Pool Solar Heating
 

Looking for information regarding solar heating for a pool/spa. Does it really cut down on electricity cost? Is it reliable? Who would you recommend to install? Thanks!

Gail
Village of Pennecamp

Yes, it works and is a very good idea. I have natural gas and the system actually paid for itself in approximately 3 1/2 years. I know this because I used my pool/spa for more than a year before installing the solar system and could make pre and post gas use comparisons for every month.
Two things have helped. First I have an ideal house orientation with a large roof area on the south side. Then, for a relatively small additional cost, I added almost double the square footage of panels, making the system even more efficient. Jack's Solar did the work. Jack is very experienced, did a terrific job for a very fair price and has an excellent warranty. One of the best contractors I've ever worked with.

Jack's solar is experienced and well known in TV. He showed me other installations before he did mine. Very happy with the results.

Solar Pool Heating
 

Does anyone have a phone number for Jack's Solar? ... can't find him/them online. thank you for your recommendation!

I guess the question really is "does using solar heating for your pool ever pay for itself?".

Obviously if you use the solar system to heat then it is saving a certain amount of gas/electricity that would otherwise be used. I was told that it is about a 4 year payback at current electric rates. We plan on just using solar and use TV pools during the colder months.

Jack's Solar Phone Number
 

352-267-4903

Yes I believe it does or in our case it will. My best guess is a savings of about $600 per year using solar to heat the pool vs propane gas. But we have only had the solar for less than one year and this past winter was not a good one for using a pool, so it was tough to get a good idea of our savings.
Like you we had planned on using the TV pools during the winter but with the solar we had found that we had warm enough water in our pool up until early December and then again in late March. We found the system to increase our pool temp by 8 - 10 degrees on a good sunny day even this past winter. So we are curious as to what an average winter will mean for our pool temps.

Solar Pool Heating
 

Thank you so much for the information and recommendation .... TOTV is such a wonderful site to get such valuable information, resources and ideas! plus very nice people!!

Gail
Village of Pennecamp

I do not use my pool in the winter - did not plan too. Big wimp when it comes to cold. The solar panels heated the pool to upper 80's from April through November.

Have gas and solar. Keep the pool at 88 to 90 year round. Solar saves about $1500 a year on gas bill as best I can tell. So two year to two and a half year payback. Also recommend Jack.

Followup calls with Jacks Solar
 

Has anyone had to have any follow-up calls with Jacks Solar. Did he respond timely? Did he answer your concerns and make repairs timely?

I don't believe we could pay for it's cost in any short time frame based on the usage we would get out of the system. I think you hit it on the head. . Here is why. We do not HAVE a solar system and the last month of November and March we use a solar blanket. Last year and the year before we swam on Thanksgiving week and it was near 80 ish. We got back IN the pool on April 14 the nest year. You say you used it from early December to late March. Not enough time savings to justify it in my thoughts. Like Russ, we too would use the TV pools IF we wanted to in the winter months.

Yes we did!
 

We had to have Jack remove the solar panels removed when we were having our roofing shingles replaced and then back again to put them back. Another time we were not getting any heated water coming in when we should have. In both instances, the response, cooperation and performance was great... couldn't have been better or an easier process for us to deal with!

Jack's Solar did the solar for my pool over 15 years ago for the previous owner.
In a warm winter with a pool cover we can use our pool in March with solar only.
I have no idea of his response time because I've never had to call him.:a040: