This is the most important feature to make the proposal viable and you can have pool water at the required temperature all around the year. The capital or initial investment is high but then there is practically no maintenance or recurring expense. An excellent feature is that you will not be burning any fuel, thus you make a contribution for keeping the environments healthier. It has a long life, extending up to twenty years and comes with a warranty period of ten years.
The cost of the basic solar heating apparatus is just a few hundred dollars but the total expense, including the installation charges and the necessary accessories for an average sized pool would be in the region of about three thousand dollars. But, that's a one-time expense and its operation and maintenance expense is very nominal. Once you understand its principle of operation, you will be able to better appreciate why it works out so economical in the long run.
Any solar pool heating system comprises of three main items: a solar collector, a filter pump and a flow control valve. The mechanism of operation is very simple. The first step is to pump water from the pool to the solar collectors that raise its temperature, making use of sunrays. The heated water is then pumped back to the pool for you to enjoy. As anybody can guess a filter is provided to prevent the debris from getting into the solar collectors, which perform the function of heating water, whereas a pump is necessarily required for delivering water to the sun collectors and then again for flushing it back to the pool. The control valve, as the name suggests is for regulating the flow or volume of water to the system. This may be manual or automatic.
A solar pool heater may have either of the two types of solar collectors: the unglazed ones or glazed type. Yes, you guessed it right; an unglazed solar pool-heating collector costs less than the glazed collectors since it does not have a glass covering which form a part of the glazing material. Instead, it consists of heavy-duty rubber and plastic protectors that are treated for ultraviolet (UV) protection. Its performance is superb for indoor pools during cold climates. Whereas glazed solar collector have copper tubing on aluminum plates with iron-tempered glass covering. That is why it is more expensive. But it certainly is more efficient than the unglazed collector in collecting solar heat during very cold weather. As such if you are seriously interested in really using the pool for all the twelve months of the year, you should opt for a system that has glazed solar collectors. Obviously the service life of the collectors is governed by climatic conditions and the frequency of use. Both, the unglazed and the glazed collectors are provided with freeze protection that proves useful during extremely cold weather.
Heating systems that make use of solar energy are very much suited for heating any kind of a pool. Yet, you must study your requirements thoroughly before taking a decision. You should be aware of the size of the pool you have, because the specifications of the system and its cost will eventually depend on its size. You may give a prolonged thought to the idea of really using your pool during extreme cold weather. The most important factor you need to take into consideration is that the site gets enough of sunlight, particularly in winters.
In the absence of sufficient sunlight the system can't be expected to give optimum performance, irrespective of its cost. Once you have collected all your data, you should consult a professional. Any provider of such a system would be able to educate you further only when you have done a proper homework. An interaction with the supplier will certainly help you to decide the viability of the whole project.
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