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White Trash Pool Heater

I wouldn't say I am by nature a cheapskate.   However, I have been known to be impatient from time to time.  Now that it is warming up outside in North Texas I don't want to wait around for my pool water temperature to catch up with the outside air temperature.  My pool does not have a heater and I do not want to spend the money plumbing one in.  Hence, this weekend, me and my faithful 12 year old sidekick built our first White Trash Pool Heater.

What's that you say?  It's simple really, working on the same principal as the air conditioning unit in your house.  In your air conditioner, freon is pumped through several tubes where it comes into contact with the warmer air that is being blown through your fan.  The heat attaches itself to the cold freon, hence removing the heat from the air, and the result is colder air.  The warmer freon transfers outside to your condenser unit into more coils around the fan.  The fan makes the air cooler than the freon, so the heat transfers to the outside air and cools the freon back down, which then returns to your air conditioning unit.

Here is how my heater unit works on the pool:

1.  Water from one of the pool returns is pumped into an attachment that is connected to a black garden hose.  The black (black because it absorbs heat) garden hose then runs back to the side of the house where the "heater" is set up.  This spot on the side of the house gets full sun almost all day long which is critical to the heating process.

Pool Return Attachment - Black hose is the supply to the heater, and the green hose is the "heated" water returning to the pool. (click the image to see a full size picture)

2.  The black garden hose is then routed along a large piece of plywood (painted black to absorb heat), covering as much surface as possible to maximize heating.

3.  The black hose ends at the bottom of the board where it is attached to a green hose.  The green hose runs the warmed water back into the pool.

The "heating" element

Pretty simple, eh?  I think so.  Best part is that all in it has cost me less than $75.  It will not heat the pool in the matter of a day or two like an expensive gas or electric heater, but it will speed up the process.  Mrs. Bubba has her doubts on whether or not my design will work.  I'll need a few full sun days in North Texas before I will see any results.  The beginning pool temperature when I installed the unit was 70 degrees.  I'll post back here in a about a week and update you on my progress.

Please post your comments below.  I love to hear what you think of my design.