Solar heating for pools can any one help

fatelady


Joined: 31/01/2009
Posts: 61

Message Posted:
01/02/2009 17:35

please can anyone help me with a little problem

we have a pool which is fine to use in the summer, but we would like to be able to use it at christmas time and in the spring, we would like to heat it by solar and we would like a cover of some kind is there anything like this available if so where. thanks

Harlequin


Joined: 02/10/2008
Posts: 346

Message Posted:
01/02/2009 19:01

Call Cyprus Solutions on:



0533 836 7094

del62


Joined: 03/11/2008
Posts: 42

Message Posted:
02/02/2009 07:56

If anyone uses solar.

How good do you find it?

Enough to use the pool it the cooler months.

baldie


Joined: 27/01/2009
Posts: 20

Message Posted:
02/02/2009 08:43

try octopus pools they are the best pool company for advise

Hippo


Joined: 02/02/2007
Posts: 2070

Message Posted:
02/02/2009 08:57

Solar cover or solar heating?



A good friend of mine in Spain raised the tempreture in his pool by the folowing method ;he had a south facing bank on which he laid out virtually half a mile of black irigation tubing then pumped the water from the pool continually around it in daylight hours it certainly worked whether it would be eneough in Dec jan and Feb i doubt it.

As regards advice Vaughn at octopus is your man.

japeal



Joined: 12/09/2008
Posts: 1052

Message Posted:
02/02/2009 15:12

hippo,



sounds expensive way of heating pool if you have to ontinually pump the water around?

TRNCVaughan


Joined: 27/04/2008
Posts: 4578

Message Posted:
02/02/2009 15:44

Solar heating is not for everyone. As Hippo highlights, pumps need to run for long hours to get the benefit, consuming lots of electricity, and solar systems at 60% pool area recommended size need a large area to site them. They are also not pretty and present a lot of wind resistance. If you only want to heat your pool at Christmas and in the spring, I'd go for either gas or electric heating. Gas has high capital cost and high running cost. Electric immersion has low capital cost but high running cost.

Hippo


Joined: 02/02/2007
Posts: 2070

Message Posted:
02/02/2009 16:08

its not that expensive though i do not have figures of course its just the pump electricity and i spain it was cheaper than here.

he was fortunate that he had a south facing bank below the pool and it was compleatley out of site but as i said it raised the tempreture not actually heated it

simma



Joined: 03/02/2008
Posts: 346

Message Posted:
02/02/2009 16:15

Fatelady, I have a cyphon heat pump which extends swimming season to December and can be used again in March. It comes with a solar pool cover which has thousands of solar "bubbles" on it and this retains the heat. The pump is ran off electricity but uses very little and can heat your pool to 29 c in March or December.

Email me off line for more details.

John.

del62


Joined: 03/11/2008
Posts: 42

Message Posted:
03/02/2009 00:53

Simma(Jonn)

Could email me details of the cyphon heat pump to dereklambert@tiscali.co.uk

Sorry can not access your email address due to lack of postings.

kibsolar


Joined: 14/09/2008
Posts: 552

Message Posted:
03/02/2009 10:40

hi fatelady msg 1,



you wanted solar, the guys and ladies here are trying to turn your attention to heat pumps or gas/oil.



the buying cost of systems very often are not important, the maintenance costs will kill you.



of course solar always has the problem that the pool cools down if there is no sun.



1. to reduce heat losses its a "must" to have a pool cover.

2. solar heating (not 60% pool area, Vaughan, good ones do with 25%) is a "must" to reduce energy costs for the next 15 years or longer.

3. and if you need more heat, later on you can integrate you central heating system to the pool or buy a heat pump.



to reduce or emilinate electricity cost for the pool pump i advice solar pool pumping.

visit our website, thanks

TRNCVaughan


Joined: 27/04/2008
Posts: 4578

Message Posted:
03/02/2009 10:58

Kibsolar makes a very good suggestion by promoting solar powered pumps in conjunction with solar panels. Solar powered pumps operate independant of mains power and are not only a good idea for anyone with a pool, with or without a solar heater, who wants to save money and reduce their electricity demand. They may also be the answer to those with pools who are either not yet on mains or who are on mains but are still on "builders" tariff.

TRNCVaughan


Joined: 27/04/2008
Posts: 4578

Message Posted:
03/02/2009 16:15

I am looking into a new (to TRNC, anyway) method of solar heating a pool.



Standard solar swimming pool heating systems are based upon the simple principle of water heating up like when it’s left in a hose pipe in the summer sun, as Hippo describes.

This can be very efficient source of heat when the sun is really hot - but most people don’t want a heated pool on days like that.

Because standard solar swimming pool heating systems rely upon direct heat from the sun to warm the water in the pipes, if the sun isn’t hot - or if the sky is too overcast - the water just doesn’t warm up enough to make any significant difference to the pool temperature.

Evacuated tube solar pool heating doesn’t work in the same way. It uses the UV light from the sun to generate heat using a heat exchanger. The UV radiation heats up a heat exchanging fluid in a copper pipe, which vapourises and rises into the bulb at the top of a tube. There, the heated bulb warms up the pool water as it flows past.

TRNCVaughan


Joined: 27/04/2008
Posts: 4578

Message Posted:
03/02/2009 16:18

This technology is well known elsewhere but not usually as a method of heating pool water. As I find out more about this technology I will post it here, and may even import some systems if sufficient interest is shown.

kibsolar


Joined: 14/09/2008
Posts: 552

Message Posted:
03/02/2009 17:17

the principle you descirbe is not realy new - so called vacuum tubes, heatpipes, evacuated tubes etc.. are used for water heating since more then 30 years. The probelm is the hot summer in trnc. You need to cover the modules or re-direct the heated water for some other application. As soon as you have a stillstand in your system under the sun, it will blow - so powercuts or simmilar are fatal! in a good installation it will blow out through the pressure release valves - As we are investigating this technology more than 15 years now, I would suggest get our advice before spending valuable monies for a system which will lead to disappointment. BTW: All good solar systems, for pools or houses should use the "UV radiation catching" technology, which is acctually not the evacuated tube - but the sputtering on the surfce of the copper or aluminium and called "selective surface" - The vacuum in the pipe gives you a bit more "output"

Regards, Henrik