[Just jimmy]

Originally Posted by PoolBrews

As an engineer, if you do the research and see how effective these systems are, you quickly realize they are a waste of money. They work great when you don't need them (summer), a little in early fall/late spring, and can't heat adequately when you really need them (about 4 months at end of year/beginning of year).

If you install a solar heater, you still need a supplemental heat source (electric is most cost effective here in FL due to the price of gas vs electric). Calculating the costs, you'll never recover the $5k for the solar over the life of the system. You're better off just going with an electric or gas heater. I keep my pool at 88 all winter. No issues.

In addition, when you need any work done on your roof, you'll need to pay someone to remove the solar system, do the repair, then pay again to have it installed again. And each time you open more holes in the roof, and hope your system doesn't leak or cause a leak.

We have a solar only pool heater. Our pool is 80 degrees now. We usually have 80 degrees except for a few weeks a year. I have no complaints. Of course it was from t and d.