Solar Pool Heater???? (Phoenix: how much, house, maintenance)

[maverick974]

I am new to the area and the house that I got has a pool. I absolutely love having a pool but I know the cooler weather ahead is going to make swimming less enjoyable with the cooler water.
I've looked at several solar pool heater styles and also solar covers. My pool is a diving pool around 24,000 gallons.
Do any of you have a solar heater and/or cover? What do you think of them? How much warmer do they keep your pool? Are they worth the money????

Thanks.

[dura]

Not a lot of time to respond now, but IMO a solar heater/cover in our Arizona desert climate is not going to achieve the desired effect. In winter, pool water gets down to the 50°F range as a daytime high, and solar gets as hot as the sun allows, which IMO is too cold in winter to swim, so IMO solar is a waste of money here (metro Phoenix area) for pool heating in winter. There is a decent graph at here that shows how much (little) you can heat pool water in winter with solar. The best you can hope for with solar is to extend the season, and then in that case there are alternative choices that might be better for you. For more info read this and that.

[LBTRS]

One problem with a solar heater is that you have to run your pump during the day with the peak electric rates to circulate the warmed water through the pool. Seems like this would kill the electric bill.

[madmmac]

I have a pool that came already equipped with a solar heater. It is not a diving pool, the depth going from 3 1/2 feet to 5 1/2 feet and 16x40. Not sure how effective solar would be with the depth of your pool.

The chart from Dura's post for temps is about right on from my experience. Mid November my pool temp is about 80 and at that point I am pretty much done. Then, in about mid March or so, it is just starting to hit 80 and I am about ready to jump back in.

During the summer I run the solar heater at night as it functions to also cool the pool. Pool temp in summer I try to keep at around 90....95 and it is more like a large hot tub and not really as refreshing.

I don't us a pool cover as most pool maintenance companies either won't do your pool if the cover is on or they will charge more for the removal and replacement.

What I do use is a product called Aquatain. I use it now for the next couple of months and then again starting at the beginning of March. It is a liquid pool cover that is endorsed by SRP and is easily added to your pool on a weekly basis. I'm just trying to retain the heat I have in the pool already and then save it in the spring trying to accelerate the heat up. Not sure how much it really helps, but it does not cost that much per year.

I am on the EZ3 plan which charges more for the hours of 3pm through 6pm. My pump runs up till 3pm.

Hope this helps.

[Jkgourmet]

We spend our summers in Ajijic, Mexico which has an equal number of sunny days and a more temperate year round climate. Solar stmystems are way cheaper here, and very popular with gringos. They work fairly well in smaller pools, but are pretty useless in larger pools. The point about the pump running is even more valid down here because electric rates are very high. So, except for the very wealthy, most people do not heat their pools - by solar or otherwise.

Interestingly, homes that have installed solar for power with no pool included often generate more power than they need! The electric company actually buys it back from them! With the low cost of panels and installation (labor), offset with the higher cost of electric, the break-even point is often 1 to 2 years.

But they don't use a/c down here, and need very limited heating systems - often just a fireplace. Still, in this case, the US could learn something from Mexico.