This solar heater will also work great for an outdoor hot tub or above ground pool. I would not use PVC in anything directly plumbed to the thermal collector. DIY Solar Pool Heater. To make your own solar water heater, all you really need is a bit of black garden hose, and something onto which you can coil it up and hold it into position. A solar assisted pool heater is very easy to construct and use.

There are only a few important parts. Start with the actual collector. 1/2" black poly pipe works great. The output of the solar pump goes through the solar heater A garden hose (cheap, 25′ footer) is dropped back into the pool to close the loop Best of all, these Intex pool pumps only use a 2-amp motor so I was able to run them side by side. Mount them to the board using either adhesive or pipe mounts. Easy to create and use, this DIY solar pool heater will extend the amount of time you can use the pool each year.
A long loop of 2-inch black PVC tubing that is a bypass into your pool’s water pump hose are the basics of a solar heating system for your pool. Our very simple, DIY solar pool heater uses a photovoltaic (PV) module to provide free power when the sun shines, which is when you want the pump to run. This is a good description of a solar pool heating collector made from several spiral coils of black irrigation tubing. Either coil the copper pipe or lay the PVC pipe back and forth on the plywood. In Hawaii, with a solar hot water heater, we had PVC melt and sag because of the temperature of the water running through the system.
Black PVC pipe works, but copper pipe painted black works even better. Many people spend over a thousand dollars to get a heater for their pool, but by putting in a solar system it’s possible you can spend about one fifth of that. This setup raises my pool temp by 8-10 degrees a day when the sun is out. The collector is very simple to make, and the combination of PEX tubing and no glazing makes it a very inexpensive collector to build. You then connect it to your pool filter so that the filtered water passes through your homemade solar water heater before it goes back into the pool. Pool Collector Using PEX Tubing and Aluminum Fins This is Tom's design for a pool heating collector that uses PEX tubing for the collector risers with pressed aluminum fins. I have 2 - 1000ft runs on a nearby roof. I have a valve to restrict a little pressure from the pool pump and return the HOT water on the other side of the valve.

It also uses a small, DC submersible pump and some black landscaping tubing.

Doubled my swim season. We have a range of spares parts for repairing an existing solar pool heating system. Total cost $300 -- compared to commercial system bids of $5000! A long loop of 2-inch black PVC tubing that is a bypass into your pool’s water pump hose are the basics of a solar heating system for your pool. In addition, PVC is usually not UV stabilized, and will become, at the very least, brittle in the sunlight.

Solar collector, Manifolds, header pipes, fittings, valves, barbs, saddles... Buy Online Now. Many people spend over a thousand dollars to get a heater for their pool, but by putting in a solar system it’s possible you can spend about one fifth of that. Australia wide delivery. 21- Black Tubing Pool Heater. Easy to place on a nearby rooftop or other out of the way location, so the appearance is not an issue. Very Simple Pool Heater from SugarMtnFarm