A Cool Solar DIY Pool Heater Project

As we all know Summer is a wonderful time and brings about great pleasures like outdoor sports, family gatherings, BBQ’s and of course swimming. If you our your family are lucky enough to own your own pool then you can pretty much enjoy your own mini-vacation in your backyard. However, in some parts of the country the summer can be quite a short season and whilst the air temperature in late fall and even early spring can be warm, the pool water tends to still be a little too chilly. The perfect way to extend the use of the family pool and your swimming season is to add a Solar DIY Pool Heater.

You will already have a pool pump so to get started with you DIY pool heater project just locate the return line from the filter to the pool and make a break (DO NOT do this in front of the filter as you don’t want the warm water from the collector going through the filter). At this break in the line you then need to insert a couple of ‘T’ joints separated by a valve. A Pipe running from the 1st ‘T’ joint carries water to the solar collector and the 2nd ‘T’ is used as the return from the collector. The valve between these 2 ‘T’ joints controls the flow of water being diverted to you solar collector. When there is no Sun during the evening the solar collectors should not have any water passed through them as this will have the opposite effect and lower the pool temperature. You also don’t want the collectors having water passed through them when the pool is at the correct temperature otherwise you are going to have difficulty maintaining it.

The Solar Collectors for Your DIY Pool Heater

You can always skip this step and buy a commercial unit and fit it yourself, either way you are going to need basic plumbing skills and the right tools for the job. The Heart of your DIY pool heater system is the  solar collector unit. This solar collector in it’s basic form is just a large box which has been painted black and inside you have a black pipe(PVC) tightly packed, running up and down to allow it maximum sun exposure. Then some glass covers the box to keep the inside air temp inside it nice and warm. This can be made by you as part of your DIY pool heater project, just make sure the PVC black pipe is exactly the same diameter as other pump lines. You can use a strong glue or stainless steel clamps to fasten the connecting collars but you will need to make sure you allow the correct drying time for the glue if you use it.

Installing and Mounting the Collector on You DIY Pool Project

When starting out on you solar DIY pool heater project you will want to consider where you are going to mount the collector. You can put it on virtually any roof you have, your house, shed, garage and you can even place them on the ground. If you are trying to cut out some of the construction work involved in your DIY pool heater project then if you have the space a ground installation would be ideal. Putting them up on the roof needs to be well thought out and safety precautions are a must. You want the collector to be facing South and must be secured to the roof very well to prevent any damage during strong winds or storms. You don’t want any shade to fall on the collector by trees of other buildings if you can avoid it as this will obviously decrease efficiency. East and West configurations work well also but a North facing collector would be so inefficient it would end up being a waste of time.

The Maintenance Safety Valves and Drainage Openings

After you have installed your DIY pool heater you will want to occasionally disconnect it for servicing, so I would advise you install some manual valves on the send and return lines. You also need to have a way of draining the collectors of their water in preparation for the winter. This is easily done by installing removable clamps on the couplings giving you pipe access.

Add Automated Controls To Your DIY Pool Heater

As you would imagine there are plenty of companies that sell DIY pool products that you might want to consider like DIY pool heater controls, motorized valves and sensors. Although these are aimed at the DIY pool market you would still need some electrical knowledge to install them correctly and safely.

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