Solar Pool Heater
 

We recently purchased a solar pool heater from Solar Trek, Inc. out of Ocala. They lead us to believe it would keep our pool warm year round. SURPRISE, it doesn't work good in the winter, the only time we are in FL.

We then found out they didn't get the permit required for this work. We also discovered that they had not attached to the roof properly. The Sumter County inspector made them come back, and they had to reinstall nearly the whole system. SURPRISE, they did it wrong a second time! Now they want to patch all the old holes they left in our 3-year-old roof. Never ending saga. DON'T USE THIS COMPANY!

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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.

Just buy enough stock in the power company for the dividends to pay your electric bill.

And yet - there are homes in the north that use solar for their entire electrical system in their homes all year 'round. Granted, some of them also have fireplaces or wood stoves to supplement on the worst of days (or just for ambiance) but not all of them do. There are homes in Oregon that are 100% powered by solar, completely and totally off the grid.

There's an entire municipality in Connecticut (North Haven) that powers most of its municipal buildings with a single solar farm placed atop an old landfill. They have generators for emergencies such as nor'easters but otherwise the solar works just fine. It's kept the costs of running the town down and saved taxpayers millions of dollars over the time the system has been running.

I'd suggest that the reason it's so inefficient here, is because the people who install them are doing a bad job and/or the roof construction is not sufficient for installation of solar panels - and not because solar is a bad option. This state gets plenty of sun all year. The only time it'd be inefficient is on days when it's cloudy during the entirety of the daylight hours with few or no breaks in the clouds.

Solar to generate electric (solar panels) and solar to heat pools are totally different systems. The solar pool heater is in effect a water pipe and bag system that lays on the roof and water moves across the roof to absorb the heat from the sun. The system is black since black absorbs most of the sun's rays. There is no electrical generation with solar pool heater and no electrical storage. As the pool water is pumped and filtered, the water is heated on the roof and pumped back into the pool.

So if you can afford a solar system for your home, a fireplace or wood burning stove with scrubbers because everyone knows how dirty they are, the wood for burning, capability to care and manage said wood and then buy a generator, you’re home free to save the planet. (Backup heat sources are used more than indicated in solar situations in the northern areas of the US.)

I think the main different between solar HOT WATER heaters up north and here is the ones I saw up north were in INSULATED enclosures, glass front, and insulation on the back, the systems I see here are just black tubing on the roof, and in cold weather I am guessing you lose a lot of the heating due to the lack of insulation and enclosure. In any case I tend to agree with above comments, as I saw my neighbor had theirs removed recently. It was installed by previous owners and was about 8 years old.

This is not about solar panels that generate electricity. This is about a solar heater for a pool - where they put a panel on the roof that runs water through the panels (usually small black tubes), the sun warms up the tubes, which in turn warms up the water that is then returned to the pool. These systems do not work when you need them to. They can't raise the temp fast enough, and can't keep up when it gets cooler.

Solar panels are a completely different system. They do work, and can power a home (and potentially an electric heater for a pool). However, with the exorbitant cost to install, a home owner will never break even. Basic math in a spreadsheet will show that. I've heard folks say it's fantastic, I pay nothing each month... but they leave out the $25K it cost to install... how long before that's paid back? Not in what's left of my lifetime.

I would love to see solar work, especially here in Florida. The current technology and cost is simply not there yet.

Thank you for bringing the OP's post back on point.

Two different systems a solar panel produces electricity a solar heater Just passes water through a black panel.

much like the engineer said.... but with additional Florida input. Solar works easily to keep a pool at 92 year round DEPENDING ON LOCATION. For this area I really wouldn't lean on solar on the coast yes but not "up north" here. Also what it does to your roof... yeesh.

Propane heaters work the quickest. Electric for the average Florida pool can take over a day to get it up to temp meaning recovery from a 33 degree night will take a long while. We have considered electric heaters a waste of money since once a pool goes in the electric bill goes up, electric heater (the one time we tried it) added another $200 to the already high electric bill.

Just some food for thought.

Covering the pool will help
 

I decided that I would cover my pool to help with the solar heater. It raised the temperature during the winter to the point where I could use it every day.
I soon stopped removing the cover and only pushed it back so I used only part of the pool.
After that I just removed the cover and put in the garage then to the trash.
My next pool will be compatible with an electrical pool roller type cover. Not a kidney shaped pool with uneven edges.

Jack’s solar
 

Jack’s Solar (352) 267-4903.

Local company. Used by T&D Pool and Spa. T&D has a new name, but they’re still the best pool company in The Villages.

The solar heater installed by Jack’s performed flawlessly for a little less than ten years until a small PVC valve cracked. Their service man came out the same day I called and replaced it at no charge. I was amazed when he told me their system had a 10-year warranty!

The temperature you’ll be able to achieve depends on the number of solar panels on your roof. We have seven panels and even in cold weather like we recently experienced our pool stayed no cooler than 75-degrees. In warmer weather, even warmer.

Thank you
 

I'm learning now that everything you are saying is true. They have reinstalled the system because of inspection violations. It's still not correct. Trying to get my money back and roof replaced. They have drilled over 50 holes in my roof. They are patching the abandoned holes with sealer. I fear they will leak, and also affect the value of my home. Ongoing saga.

They are not electric
 

They are not electric

Exactly
 

Thank You PJ, that's exactly right. The problem is, we are only here in the winter and found out that solar pool heaters don't work good in the winter, which is the only time we are here. We are now getting a gas heater to supplement the solar. $$$$

You can an electric heatpump for your pool.

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.

The house we purchased 3 years ago had a rooftop solar heat system for the pool.

During our 2 years of research prior to purchasing in TV I had come across a preponderance of reviews/insights from solar heat owners who hated them. Many had removed them or when the failed - didn’t replace.

That left me skeptical about their value.

Once here and after learning-experiencing the system that came with the house - 100% LOVE IT!

Beginning in March - the solar system has no issue keeping pool temp at 87 - a perfect temp for my wife and I.

As time passes and we get into those months when it’s hot all day long - and now the pool temp is exceeding 87 via ambient temperatures (solar off) - we then use the solar system to cool the pool temp back down to 87.

That’s done by shifting the filter cycle/turnover period from daytime to nighttime.

Even during the hottest days - nights are always cool. The hot pool water cycles across the roof during the night that then cools it back down to our desired temp.

Doing that gets us through the hot muggy summer and into sept where we then flip the filter/turnover cycle back to daytime to maintain 87 degrees.

That gets us somewhere around end of November early December.

That’s it. Rooftop solar - for maintaining pool temp - is useless until end of feb-March.

Yes - 3 months with no pool access. That’s not a problem for us as the house also came with a hot tub. We fire that up from nov thru feb then shut it down when the pool is back in play.

For us - solar pool heating is the only way to go. Previous owner had an electric pool heater in place - but we’ve never used it. By now it’s probably rusted out.

The one other benefit from the solar system is when we get temps below freezing for more then a few hours.

Instead of “winterizing” the solar system I just cycle the pool water thru the solar system to keep any of the components from freezing/breaking.

I installed a variable speed pool pump a year ago after I converted the pool from a tablet system to salt. It only costs me a few cents to run the pool water thru the solar heater during freeze cycles.

To go off topic for a smidge - variable speed pool pumps are the only way to go. We went from single stage to variable and it’s a night/day difference in terms of efficiency/control and cost.

And so it goes….

There is zero chance that a solar heater will keep a pool at 92 during the 4-5 cooler months here in The Villages. It may work down by Miami or Key West (although I would have to run the numbers there as well), but not here, and that is what the OP is discussing.

With regards to an electric heater raising your bill by $200 - not sure where you got your numbers, but my pool is always 88-89 during winter, and it adds between $30-$40/month to my bill. I knew that before I ever installed it based on the cost of electricity, the size of my pool, and the BTU of the heat pump (with electric get the biggest heat pump you can get - currently 144K BTU - a bigger heat pump only costs a few hundred $$ more, but will last longer, heat the pool faster, and is more efficient). During the summer, of course, it adds $0 to my bill.

Natural gas/propane will heat faster, but both cost quite a bit more than electric for the same amount of heat. Expect to spend anywhere from $200-$850 a month with a propane pool heater or $100-$400 a month with natural gas.

If you have a pool with a built in hot tub, you probably want a gas heater to ensure you can use the hot tub when you want it. Ideally, I would have a small gas heater dedicated to the hot tub, and an electric heater for the pool. Automation can coordinate two heaters easily.

I went with a standalone hot tub - more comfortable, and far less costly to run. It's usually at 100-102, and costs $8/month on my electricity bill.

I have a gas heater and run it when necessary for the pool and spa. Solar heat from way above in the summer months.

The OP has issues with no heat during the exact time you mention above. It's great that you don't use your pool during that time, but if the OP is a snowbird, he is not able to use his pool for the majority of his time down here.

Everything you described is exactly what I would expect - works great when you don't need it, sort of OK when you start needing it, and not at all when you really do.

The cooling part is a nice feature, but with a cage over my pool, it's never gotten above 90 in the summer... and water at 90 feels very cool when it's 100 out.

With regards to a variable speed pump - if a pool builder doesn't include one as standard equipment they are not worth hiring. This is basic 101 for a pool now a days. I can run my pump at 25% speed for the majority of the day - only ramping up when the heater needs to run (generally 1-1.5 hours/day).

If I run my pump for 10 hours/day, at 25% it costs me $1.91 for a month. At 100% it costs me $35.21. Quite a difference!

You are right. A solar heater doesn’t heat a pool enough in the two months when the Original Poster is here to swim in comfort (92° is my preferred temp). A bubble wrap pool cover helps a huge amount in keeping in heat that would be lost to the cooler air all winter and costs only a few hundred. Combined with solar heat, that adds a couple months of comfortable pool use, but still not when the Original Poster is here. When I bought my house, I had a heat pump for the pool added to the solar and also added a pool cover. Combined, I can have the pool at 92°, and the heat pump isn’t too expensive to run. It would be much more expensive without a pool cover, though. However, that heat pump cost me $6,000 installed.

bdrybob: The product Solar Trek of Ocala uses is Heliocol solar panels, which are SUPPOSEDLY engineered to specifically mount to the trusses on your roof. The pictures you include look like they didn't even try to mount this properly? Jack's Solar uses a different product.

Solar Pool Heater
 

After living in SW Florida for 15 years I can confirm that Solar Heating doesn’t work during the Winter months. Electric heat pumps aren’t much better. We had a heat pump in Fort Myers and if you wanted to heat the pool during Winter months, you’d have to run it for days. Natural gas is the best option, especially for Snowbirds. Unfortunately, Natural gas was not available in SW Florida. Winters are significantly colder here compared to Fort Myers…so if you want to enjoy your pool during Winter months…go natural gas!

Found your post very interesting. I have two questions. Do you cover it in the colder months and what is the size of your pool? We just installed one this past summer and are avoiding turning the heater on for fear our electric bill will be astronomical. Thanks!

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