#14 Heating Your Pool Cheap | At The Ranch
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- čas přidán 27. 09. 2017
- Owning a pool is great fun but heating it in northern climates can be very expensive. Alec shows his DIY solar heating and plumbing setup so you can enjoy an extend pool season too.
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Finally! someone who actually explained how the water travels from the pool and back to the pool. I have seen pool heater videos for years and you are the only one I found who explains how it works especially with the pool pump, thank you! thank you! thank you! so much Alec.
Glad it was helpful!
Thanks for watching.
Alec
That was fun and pleasant to watch. You sure are a people person 😊 If you'd have you own reality show, for example, I'd always watch it 😄 Thanks for this!
Thank you! 😃. I'm having fun with this channel and my Alec Peirce Scuba channel plus all the ranch projects underway.
Alec I keep learning a bunch from you on how to safe a bunch of money for country living. First the fireplace and now the pool heater this is great info. Thanks.
Awesome! Thank you!
BUT THE HEATER IS NOT ON...love that line...awesome work and great positive attitude..love it
Thanks 👍
This may be the most wholesome video I've ever watched. Thanks for the info!
Thanks memphis.
I hope it helps.
Alec
Your a genius Alec , I just love this type of information.......
If I'm a genius it's because I hate to spend time doing mindless tasks and I hate to waste money if there's a better way. I'm not lazy but I do try to figure out the best (easiest and cheapest) way to get a job done - done well that is.
Thanks for watching.
Alec
Love the video, helpful & entertaining! Fun to watch !
Glad you enjoyed it!
Every neat setup Alec 👍
Thanks Peter.
I'm about to shut the pool down. We've had 2 weeks of really hot weather, 85+ (30C), and the pool temperature climbed to 87, but it's over. Last night was 39 (4C).
Talk soon.
Alec
just subscribed,,,That was cool, Mr Cool,,,!! we like your style,
gonna try that soon, thank you and keep them vids coming 😃😃👍👍
Thank you.
Alec, great video!!! I started to use something similar (PVC Solar Panels) that laid flat on shed roof back when we first got our pool in the early 2000's. They aren't as pliable as what you have, but, same concept. I don't remember what I paid for them, maybe around $150, way cheaper than a gas heater and like you said, way cheaper to run...basically, the cost of running your pool pump, which you must do anyway to keep the pool clean!
I had built a shed in the mid 1990's with the purpose of housing pool supplies. The pool we had was a 21' round above ground unit, first installed and completely paid for by our neighbors, it was in their yard...he bought it, I hired someone to run a Bobcat to excavate, I owned a material hauling business, so, I brought in the sand needed for the pool and took out the spoils (excavated dirt), up the road was a place that offered a free spot to dump it. There was fence around 3 sides of the neighbors yard (including my own), I helped him finish off enclosing his yard, which was code. I made a gate to my yard so he could use our shed to put his pool supplies in, and he let us come over and use the pool anytime we wanted. He said, when he was done with the pool, he'd give it to me. Nice arrangement.
About 5 years later, his kids were grown, he didn't use the pool, too cold for him, so, we moved it over to our yard. I did all the work myself. It wasn't very complicated, and, he helped me whenever I needed a hand.
When I built the shed years earlier, I had positioned it so a longer section of roof was facing south. This was the perfect spot, I filled it with the solar panels, purchased a black solar cover for the pool, and, that was enough heat to get the water to between 85 - 88 degrees...I don't care for it to be much warmer than that, it isn't real refreshing. Although, during the hottest part of summer, it might get close to 90, we'd shut off the solar panels and leave the cover off. We live in northern IL, I was able to use the pool from about mid May until mid Sept most years, a few I was still using the pool in early October, of course, the water was about 78 degrees, which is chilly!
We used the pool for 15 seasons...loved it. We moved and the new owners still use the pool...not sure about the solar heat, but, I'm guessing they still use it, the panels are still there.
We had some friends who lived around the corner, their kids were the same age as ours. They put in the same size and type pool that same season we did. Except, the put in a gas pool heater. He showed me what he was spending to heat the pool, it was outrageous. Sometimes the kids would go over and turn the heater ALL the way up, thinking that was going to heat the pool up faster. Then, they'd forget it was on, the heater would be on for 2 or 3 days straight, the pool water would be like a hot tub! Not only wasting gas, but pool chemicals too, a hot pool uses a lot more chlorine than a cool one.
I highly advise anyone with enough room, looking to cut costs down on heating a pool
Thanks Mike for sharing your project and the how it works for your pool. Propane heating can be expensive (if the kids touch it) that's why i like my solar setup, safe and cheap heating.
@@AlecPeirceAtTheRanch Yours is awesome! I didn't see the size of your pool, but, the solar panel manufacturer we chose suggested using enough panels to equal to 2/3 of the pool surface area. Mine wasn't near that big, but, we also had the black solar cover we'd put on at night. Leave it on in the AM, pump running until ready to swim in the afternoon. It was amazing how much the sun can warm up the water. Sometimes the pump was off, we'd come out, top foot or two of water was hot, bottom was cold!
I love this guy. Thanks for the video.
Thanks for watching!
Alec... you're awesome.
I'm going to show my wife, kids and grandkids this, they have doubts!! Thanks Steve.
Amazing thanks installing it this week end
Great. I'm waiting for the 2.5 feet of ice to melt before opening for another stay-at-home season. Good luck.
Great video Alec.
So this is what you are doing now, after Breaking Bad 😁
Pretty much!
Very informative. Thank you !
Glad you enjoyed it!
Get that thing under glass or UV filtering Plex ( sealed up in a box). It will raise the temp by 5- 10 degrees from what your are experiencing now. Its a miracle on cloudy days. It also reduces the UV on the black tubes and makes them last longer. Rubber and UV aren't good bedfellows.
It may last longer but for the few months a year and cost to replace, not a problem Mark. Thanks for watching.
I am going to try this. Thank you Awesome
You are welcome 😊
Omg you are awesome! Im going to try this, this spring. I want a dad like you!
Sorry. I've already got 4 kids and 6 grandkids. You sound nice but that's enough!!
@@AlecPeirceAtTheRanch She means a “Daddy” Alec not a “Dad “ 😂;)
Hey peirce has anyone ever said that you have a Norm mcdonald cadence i believe he was also from Ontario, anyways great Channel here lucky i found it. All the best.
Many viewers think I sound like dear old Norm. A funny guy and a gentleman. Glad you like it.
A
Thanks so much
You're welcome!
He slightly sounds like norm macdonald. cool.
I get that a lot. Norm is a cool and funny guy, just like me! Thanks for watching.
Awesome
Thank you Molly.
great idea to have those tubes but i am not sure i can buy such here in Swiss. thanks for the video,its a great one Sir.
So nice of you. They should be available as in North America, ABS pipe is as common as copper pipe or donuts.
Love this! My husband and I would like to do this as well. Do you recall the brand and where did you order the other plans (not from the garage sale)? Question do you continue to run the solar heater while swimming and at any point do you turn it off?
The solar heater is in use whenever the pump is running. All of the water that goes through the pump also goes through the solar heater before heading back to the pool. We have the pump on a timer that shuts it off at night to save electricity. It doesn't lose much heat (we cover it) and it starts up again in the morning, just in time for the sun.
I think this brand is Enersol but there are similar ones around.
Alec
Gracias amigo,
Thanks for watching.
Good job
It works great, 86F in summer is great for my old bones.
Alec.
That is so great thank you so much. So where do you buy this from is there a website or something that you could post please ?
The design and plumbing were my own, the solar panels I think is a brand called Enersol, enersol.com, but there are similar ones around.
Where did you buy the black rubber things on your roof? What are they called? Thanks
They are called ENERSOL. Go to enersol.com .
Works for me and cheap too.
Alec
Thankyou
You’re welcome 😊
Hi from Guelph!
Hello from sunny Brechin (well so far today).
A
One more idea...
When I was investigating alternative ways to heat a pool, I saw a radiator system designed to go into an attic space, use a radiator and fan to heat the water. I don't know if it was available commercially, or, perhaps what I saw long ago was a DIY project.
Basically, another alternative to heat pool water, plumb water to your attic, using a fan and radiator to blow the hot air of the attic over the cool water of the pool, the dual benefit is heating the water and cooling the attic!
Of course, you'd want to be careful with something like that! Make sure there is a catchpan underneath the system that allows leaks to be drained to the outside via a gutter. You don't want to flood your attic!!!
You can buy a battery operated moisture alarm, put it in the pan so if the system starts to leak, the alarm goes off.
That sound complicated especially going into an attic to work on a pool heater. Mine is all in one building with extra electricity other than the pool pump. Thanks Mike.
@@AlecPeirceAtTheRanch Yes, complicated with possible flooding danger! Hence, I never strongly considered doing it, but, an interesting dual purpose concept, heat pool, cool off attic, thus saving shingles and lowering AC costs. You'd only want to tackle a project like that in the cooler months, at least the indoor part.
Problem is unless you can find a titanium radiator the chlorine in the pool water will rust out copper or aluminum in just a year or 2 and then you have a flood! Or maybe if you had only UV lights clarifying the pool water and no salt or chlorine.
@@koreymayo8884 Yes, aluminum is probably not going to work well with chlorine...but copper or galvanized steel would definitely work. Copper doesn't rust, it oxidates. The water pipes in most houses are either galvanized or copper. Rather than using chlorine in a pool to keep it clean, use copper ionization, which is much easier on eyes, hair and skin.
sorry, notice that it relied using one of my business account ID's, tis me - Mike! LOL!
Thats fantastic Alec, do you have some neat tric for cleaning the pool for debree too?
Not really Tom. That's still a labor of love. We're lucky since we didn't plant any trees near the pool so we get no leaves. It's pretty sheltered as well so nothing blows in. But every week we skim the surface and vacuum - mostly bugs, occasional frog or field mouse. We do keep the pool covered with a roll-up floating cover. It helps keep it warm and cleaner too.
Alec
Very cool Alec, looks like a good pool to relax and swim in, hope you can do the PADI Vintage Scuba course there he he ;)
hi Alec my brother uses a similar system to heat his pool it is all made with 1 1/4" abs pipe and is mounted on the roof of the garage it heats the pool to over 80% no problem and i looked it up the system he has is 17 years old but you can still order the parts for it was installed by the previous owner who was a plumber
Trust a pro plumber to make it work and last a long time. Sounds like a great setup and thanks for watching my own ideas.
its 399 for a set of 3. so his setup would be 1200 but that compares pretty well to 2500-3000 for a propane pool heater
I'm a DIY guy so other than parts/supplies, I save a LOT doing these projects. Sometimes even more on version 2 from what I learned from version 1.
I'm not sure why the two-way valve is needed. I plumbed my heat sources in series (pump >filter >wood boiler >solar >LP) so I can use multiple heat sources or combinations as desired. Works great!
I use the 3 way to keep the propane heater and solar and regular filter to pool so I have 2 options for heating (in case the solar ever broke which it has not). Thanks for watching.
thanks sir.. I been looking to heat my pool this summer but didn't know if solar heaters would work..
My solution works great to have a warm pool for these old bones.
A.
How many gals is your pool?
Went to Emersol website and now each 1 foot section is sold separately and the 11 sections (8 ft long) you have now cost $ 2069 CAD or $1527 USD before shipping and just including top and bottom and tubes not including and ball valves or pvc pipe needed.
Thanks
John
The price has gone up since I did mine. Still they do work and last a long time so for me it has been a great investment and a hot pool.
What do you call those 'mats' please? I live in Malta and am wondering if I could hook them up to a radiator to warm the bedrooms - our winters aren't that cold and we still have lots of sun in winter :)
Just called solar water panels in Canada. Anything that lets water pumped through it works.
A
You are funny. In a good way.👍
Thanks! 😃
Is there a bad way?
The 2 way valve isn't really necessary. It's quite OK to run the water through the gas heater whether it's operation or not. I've had a solar heating system for my pool for the last 10 years. Still works fine.
That works too, thanks for watching Deiter.
Hey Alec I'm looking to heat my pool and I'm in Oshawa. Do you remember the name of the tubes and where you bought them ? I believe you said they were 10 feet high how many of them did you get for the size of your pool ?
I bought 2 boxes at a Garage sale. Each box has 3 sets of tubes. These were the 10' long sets.
Then I added 2 more new boxes for a total of 12 tubes.
That covers a roof area of about 12' x 10' long.
A few will make a difference; more is always better.
They're called Enersol. They come in 8' and 10' lengths. Choose whatever your roof will manage. Again, more is better.
Check Kijiji first.
We've had them set up for almost 5 years now with no problems, summer & winter.
Good luck.
Alec
Alec Peirce At The Ranch thanks for the info. I'm trying to understand how many boxes it requires to suppport heating a 14 x 28 inground. I noticed it's $99 per box (1' by 10') and a starting kit for $79. The table suggest a minimum of 20 boxes minimum if roof is South Facing. This looks like over $2,000 to support my 14 x 28. Yet when I look at your pool you used 4 or 5 boxes. Am I calculating something wrong here ?
1. They always want to sell more than you really need.
2. We use ours as a supplement - not to make the initial cold water hot.
Our pool is 14 x 28 but only 5' deep end to end (no deep end).
With 3 sunny days a week it stays at 80 degres+.
There's no question the more the better but you don't need a lot.
We installed 2 sets at first that I got very cheap, brand new off Kijiji. A set includes 3 rolls of tubes, 1' x 10'.
It was working so well that I extended our pool cabin with an overhang to add 2 more for a total of 12, 1' rolls. - Perfect!
Alec
Alec Peirce At The Ranch thanks for the info. Since our pools are similar 14 * 28 but I do have a deep end I'm going to start with 5 boxes which I believe has 1 - 1x10 in the box.
What has confused me is when you explain in the video that you get 3 - 1x10 in a package which I assumed is a box. I counted 11 - 1x10 on your shed so if you get 3 in a box than you must have bought 4 boxes. Getting 2 of them from Kijiji would be a great start for me if I find them there. There is a place online that is selling them for $99 a box which only contains 1 - 1x10 so this is why I'm confused.
Thanks Alec I really enjoyed your video and enthusiasm. Really like the Texas towel hanger.
Alec, I think part of the reason why your system is so efficient is because of the steep angle the panels are located at the rear of your pool shed. During your winter (when the heating is needed) the sun is lower in the southern sky and so because of the steep angle your panels face the sun more directly than panels would if located on a regular roof, this can be seen by how your shadow falls onto the panels when you are demonstrating at 10am on a September morning. I am in Australia and so my panels would need to face the northern sky rather than facing south.
Interesting observation David and probably correct.
However, it's quite moot. We do not use the heater in the winter (for us that's November to March). There is no heater made that would keep our pool warm when the temperature is from 0 degrees to -20 degrees!
Thanks for watching.
Alec
@@AlecPeirceAtTheRanch Thanks Alec, your video is excellent and is sparking various ideas about how similar solar heaters could be used to heat pools and fish ponds.
Fun
Is sure is.
Now you need a solar control panel with sensors and a thermostat and electronic valves or else your water will get cold on cloudy/ rainy days and at night unless you only run your pump during the day on a timer.
I use a bubble cover which keeps the heat in and most of the frogs out. Thanks Korey, I may add these ideas when I next update my setup.
What kind of delta are you seeing with this setup? Thanks!
No idea Andrew.
I DO know that it heats the pool with in input in time or money.
I DO know that my total investment in materials to set it up is equal to the cost of 2 years worth of propane.
I DO know that it has been running completely problem free for over 5 years now.
I don't need to calculate the delta. It's not eve close.
Take care.
Alec
@@AlecPeirceAtTheRanch The delta is nothing more than the difference between heated and unheated temperature of the pool. Cheap and easy don't mean jack if it doesn't work or doesn't work well.
@@TheSloppyDingo it must work for him otherwise he would not have made *#$"' video !
@@frontiermarvin71 It's great if it works for him but a performance value of how well it works would be useful information for his audience.
Looks like the water in and the water out are on the same pipe?
That wouldn't make much sense Keith.
The return from the pump to the pool was cut.
The water now goes from the pump into the solar heater and comes out the other end and then back to the pool.
Basically, the solar heater is installed in series in the return line.
It's a bit more complicated than that only because I chose to install a valve that allows me to by-pass the solar heater and go straight from the pump to the pool (via the propane pool heater).
That way I can decide to use either the solar heater or the pool heater or vary the amount of water that goes to either as well.
Does that help?
Alec
How about a picture of the finished tie in
I want to do hot water pool business in Nepal. How can you help me in Nepal? what is the cost of a make of 20 ft wide 40 ft length space pool? if you can help me please.
I don't know if it helps at all because of the big differences but our pool is 14 X 28 and 5' deep overall. It cost me about $15,000CDN including all the equipment.
Alec
Hi Alec
How many gallons is your pool?
What is your pool dimentions?
The pool is 13' wide x 27' long x 4.5' deep. 1,550 gallons or 44,000 liters.
@@AlecPeirceAtTheRanch Hey, Alex, not trying to show you up here...you got your liters right @ 44,000, but that amount is 11,624 gallons Maybe got your comma in the wrong place on gallon conversion. I know, you are from Canada, not used to gallons! LOL!!!
Here is a nice calculator chart based on size and depth.
www.backyardcitypools.com/Pool-Volume-Calculate.htm
We had a 21' round, it was about 8,500 gallons. Your pool is significantly bigger. I wish we would have gone with a bigger oval like that versus round....but, begger's can't be chooser's! Ovals fit better in yards and make it possible for kids to be playing at one end and adults be relaxing at the other! After a while, you get used to getting splashed, pool water on your sunglasses and in your drink!
When you have to fill it up, and get the water bill, you realize just how big that is!
From the video, looks like you are out in the country more, so, my guess is you are on a private well...not a big deal, other than, lots of work for the pump!
I live in the suburbs of Chicago, there is a local service called "Aloha Pool Water", for a small fortune, a water truck will come by, deliver pool water. Besides filling the pool in 30 or 40 minutes, the other added benefit is, you can have the water chlorinated, balanced and warm enough that you can go swimming right away!
Why goes the water goes from bottom to up, why not from up to bottom so gravity works too? Have you done it to warm the water slowly or doesnt make it a difference to heat your water?
That is manufacturer recommendation - so that the water moves more slowly - not slower through pump; slower through the unit. If it goes top to bottom it will rush down never filling the tubes all the way up.
It does, the longer the water is in the heating pads the more solar heat it absorbs. My system work great heating the pool to 87F with cool nights.
@@AlecPeirceAtTheRanch Long dwell times are not optimal. The more flow that goes through the heating pads, the more heat that gets conducted into the "cool" water (good), instead of radiating/convecting into the atmosphere (bad). It's better to get a lot of warm water than a little hot water. But if it works enough for you, don't change a thing!
There's more to it than that. It takes no more pressure to pump the same GPM up rather than down because the vertex is exactly the same, and the resistance doesn't change because you'd be simply moving the resistor in the same conductor (basic physics), so that's not the reason. The biggest reason to pump up is for constant prime. Filling from the bottom chases ALL air out of the system and keeps it primed at all times.
@@Cotronixco Yes, I did it the opposite way at first hooking my solar panels up years ago. It causes air pockets in the lines, which is bad for the pump and the filter. Pushing the water up moves through the panels slower, which is what you want, and it keeps air out of the lines.
I experimented with positioning the valve that lets the water up to the solar panels, shut it partially closed to slow down the flow of water. If water travels too fast through the solar panels, it may not have enough time to heat up, but, if it goes through at a slower pace, it absorbs more heat. It is a trade off though, the water doesn't cycle as often through the heater.
I could get it to the point where the water was REAL hot coming out of the pool jets!
Wouldn't it be easier on the filter to pump the water up to the drop and let gravity help bring it back to the pool?
It's important that the entire solar heater with all of those tubes be filled at all times. The only way to ensure that is to fill it from the bottom and, as it fills and reaches the top, then it falls easily back into the filter and pool. It's similar to a car radiator. For maximum cooling, the hot water comes from the engine into the bottom of the rad, fills it up so that every cooling tube is full and working and then the cooled water goes back into the engine.
Pool pumps are very powerful. The total height (head) is only about 6'
Thanks for watching.
Alec
Manager TSS
- The answer is no. The required power is the same either way.
Pushing the water uphill prevents potential air lock in the tubes.
Norm?!? Is that you?
at @1:32 - @1:37 range
Nope but I'm just as handsome.
How many gallons is your pool
I don't remember as i filled it in for a garden. The kids didn't want to use it anymore.
A.
Shame you filled it in .
How many gallons is your pool?
I don't remember but it takes one water truck to fill it up! Sorry mate.
@@AlecPeirceAtTheRanch Well i love the answer Sir .
Double check but you could have ran from solar to pool heater then to pool. This way if you have a couple of cool cloudy days and the solar is not getting it to the temp you want the pool heater doesn’t have to work that hard to get it to the temp you like,
That is an idea however once I open the pool this setup will raise the temperature 15F in a week with only the pump running. We do get a lot of sunshine and I need really warm water before going in.
@@AlecPeirceAtTheRanch images.app.goo.gl/nv9ZoYbANfDLDKh69. I recommended it because you already have the heater.
I don't know why Ontario people think they are in center of universe.
Just because I guess!
A.
God created Ontario first and used the left overs for the rest. In Ontario we spell "CENTRE" this way.😄
Roblox
Sure