extended dowel rod rides above the tubing. I made it a very tight fit but that prevents any of the tubes from moving. They're snug in there.
5. Not sure about the weather stripping. That is definitely what I'd recommend but as far as size goes, I'd say you want as thin as possible. The goal is to keep the plexi from moving around and too much of a buffer might let it shift.
Good luck with your project and keep me posted!
That looks great and seems to work really well. Can you add how you hooked it up to your pool, after it was full, not to the hose? Thanks!
Thanks! I used a pond pump and dropped it into the pool. The pond pump connected to the inlet of the heater and then I took a few feet of garden hose on the outlet and put it back into the pool. The pond pump is linked in the description of this video or the pool setup video.
OH! I see, it’s just it’s own separate unit, not connected to the pools filter pump. Hmmm, something to think about. Thank you!!
Do you think you could use this set up to add water from the water source to fill the pool initially and then hook it up for continually heating the water? I know when it comes from our deep well in the spring the pool takes days before we can use it.
You could definitely do that BUT you would have to set the water pressure pretty low so as not to make it explode. Doing that would take a lot longer to fill it. I would recommend just filling the pool as usual and hooking the heater up immediately to start warming and recirculating the water.
How long does it take to get that 3 gallons to heat up?
Thank you for the video. I have a couple of questions, what pump size did you use and how heavy is your set up, I like to mount mine on top of the patio cover during the summer and put it away in the winter.
Hey there! The pump is 360 gallons per hour but the setup is heavy. You can mount it but it's going to need a very sturdy base. It's over 200 pounds empty. Full of water it's easily over 300.
@@dontburnthehousedownvideos hi, can you say which model of pump do you use?thanks
Do you have a link for the pump?
Great video! Do you know what flow you were getting from the pump? I built the same design without the plexi and only get about 8-degree increase in water temp with about 100 gallons per hour flow. If I cut the flow to 50 GPH I get about 20-degree increase.
Thanks! The pump is a 360 gph pump but I can't imagine it's going that fast through the system. I think the tubing slows it down. I will say that the plexi makes a world of difference. I'd give that a try if you're looking for higher heat.
I just took a gallon container and timed how long it took the fill up to figure out the GPH. I think the pump I have is 1000, but I used a valve to gate it down.
John DiPippo Slowing the water is counter productive. You will gain less heat overall. You need a high volume of water with a small increase to gain maximum efficiency.
Does anyone have a suggestion for a pump that will smoothly handle 50-100’ of 3/8” outer diameter copper tubing?
I agree with the background music. It is distracting and overpowering your voice
Hey there! Great video. About to do mine as well. I have nobody else to bounce this idea off of .. so thought I'd ask here. What are your thoughts about adding some self leveling cement all around the pipe. I think it might act like a big heat sink and retain some heat when a good goes by. Or, do you think the air transfers heat better than being partially imbedded in cement? Would love your thoughts.
I would avoid the cement. It would probably do well to retain some heat after the sun goes down a bit but it's also going to make it take longer to heat up in the morning. However, the biggest factor I would see is the added weight. This thing is heavy on its own. When the coils are full of water, it's REALLY heavy. Adding cement would make it pretty impossible to move in my opinion. I don't think the potential gain would outweigh the potential downsides of that.
great for a pool of 45000 liters how many heater i need?
Love the build, all together how long was the tubing, I see the pump was 550. Trying to get an idea to build one myself. Thanks.
Thank you! The pump is perfect at 550. Any more and I think the pressure would be too much. Total length was 300 feet of tubing, 150 feet per side, comprised of 1 100 foot and 1 50 foot section per side. I would 100% recommend that you start with 400 feet of continuous tubing and coil each side until it can't coil anymore. I had room for more. The connections seem to be the weak spot so if you can avoid any fittings by using a continuous piece it would be much better.
@@dontburnthehousedownvideos The tubing you used is the 1/2” or so diameter stuff for building a drip system, right? I think they make a 5/8” or 3/4” diameter as well. Do you think a bigger diameter tube would be more or less effective?
Awesome Build! Quick question for you, I just built my own and I can't seem to get the water much hotter, I do have around 2-300 ft long of irrigation hose in my panel and a clear cover (not seal yet) the water on the outlet is only around 5-10 degree hotter.
Do you have to stand it up vertically? or have it directly facing the sun? My panel is mounted high up, slightly tilted but tilted toward the pool and not the sun, but it does get full exposure to sunlight. I do notice the water gets way hotter before i mount it up and it was below pool level and standing up leading against the pool.
Thanks
Thanks for the comment! You'll want to position it just like you do a normal solar panel. So facing directly at the sun if possible. Otherwise your gains will diminish pretty dramatically. Also, how many GPH is your pump? And if it's mounted high up, how long is the hose between the panel outlet and the pool? That tubing has basically zero insulation so if it has to go several feet to the pool it's going to lose some heat.
@@dontburnthehousedownvideos thanks for your response.
My pump is 550GPH, had trouble getting water coming out at first but after the entire length of hose was filled with water, it eventually maintain good flow thru the outlet.
Outlet to pool is only about 2 feet away. I also tried slowing the flow with the upstream block valve, didn’t make a big difference in temperature but slow the flow by a lot.
I think I’ll play around with different position of the panel
Well done. I like a warm pool too. How long did it take to get the pool up to temp, and what temp did you shoot for?
I didn't really have a temp in mind when I first set it up. But it took 2 days of sun and it went from 70 degrees to over 80 degrees. I actually unplugged it for most of July because at one point it hit 92 degrees! My girls basically said they didn't want to swim in a hot tub!
Really nice video. How many days did it take to heat your pool? Would have been nice to add a daily chart of pool temp. Really good though
When the sun finally came out it took about 4 days to get from 58 degrees (tap water cold) to around 80. It really helped to recover from the night time heat losses during the early weeks of summer. I had to shut it off by mid July because the pool hit 90 degrees and the kids were complaining of "swimming in a hot tub."
Great Video, Great Job
Thank you!
@@dontburnthehousedownvideos I just made mine 500 feet of Tubing, going down 20, 30 feet then back up hill to the Pool...What size Pump do i need? any models you like?
That's a lot of up and down. You can try the submersible pump I have listed in the description but you might need a little more power. Start with that pump and if you aren't satisfied with the flow rate, return it for a higher power model.
@@dontburnthehousedownvideos What size HP do I need? I dont see the link to your Pump
I need to attach to garden hose
Sounds like a good way to help heat your house, but a pool takes a LOT more energy. My in-laws' pool heater was 400,000BTU/hr gas fired, and it added about a month on both ends of the pool season in South Carolina. I figured a 4' x 8' collector could theoretically make very roughly 20,000BTU/hr at best. How much did it warm your pool?
This definitely won't keep you in the pool game that long. But we were able to jump in the pool in maybe 4 days after filling it. It was 55 degrees at filling and was 75 by the time we dove in.
Seems like alot of work, but well done .its looking effective
My kind of DIY!
Hello, are use still using the 550 gph water pump without any issue?
Can the background music!
Read the video description please. Well aware.
I think you did a great job on your project. It might have been a better idea to use some of that rolled weatherstipping to seal the plexi to the wood frame. No mess and no melting plastic! Maybe leave a little bit of a vent in the box for condensation to escape as well. If you could modify to run the coils in parallel instead of in series you would actually get more heat transferred to the pool water. It wouldn't make a whole lot of difference though. Sounds like it's working fine for you as is!
what do you mean Parallel?
@@mikegruber172 Use a Y connector at the input and run two separate streams in and out of the two coils instead of one stream continuously through both coils. Theoretically it would transfer more energy to the water overall. With a system this small, gain would be negligible and since it's already built and sealed it probably wouldn't be worth the work. How's it holding up?
@@Chadman03elantra Thanks a lot. I just ordered the tubing yesterday, 500 feet, the build starts this week
@@mikegruber172 Sorry, I thought you were the publisher of the video, wasn't paying attention lol. Good luck on your build!
@@Chadman03elantra LOL I will be lucky to have 2 eyes and my 9 fingers left when this project is over
Good presentation of heater, but get rid of that music it was hard to watch
Cool project. How do you drain it when you're finished using it for the year?
Thanks! I drain it by setting my air compressor to about 15 psi and simply blowing it out. I take the air wand, put it in the tube, and then use my hand to seal it off as best I can. It works well.
The black backing absorbs solar energy and robs the heat energy from the tubing.
Why not a layer of foil faced foam on the backing so it reflects more heat energy to the tubing?
I don’t think it robs energy from the tubing. The black paint only absorbs heat energy from the sun’s rays that miss the tubing. That heat is then transmitted into the air trapped between the plexiglass and the box. That hot air further heats the tubes and therefore the water. I think it’s a very good design. I haven’t tried it myself, but if you put foil instead of black I believe the output water would be cooler.
Wouldn't just submerging a piece of black plastic the same size as the collector directly in the pool achieve the same result?