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Subject Author Date
Solar Pool Heater Question Craig Davis 09-21-2006
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Posted by on September 21, 2006, 6:23 am
sounds like you have plenty of area on the roof, I have a friend that
has an area only about half the size of thier pool and he can strecth
the season about a month on either side in MIchigan no less.

Empressess #124457


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Craig Davis wrote:
> I live in Central Texas and want to heat a 12' W X 28' L X 4' 4" D exercise
> pool for year around use as economically as possible. I have the roof of a
> 24' X 45' RV barn located next to the pool that is available for solar
> collectors. The sides of the barn face North and South and have no shade.
> Can I maintain 84 degrees F in the winter using solar heat if I use a cover
> for the pool when it is not being used? Would I need a booster heat source
> for cold snaps? Thanks in advance for any information you can provide.


Posted by on September 21, 2006, 9:01 am

>I live in Central Texas and want to heat a 12' W X 28' L X 4' 4" D exercise
>pool for year around use as economically as possible. I have the roof of
>a 24' X 45' RV barn located next to the pool that is available for solar
>collectors. The sides of the barn face North and South and have no shade.
>Can I maintain 84 degrees F in the winter using solar heat if I use a cover
>for the pool when it is not being used?

Sure. Is the pool itself shaded? NREL data imply January is the worst-case
month for solar heating in Austin, when 940 Btu/ft^2 of sun falls on the
ground and 1200 falls on a south wall on an average 48.8 F day with a 58.8
daily max temp. An R1 pool cover with 80% solar transmission would make
0.8x940 = 24h(T-48.8)1ft^2/R1, for a pool temp T = 81 F. An R2 cover with
3 layers of plastic film and 70% solar transmission would make T = 104.

A square foot of roof with a 4/12 (18.4 degree) slope would get 940cos(18.4)
= 892 Btu/day of overhead sun + 1200sin(18.4) = 379 Btu of south sun, for
a total of 1271. If 80% of that enters a solar collector glazing with 84 F
water inside and the outdoor temp is (48.8+58.8)/2 = 53.8 for 6 hours, the
net gain is 0.8x1271-6h(84-53.8)1ft^2/R1 = 836 Btu/day. A shaded pool with
an R1 cover would lose 24h(84-48.8)12'x28'/R1 = 283.9K Btu/day. You might
heat it with 283.9K/836 = 340 ft^2 of roof, about the same size as the pool.

So you might buy 2 $75 No. 441428 14'x28' clear vs blue solar pool covers
from solarcovers.com (800) 433-4701 and put one on the roof over wires to
keep it from gluing itself to the roof when there's no water beneath it.

>Would I need a booster heat source for cold snaps?

Probably not, if you are willing to swim in 72 F water. On an average day,
a square foot of pool would lose 24h(84-48.8)1ft^2/R1 = 845 Btu. Water
weighs 62.33 lb/ft^3, so a 1ft^2x4'4" column of water weighs 270 pounds,
and 1 pound of water stores 1 Btu/F, and the pool walls and bottom and
earth add more thermal mass, so the pool might cool by less than 845/270
= 3 F on a cloudy day.

Nick


Posted by Mark on September 21, 2006, 10:14 am

Craig Davis wrote:
> I live in Central Texas and want to heat a 12' W X 28' L X 4' 4" D exercise
> pool for year around use as economically as possible. I have the roof of a
> 24' X 45' RV barn located next to the pool that is available for solar
> collectors. The sides of the barn face North and South and have no shade.
> Can I maintain 84 degrees F in the winter using solar heat if I use a cover
> for the pool when it is not being used? Would I need a booster heat source
> for cold snaps? Thanks in advance for any information you can provide.

the cover will be a BIG help..try it with just the cover first.

Mark


Posted by Oren on September 21, 2006, 12:33 pm
On Thu, 21 Sep 2006 05:13:27 GMT, "Craig Davis"

>I live in Central Texas and want to heat a 12' W X 28' L X 4' 4" D exercise
>pool for year around use as economically as possible. I have the roof of a
>24' X 45' RV barn located next to the pool that is available for solar
>collectors. The sides of the barn face North and South and have no shade.
>Can I maintain 84 degrees F in the winter using solar heat if I use a cover
>for the pool when it is not being used? Would I need a booster heat source
>for cold snaps? Thanks in advance for any information you can provide.
>

I don't recall the exact link, there is a calculator/form on the web
for figuring the proper panels.

Place the panels on the South facing roof. When we put ours panels up
I could only put them on the East facing side. I went with one extra
panel than what was called for and we used 12' panels.

I will cover our pool in the next day or so; since it is cooling down.
I have the solar thermostat set at 100 F, but it is dropping into the
60's at night so I loose any pool heat from the day. The cover is a
thick solar type and can bring up the temps again in a few days.

Our water authority offers coupons for local merchants selling pool
covers to help reduce water evaporation.
--
Oren

"Well, it doesn't happen all the time, but when it happens, it happens
constantly."

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