The installation of an above ground solar pool heater involves three steps.
How to build a rack for solar pool heater panel.
Our goal for the solar pool heater we want to be able to increase the number of weeks months we can use the pool.
If you plan on using your pool year round you may need solar panels that match 100 of the pool s area.
So i think you need to make about 10 more collectors to make a real difference to the pool temperature.
We can make it sturdier than the other budget options.
Building a solar panel rack.
The guideline for solar pool heaters is you need panels at least half the area of the pool surface to be effective.
It makes sense for many reasons.
Have found a few posts here and there showing racks built and suggestions on hooking up the solar panels.
This is the easiest and most economical installation method.
I found this out after not seeing the results i wanted when i build a similar rack out of pvc pipe.
Sure you could just lay the panels on the ground but they will last longer and absorb more heat when mounted on a.
Propane pool heaters for an average 400 000 btu heater with a price tag of over 2200 it will cost you about 10 per hour to run assuming the heater consumes around four gallons of propane in an hour of use and propane averages about 2 50 per gallon as of the time of this writing it will heat your pool about 5 degrees in that amount of time.
Some of the reasons people cite for requesting solar panels on a ground rack are.
By installing a valve on the main return line between the tee fitting to the solar panel and the pool s return fig.
It really is quite simple and easy to make.
Securing to the rack.
If your panels match 50 of your pool s area you can use the panels to heat your pool for roughly 6 months a year.
We normally install solar panels on roofs mounted flush to the roof.
The bigger your panels are the more often you can use solar energy to heat your pool.
The outlet of the solar panel will then run back to the pool passing over its side fig.
After looking at all the solar pool heaters available we decided to make our own because we can make it for much cheaper.
The only problem to these plans is that i have found if you don t have something solid for the panels to sit on any air that circulates on the underside is cooled by the shade provided and thus has a cooling effect on the solar panels themselves.
Avoid seeing the solar panels.
Once in a while we get asked about ground mounted solar pool heaters.