Build Your Own Solar Pool Heater

Build Your Own Solar Pool Heater

For many people, getting a solar pool heater installed professionally is truly the way to go, but you can make a solar pool heater yourself if you are really feeling up to the task. Making your own solar pool heater is a cost-effective way to incorporate one of the hottest trends in saving money and energy with another trend; DIY projects.

Now remember, you can use this solar pool heater to heat your large in ground or above ground pool, or even to heat the kiddie pool to a nice comfortable temperature, making your pool usable for at least three out of the four seasons. Here are some instructions for a passive solar pool heater that you can finish in one day.

The way a solar pool heater works is really interesting. Pool heaters use the existing water in the pool, pull it out from the pool and into a ‘collector’ where the water is then heated and returned to the pool. Common types of heaters are gas and electric, but these are very costly and pretty difficult to create on one’s own. The solar pool heater uses the same pump and filter system that already work with your pool, but drag the water into a place where it is concentrated and heated by the sun before being returned to your pool.

The first materials you will need are: a long spool of diameter flexible hose OR black PVC pipe. If you end up going with the hose, some feel you will save space and use even more of the sun’s rays. Also you will use less PVC fittings, which can be costly. In any case, if you use the hose, then you will need several hose clamps and flat black spray paint to make this passive collector. The reason you want black is because black collects more solar energy than any other color. Attach the black hose or pipe between the pump and filter, and you have a heating system that will use the sun’s power to heat the water of your pool.

This type of heating system works the best if you accompany it with a good solar pool cover that you use, that way you are not losing a lot of the heated water to evaporation. Once you try this project, there is another easy and inexpensive way to add in a piece of solar heated roofing to heat the water even more.