Thursday, September 22, 2011

Re: Solar Pool Heater

robert brooks to me

Sept. 22, 2011

Robert, I'm here in Guatemala and looking at how to best heat the small swimming pool at my friend Georgina's small hotel. We are on a very tight budget so I need to use inexpensive or recycled materials. Can we heat the pool with "all pipe" without a pump?

I've seen a coil of black 1/2 inch pipe on a roof that makes a hot shower. We can put pipe on the flat roof of the hotel restaurant and pipe it down to the pool, or put those plastic liter bottles since that apparently doesn't need a pump.

I know nothing about plumbing or electronics, so any help is appreciated. I have your list below. You said "just use pipe," and another architect friend who is emailing me said the same thing. ???

We are measuring the pool and thanks for the vol. sq. in. formula below. I didn't know it. I'm uploading photos of the hotel on flickr. Very slow going (slow internet connection here) but they should all be uploaded by tomorrow. Some are there already.
Solar Installation for Hotel Playa Linda: http://www.flickr.com/photos/catherinetodd/sets/72157627598274307/
Thank you for your inspiration and help! Catherine Todd (contact and links below)

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Dear Catherine,

All that need done is; the outlet of the pool filter gets diverted to a line of black pipe ( or green hose or any sort of hose)

The end of that line gets redirected into the bottom of the pool. Naturally, the more lengthy the journey through the pipes becomes the warmer the water becomes.

If the pool doesn't use a pump for it's filtering; any sort of pump that handles water will do. Additionally, solar covers work to retain the heat in the pool.

There are many good videos on you tube describing the process. I hope this helps.

Robert Brooks

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