Save Heating Costs With a Solar Swimming Pool Heater

Heating your pool can be expensive. The conventional types of pool heaters used today are, natural gas, propane, oil fired, and electric. They can all run you $100.00 or more per month to use, depending on your climate, what the cost of electricity is in your area, and/or what energy costs are at any point of year. There is an alternative to supplement or even heat your entire pool by itself, (depending on your climate and how many sunny days you get). I’m talking about a Solar Swimming Pool Heater

There are 4 basic component areas to a solar pool heating system.

1. A pump that circulates water through the system.

2. A filter that removes debris before entering your solar collectors.

3. The solar collectors – This is where the water is pumped up to and heat is transferred from the sun solar energy to the water.

4. A diverter valve – this is a device that diverts water through the solar collectors.

The path is as follows. The water is pumped and filtered through the solar collectors, heated and returned to the pool. Sounds like a simple concept, and it really is. Solar pool heating systems can be completely manual or can be fully automatic. In automatic systems temperature sensors are place to monitor both pool and solar collector water temp. When the collector temp is greater than the pool temp, water flow is diverted through the collectors to draw out the heat. And when the pool temp is greater than the collector temp, water flow is diverted and bypasses the solar collectors. You get the idea, as this is the very basic operation of what a Solar Swimming Pool Heater does.

There are basically two types of solar collectors. There are glazed or unglazed. The unglazed types are made of heavy-duty rubber or plastic treated with UV inhibitors to prolong the life of the panels. The glazed types are generally made of copper tubes secured to aluminum plating and covered with iron-tempered glass. These types of collectors are more expensive but can be used year around if desired. Actually you see a lot of glazed solar collectors on the rooftop of houses, and their function can also include supplying supplemental heat to your hot water system inside.

To purchase and have a Solar Swimming Pool Heater installed generally runs around $3,000 to $4,000. Pay back in costs avg. around 1.5 to 7 years depending on your climate and fuel costs. Other factors include the fact a solar pool heating system usually will last longer that heat pump and gas pool heaters. Properly maintained a solar pool heating system will last and run smoothly for 10-20 years. Always consult your owner’s manual and your contractor for any maintenance requirements.