[Tom C]

I looked through the past postings on this matter and found them to be ... dated. So I started this new thread to get more up-to-date impressions by people who have had solar heat panels installed to heat their outdoor pool:

Who (contractor) did good work for you (and on the other side, who would you recommend to be avoided by others)?

Was the work done at a reasonable cost?

Was the contractor on time at starting AND completing the work?

And any other comments that would be helpful for someone who is looking to have this type of system installed.

Thank you in advance!

[Arctic Fox]

With price drops over the past few years, it is now cheaper to use photovoltaic panels to heat your pool than a "water through pipes" system.

[billethkid]

Solar lights and more from Ocala.

They were competitively priced. When there was any doubt about the estimate and configuration, the owner came out to resolve any open issues.
On time installation...very site clean oriented workers.
Product and installation worked/works as promised.

And a very important factor...after the sale service. By appointment and always on time.

[junction29]

Originally Posted by Tom C

I looked through the past postings on this matter and found them to be ... dated. So I started this new thread to get more up-to-date impressions by people who have had solar heat panels installed to heat their outdoor pool:

Who (contractor) did good work for you (and on the other side, who would you recommend to be avoided by others)?

Was the work done at a reasonable cost?

Was the contractor on time at starting AND completing the work?

And any other comments that would be helpful for someone who is looking to have this type of system installed.

Thank you in advance!

Hi Tom
I would recommend Solar Lights and More, without reservation.
Their original price and workmanship was good, when I had them installed 5 or 6 years ago and when I had a couple of panels with very tiny leaks, last week, they were her to look the same day and fitted two new panels under warranty the following day (Friday) (it was very windy last Thursday, when the came to look)
Contact their sales guy Rick Zay at rick@solarlightsinc.com, he is very helpful and not pushy
Andy

[rjm1cc]

I have no experience with them. I would think they would have a hard time heating the pool since you will get limited amounts of good sun and on rainy days very little. I would talk to a few owners and see how warm they can get their pools.
I have solar electric and produce 100% of my electricity, but to keep the lights on about 1/2 of the electric comes from the electric company due to nights and cloudy days. Might look at solar electric and an electric heater. This may not be economical.

[JSR22]

We only use solar to heat our pool and use the pool 10 months a year. We put a solar cover on The beginning of December and leave it on to the end of February. On warm days we pull the cover back and use the pool in Jan and Feb. December I uncover the pool most mornings. In my opinion it is the best way to heat the pool. The panels on my roof face East. When we took the cover off i the end of Feb the pool was 78 to 79. Now in the 80s which I like because we use it after sun down.

[junction29]

Originally Posted by JSR22

We only use solar to heat our pool and use the pool 10 months a year. We put a solar cover on The beginning of December and leave it on to the end of February. On warm days we pull the cover back and use the pool in Jan and Feb. December I uncover the pool most mornings. In my opinion it is the best way to heat the pool. The panels on my roof face East. When we took the cover off i the end of Feb the pool was 78 to 79. Now in the 80s which I like because we use it after sun down.

Since we had Solar Lights and More put our Solar Panels in, 2 x facing South East and 7 x facing South West, we have the Pool panel programmed (well Solar Lights programmed it), to use the panels automatically when the panels are 8 deg’s above pool temperature and we use the pool throughout the winter months and yes we use a pool cover during the coldest months to save wasting the hot pool water overnight.

[billethkid]

When we were configuring ours....almost all facing due West....they offered a deluxe panel that had spirals down all the tubes in the panel. Quicker to heat the water. What sold me was they came with a 10 year warranty. Can you imagine anything sitting in the blazing FL year around and lasting 10 years (actually going on 12 now). I think over the 5th through the 10th year they replaced 5 different panels.....in warranty....$0!

I don't remember the difference in price other than I thought it was reasonable for what was being offered.

And......during the annual maintenance (that I requested)....they offered a one time special to replace all the panels at half price.
I chose to pass betting replacing panels in the future would be less than replacing them all....toss of the coin.

[Tom C]

All info VERY helpful!!

Our roof is primarily East or West facing. Very little faces South. I suspect that it will be nearly 50/50 for each side (from the little that I have seen on the exposure to the sun, been here for less than a week) but the experts will make the call.

I will look into the contractors mentioned and will get a system installed (after I finally retire and move here full time).

If it is OK, I may wish to PM a few of you and ask more in-depth questions about your installs.

I walked down the existing home systems and ... the sprinkler system has 17 zones!?!?

I am an engineer and this has me amazed! A lot of planning and system potential came into the decisions on how this was designed. I like detail and this has me captivated.

Thanks to all those who have and will respond to this thread.

[graciegirl]

T&D subcontracted our solar panels. Yesterday the water was 88, almost warm enough for me. lol.

[billethkid]

Also keep in mind to max out the number of panels your roof lines will allow. The more panels the quicker the recovery from low temperatures.
We chose to have as many panels as would fit on any of our west facing slopes.

Once you have decided to go forward, another panel or two will be easy to accept ($$$).

Just a FYI, we also elected to have a gas back up heater which is very helpful in Dec/Jan/Feb.

[junction29]

Originally Posted by Tom C

All info VERY helpful!!

Our roof is primarily East or West facing. Very little faces South. I suspect that it will be nearly 50/50 for each side (from the little that I have seen on the exposure to the sun, been here for less than a week) but the experts will make the call.

I will look into the contractors mentioned and will get a system installed (after I finally retire and move here full time).

If it is OK, I may wish to PM a few of you and ask more in-depth questions about your installs.


I walked down the existing home systems and ... the sprinkler system has 17 zones!?!?

I am an engineer and this has me amazed! A lot of planning and system potential came into the decisions on how this was designed. I like detail and this has me captivated.

Thanks to all those who have and will respond to this thread.

Hi Tom,
Good luck with it and I would advise having as many panels fitted as the roof space and roof facing will allow, to make the use of them more efficient.

17 sprinkler zones - wow, that sounds a lot, we just have 6!

[Them&us]

We used Solar Trek to replace our panels to heat our pool. The salesperson, Todd was professional with no high pressure tactics. The installers were on time, efficient in their work, and informative in their explanations and instructions on system usage. The system is doing its job so we would recommend Solar Trek for solar panel replacements.