Solar Heated Swimming pools
Solar Heating for your swimming pool

Why Choose Solar Heating? Solar heating is ideal for swimming pools as it is an economic and effective solution. The advantages are plain to see:

> The energy source is FREE so the panels pay for themselves in no time
> It’s friendly to the environment with no emissions destroying the ozone layer
> It’s silent
> It’s pollution free
> It’s easy to install in one day
> It requires no on-going maintenance

Solar Heating -
The DifferenceIf you didn’t heat a swimming pool at all in the UK the water would rarely exceed 21°C (70°F). However with solar heating temperatures can be up in the mid to high 20’s°C and sometimes reach over 30°C, though we cannot guarantee any temperatures as the heat source is beyond our control.

Do We Have Enough Sunshine in the UK?
Despite the good old British weather solar panels still manage to operate successfully in the UK, as although they work best on a bright sunny day, they will still collect heat on bright overcast days. During an average UK summer solar panels can typically heat a pool from around mid May to the end of September.

The temperature achieved with solar panels is often satisfactory for many people but if you should want higher temperatures you can use a conventional heating system in conjunction with the panels to give it that extra boost.

In fact, pools used all year round will certainly require a back-up heating system as there won’t be enough sunshine to sustain the heating during the winter months.

How Many Panels Do I Need?
The number of panels partly depends on the positioning of them, with an ideal location being a sunny south facing spot not too exposed and not in the shade. The panels want to be inclined to catch the most sun, so either fixed at ground level or on a convenient roof is ideal.

Then roughly speaking the area of solar panels should equate to 50% of the pool surface area for an indoor pool and 70% for an outdoor pool.

A bubble cover is also recommended to insulate the surface of your pool when not in use and Sundance are happy to supply one.

How Does Solar Heating Work?
As you can see from the below diagram, the water is pumped out of the pool through the solar panels where it absorbs heat from the sun’s rays to warm the water.

A simple control ensures that the water is only diverted via the panels when weather conditions offer a worthwhile heat gain.