Solar Swimming Pool Heaters

One of the biggest summer energy expenses can come from heating a swimming pool. You can definitely save some energy costs by investing in one of the solar swimming pool heaters available. You may think that a conventional gas or heat pump heaters would have a much lower cost, but lately solar swimming pool heaters have become comparable pricewise.

Another financial advantage of solar swimming pool heaters is the minimal amount of maintenance required after you have purchased and installed one. They original cost for a solar swimming pool heater is more than conventional heating sources, but if you do some investigating first, then you can estimate your payback period and even select options that will reduce this period.

If you are thinking of building your own swimming pool heaters then you need to know the parts that make up a typical swimming pool heater. The parts of a typical heater include a solar collector, a pump, a filter, and a flow control gauge.

The solar collector is the part of the pool heater that water flows through to become heated. During the day the water flowing through this collector will be heated by the sun, if you happen to live in a hot climate, then circulating the water through the collector will actually cool the water down for you. Collectors for?A href="http://solarpanelmanual.com/solar-swimming-pool-heaters.php">solar swimming pool heaters usually are made from heavy duty rubber or plastic that has had ultraviolet light inhibitor. Your collector might be glazed or unglazed. Glazing helps protect the panels if you will be using the pool in below freezing temperatures. Most glazed systems are more expensive than unglazed collectors.

The pump is used to send water into the collector, and take it from the collector and circulate it back into the pool. The pump works with the flow control gauge to decide whether the water in the pool is going to be circulated or not through the collector. You do have an option of a manual or automatic gauge. If you are going to be using a manual flow gauge you need to keep an eye on the weather and current pool temperature. An automatic system will prevent water from flowing through the collector if the water temperature in the pool is the same as temperature in the collector.

The filter ensures that debris is removed from the water before heading into the collector. It is essential to keep the pool clean for the proper functioning of your heating system.

Prior to installing any of solar swimming pool heaters you want to ensure that you have correctly analyzed the size of your pool and the amount of heat required. Additionally you want to check with your local municipality for any rules and regulations regarding the installation of a pool and a heater for a pool.

Solar collectors will have a thermal performance rating that serves as it抯 measurement for the amount of water it heats daily. The higher the number is, the more efficient it is, but due to weather and terrain you are not always going to get its optimal output. When it comes to choosing a solar pool heater make sure you factor in cost and pool size also.