Find out how it worked for us - www.anikasdiylife.com/diy-solar-pool-heater/

No need to restrict the flow. The amount of heat energy going to the pool will be the same. In fact when impeding flow you may end up with less energy transfer.

Necessity is the mother of invention! Great job!

We are considering doing this in our backyard. Thanks for including the things that you would change. It helps with the final design.

Great video and details . Even better getting your kids involved. Considering this for my tiny 8 foot pool .

I live in Vegas. And this would just be a huge energy saver. I love a warm pool. This would be amazing. A whole day using this set up in Vegas would be amazing.

Ur tutorials are detailed and simple to understand and follow. Appreciate your style of teaching. Ty

Excellent discussion. I have watched a lot of DIY water heater projects and they are all concerned about how nice their projects are NEVER focusing on efficiency.!

Use a pallet. Use Irrigation tubing not hoses, way cheaper. Use perforated metal hanger straps with screws to secure loop to the pallet. Wrap whole thing with plastic sheeting. Let pump run unrestricted.

Great job!! Awesome project

Great tip. Thanks for the view.

That’s the most explanatory solar pool vid. Thx

great build. Congratulations

Good work. Thanks for sharing.

Nice video filled with good tips & trix. I'm setting up a solar powered pool heater right now and my goal is 30°C / 86°F in the pool. I'm starting with 250 meters / 820 feet of 20 mm / ¾ inch PEM hose in a flat rooftop setup. A 20V rainwater barrel pump (2,000 liters - 528 gallons / hour) will be connected directly to a solar panel, so it's a completely automatic system controlled and powered by the sun. No sun = no pump = no heating. Since I'm located at 60° latitude in the northern hemisphere, I'll guess it'll be some problems and remakes to solve along the way, but it'll be fun. Keep up your good work

Anika, if you have a/c units you can place your hoses above the exhaust fan (120F) air, not too close so you don't obstruct the air flow.

Great video. Thanks a lot.

Thanks for the video I really appreciated how you laid it out, your explanations were simple enough that I took on the task of building a coil today. I did it by myself and it probably took me 30 minutes once I had all of my supplies together. My sun is intermittent today so it's hard to really get a feel for if it worked. I bought essentially all of the same parts you used so I'm hopeful once my sun is constant that the water will heat up. I also haven't painted anything matte black yet so I could still do that too. I thought I'd share my cost breakdown because I didn't have the extra hoses or anything other than the screws to do this project. I got most of my supplies from my local chain hardware store (w/orange logo): $40 - 5/8 inch contractor hose 100ft $20 - x2 input/output hoses 25ft each (I need them to reach the roof of my garage) $11 - 1/2in 1-hole straps 100pk (enough for 2 coils) $10 - gooseneck shutoff coupling $2.65 - x4 1.5x2.5x96 lumber (I went cheaper and lighter than 2x4s) Total = $111.60 The pump I purchased from your link for $61.53 I could have purchased some things cheaper online, but I wanted to get the project done the next day and the pump is the only thing that would get delivered that quickly. Something to be aware of if purchasing from your local hardware store, each coil will cost closer to $100 each, but if it works it will be worth it.

Nice experiment!

Use free pallets for the base. Cover the coils with plastic to reduce convection cooling. Do not run water through both coils. Put a Y connector between pump & coils with two return hoses. You will get twice the volume of heated water. Would putting the return hose deeper in the water increase efficiency.? Did you use flat black paint on the hose and insulate the back?

This is a good initial concept if you have plenty of sun. After researching materials needed to make this and doing what today's productsoffer, I decided to opt for a tankless electric 8 gallon water heater. The cost difference was $100 more and getting the tankless water heater including all the material such as miscellaneous timers hoses water transfer pump. The pros are I get on demand hot water up to 150°The negatives are to be tested yet still have to see what the electric bill is. The hoses needed to get hundreds of feet just to get hot water does make sense but with what we can do with today's technology there are newer options. A typical water heater for a pool would costs thousands but I only had to spend a few hundred. Thank you for your video.

This is awesome and so practical! I love it😊

thank you!!!

Yes a higher velocity drops the temperature, however it produces the same heat energy because is the additional volumes of warmer water.

It would be interesting to see results if you used irrigation polyethylene and insulated the back with a radiant barrier.

Thanks

Nice family project. Thanks for sharing. I'm curious for the results on longer terms.

Very informative and factual video. Anika, would you say that if a person wants to heat just an inground hot tub that a single coil unit could work ?

The bottom line question: What is the net temperature gain of the pool, and the total size? Also, some space between the coils would allow more insolation to strike the hose surface. Using the concrete as a heat sink also has some merit, as would a solar pool cover.

Wow cool i think we should try this but my moms pool is much bigger :( its just so cold were are in Canada. Can we use this while we have a solar blanket on? And can we keep the watet hose unďer the watet running into the pool?

Nice Video Anika. Simple, Practical & Informative. There is one major issue that often get overlooked however with Pool Heating Systems and that is that its pointless going to the trouble of Heating the Water if the Pool is not thermally covered. On Low Volume Flows (i.e. heating only a very small % of the total water volume per unit of time) The inflow of Heated Water is diluted rapidly in the proportionately larger Pool Water Volume and dissapates far too quickly to have any effect on raising water temperature effectively. Covering the Pool Surface with a Thermal Blanket would allow the temperature to be retained longer in the Pool over time HOWEVER the circulating flow through the Heating System needs to be proportionately larger to really work. I dont know the answer but would guess that a minimum of 10% water volume should circulate per hour in order to raise total temperature reasonably.

We have a 60cubic metre pool and I have 100 metre hose on a flat black ashfelt roof I had a complicated timing system to try build up the heat in the hose before it went back into the pool e.g. pump runs 5mins off for 15mins on for 5 mins etc. It worked (sort of) but should I just let it run all the time? Am I gaining anything by stop starting? Also it is on a separate pump would it be better just to run through the pool pump? Would covering the whole set up with clear plastic sheeting increase the amount of heat? I have a bubble cover on the pool when not in use to retain heat already built up. Thanks for any advice

Nice simple design. You shouldn't restrict the flow with that ball valve. Yes the water coming out of the end won't seem as hot, but you are moving a lot more volume. Basically you are not getting the full efficiency and heat out of your system. The restriction also makes your pump work harder and draws more electricity. You can google this if you are skeptical, but I do have a degree in thermodynamics. ; ) Nice work though.

Really enjoyed the video. We live in North Florida where our swim season usually ends in October. I have a 33000 gallon pool and it gets cold quick when the temperature changes. But I have a really big patio roof that I’m going to put about 500 feet of irrigation hose on the roof. Probably going to have to get a bigger sun pump to get the water up 12 ft though. But I plan on extending the swimming season till December and open back up in February hopefully!!

If you do two large coils and use the piping for irrigation and modify the outlet that water is put in the pool you can save electricity from a separate pump. Two coils gives more distance to handle faster flow. Just drain the pool below the valve that water is flowed in the pool with its own circulation and modify that to connect the solar to that and the other wind of the solar back in the pool. If not you can always keep that method and get a solar panel at harbor freight cheap for powering the pump.

Wow! Hose is so cheap in the US. For me I think cheap 12mm (1/2 inch) black pvc irrigation tube would be better as the hose would provide some insulation. Thought about going for 25 mm (1 inch) tube but think capillarity would improve the flow if smaller. As others say I dont think you actually need the pump although you would need to prime first by filling the tube but you could do that from a tap. Anyway, great video Anika and family!

Nice good 👍👍👍 Greeting from indonesia tanks.

At Home Depot they have black tubing it’s irrigation tubing it comes in a coil it’s rigid sort of like PVC but more bendable than PVC. And not as flexible as hose. And they sell the connectors for them also that twist into place stick to pieces. Way ahead of you we did this years ago here in Michigan with our above ground pool. We had coils set up on pallet wood pallets and they were in the back of the yard we did have to rotate them towards the Sun a few times. We also had them on our garage roof. We had it rigged where it went right into our pool pump and all of that. When it was 70° out our pool was 95! Plus you have to keep your pool covered at night! To pool covers at night one the bumpy kind of has air in it and a regular like a winter pool cover over top of that. And if you really want to you could throw in a punch couple air pillows. You’ll have a crank in your crank the pool cover out over your pool. The more coils you have the more warm warm water that comes back to your pool all they do is circulate your pool water through the hoses and back into the pool. Also it’s important to lead some spacing between your coils each tube needs to have a tiny bit of space between it because the more sun that can hit every side of that coil heats faster than all the coils wrapped tight against each other!!

Would just putting black material in the pool also be potentially as efficient?

Hi, great work! what's the length of the hose to each panel? the link is no longer valid

It looks like you've got to use multiple pumps for a long time, to heat the pool effectively. Is it still using less electricity than a regular pool heater? Is it still using fewer non renewable resources overall (Including processing of metal, plastics, etc.)?

Curious how well the garden hose has held up to the chlorination. Considered using Pex, but have read where it can break down with chlorine pool applications. Also considered using soft copper, but read where you could be introducing too much copper chloride into the water. So that leads me back to using a garden hose and also whether the time and effort is really producing good results. In the past I've used solar covers on our pool. I'll admit, these covers work well. But the last one I bought $175 only last me 2 yrs. All the bubbles started to pop and created a huge mess in the pool. So now been looking for alternative and inexpensive way to heat up the pool.

put your hose in a enclosed box with a polycarbonate front to maximize the effect. material needed: 3/4" plywood covered in silver fence paint. 2x4" for the sides and a 3/4 inch piece of polycarbonate for the front. use the same hose layout you have now but hold it in place with a cross made out of plywood or thin strips of wood. No need to restrict the pump.

Thanks but why have an additional pump ? Can this not be attached to the filter pumps which are doing the same job of circulating thewater ?

which pump do you use for this? can you add some link? I'd like to build this!

So a friend of mine is a pool engineer. We were talking about these systems. What you’ve got to remember is you need a blow off valve for when the pool has reached temp. There will always be water in those coils so if you stop the flow to the pool it’s going to become superheated.

Have a question for you guys about the pool heater. How did you connect the sump pump to the hose? Did you just saw off the first part of the plastic elbow-connector?

God i love your brain. I couldn't figure it out but thats exactly what i was trying to do thank u

Great idea! I love that this was a family project ❤

My question is did it actually make the pool swim able when you wanted it to? I was curious if it actually raised the overall temp of the pool

So the result was still 70 deg? Even though you added the additional coil? Also, many many gallons is your pool and what was temp of the pool water before you heated it?

I have a plan for you. Paint some of that south facing wall black, then notch some 1x3 lumber every 2 inches to hold the hose (or irrigation pipe) use masonry screws to hold the boards to the wall. Of course you have already painted the would black, make sure you have a cap over the 8 or 10 vertical 1x3's. Cover with a layer of poly-carbonate green house twin wall sheeting from the greenhouse supply store..

That's awesome design..

Hello i have the howes but i dont kniw what else i need to put this together .and where does each howes goes too? Can you help me please ? Thanks

For your 20K gallon pool, how long did you run the two coil system and what was the temperature differential (starting temp, ending temp). What the ambient temperature?

I've built the panels already but haven't decided if i want to use my filter pump to do the work or if i should use a separate sump pump, recommendations? If separate pump, what size? My pool is approximately 18,000 gallons.

I read a few of the comments but didn’t see anything about how long it takes to heat up the pool. If your pool is it 70° and you turn this on, does it take a week to get it up to 75°? I want my pool to be at 80° is it in possible to expect that to happen with this kind of set up? Thanks, in case you didn’t notice, I am completely new at looking at solar power through hoses for your swimming pool lol

What are your overnight temperatures? How much pool heat are you losing overnight?

You need to run the heater coils in parallel for better efficient heat transfer from sun to water coming in from pool pump!

Does this keep your pool warm at night?

Howdy. What is the reason that you used a lattice on which to mount the pipes, instead of a board?

If you could connect your solar heater straight to your pool pump you could do away with the sump pump and keep it running even when your using the pool. Probably the most efficient would be a solar cover over the pool that would keep the heat in it during the night and help heat it more during the day when the sun shines on it.

I just bought an adapter to connect a standard black garden hose to one of the water run jets (after the water runs through the pool filter). Then I loosely coiled up the hose on the pool deck (which gets pretty hot and probably heats up the hose faster). On a hot Texas day the water coming out of the hose is too hot to touch!

It's going to take all summer to get 10 degrees warmer the way you are doing this DIY...

How secure is the water pump? Can people use the pool while the Pump is inside?

The faster you can move water from the heater to the pool and back will give the greatest heat transfer to the pool. Thats why commercial solar heaters are in parallel. You don't want the in and out to be radically different. The return water from the solar and pool supply should track within the smallest amount possible at the greatest flow rate and they rise in unison with a delta T of no more than 2 degrees.

What do you use to pump the water?

All well and good. The question is at what rate of flow (Gals/hour) using your 2 x 100 foot sytems does it take to achieve an one degree increase IN THE POOL (what was the total volume of water in the pool?

Thanks for this idea, How is the hose produce the heat… bit confused .. is there electric coil in the hose ?

Enclose the coil in a glass fronted box. It will heat up even more (think about how the interior of your car feels after it’s been left out in the sun). Also, if you have plenty of sun,why not make the pump solar powered?

Finally someone using a garden hose instead of irrigation hose. Is there an uodate hiw this is doing?

You should keep that extension cord farther away from the pool!! Accidents happen. but can be avoided

You don’t need another coil, you only need to increase the surface that catches sunlight. Lay it flat on the ground or even better 90 degrees angle towards the sun.

"the water doesn't have time to heat up". That's a misunderstanding. You need to run the water at maximum flow. Sure the water comes out cooler but you are adding more heat into the pool per unit of time.

You could figure out how to put the hoses on the top of the roof of your shed. There’s a lot of heat energy there.

We bought a solar heater mat (6ft x 12ft) that hooked in line to our pool's return line and it made the water so warm, we rigged a ball valve to by-pass the heater for when the temps got too warm. Now this is in Connecticut, where average temp of water without heater is 75*-80*. With the heater, no bull crapping, the temp of the water went as high as 116*. Too warm. We learned to regulate it to keep the water temp around 100*. Just right. Extended us to late october.

How many feet of hose did you use in your first design?

You might try increasing flow it should provide more effecient heating. 4gpm should be best.

Hi, Anika. We just got the pump. Dumb question here: is it safe to swim while the pump is on in the pool?

I really like your videos. What you need is a little solar power. Just put the same concept to a different rule. So, put it on plywood, paint it black and put the coils on top. Raise the hose about 1/2 inch off the plywood. Solar-powered.

You need enclose the coils in a black bioxwith a clear top

Maybe try using a sheet of plywood for the hoses , saves a lot of time . Thanks for the informative video .

I don't have a pool but I have an idea that I haven't seen on KZfaq. When the water is too cold to swim in I would float a black material directly on the water and let the heat transfer into the water. Maybe one of those black plastic ground covers submerged a little. I would try lightweight materials that float and transfer its heat into the pool water. Consider a material that could cover the entire pool surface.

Enclose them in a box painted black with a glass lid. that will trap more heat around the pipes making it more efficient.

even if it's a difference of 0.1° it will still work. There's thermal energy added to the pool. You should also put the return hose at the bottom of the pool if possible so that it mixes with the rest of the water

I build a heater with 200m of 16mm PE pipe. I use a 12V 20W pump with up to 800l flow per hour. The power comes from a 80W solarpanel with 22Ah Akku. It warms 6m³ from 20°C to 26°C in 4h. Output on sunny days is between 30 to 46°C . This winter i will build an vegetetableoil heater using an 8kw diesel car heater, for lesser sunny days, because northern germany is not so overly "sunkissed".😔😔😉😉 last month i added a programable clock to startthe pump in the morning and stop it at late afternoon.

Why not add some mirrors around the tubing to make a sun oven effect?

what is temperature different if you let it running from hose while pump is turned on?

Finally, someone with an engineering mindset does this. Visited the blog. Nice flow rate chart. Vids show 70F temp. You State 78F with the heater. Worth Pointing out in the vid.

Thank you for this!👏🏻

The flow rate wont really matter. Its adding some "X" number of Joules (energy) per second to the pool regardless of the flow rate. With the slower flow rate, youre getting a higher output temperature, but on a long enough time scale it will be irrelevant. The higher flow rate may help since youll have more water in contact with the inner surface of the hose.

Is there an update video. Also can you please show the temperature in Celsius.

iam sorry but how many watts is your pump? as link doesnt work,.. i want to use 60metres of hose, will 400w be enough to pump it around?

Paint the hose matt black for slightly higher temps. Or even better some "black 3.0", which will absorb almost all light :)

Good idea. I recommend not to put inside of the water a 120V electric pump in order to avoid accidents. Use an a 12 V transformed pump.

Thanks for sharing, Will improve if: + Connect them in paralel instead of séries + Increase flow + Place system inlet and outlet apart (inlet should be from the bottom where is cooler)

1,000' of black 1/2" Rainbird irrigation tubing is $100, a flat coil of which would be about 10' diameter on the roof. Polyethylene does have limited UV resistance, so possibly coat it with a black plastic-adhering primer.

I think you should add metal duct tape underneath your hose on 2x4 it should draw in more sun heat

Do I need to use a water pump? Could I not just hook a hose to my drain and then read that water through the solar heater and back into my pool

A 12V pump and a few 12v solar panels would be a nice twist for your build!