How to Heat a Pool Fast DIY: A Beginner’s Guide
Published November 3, 2022
Pools always require occasional heating, whether it’s residential or commercial. If you have a residential pool, you and your family will definitely enjoy the pool more if it’s warm rather than chilly or freezing. And if you’re running a commercial swimming pool, you can maximize your profits since you can open for business in seasons that’d otherwise make the pool water unswimmable. But as great as it may be, pool heating is generally costly, not to mention the heating isn’t instantaneous.
After all, a pool heater can cost between $300 to $5,000. In addition, it takes one to three days for the device to fully heat an entire pool, so using it would also drastically increase your electricity bills.
Put simply, the traditional way of pooling heating is costly. That’s why there’s been a trend recently on how to heat a pool fast DIY style, and it involves a specific method to create a DIY solar heater.
How Does the DIY Solar Heater Work?
A solar dome is one of the types of pool heating equipment, along with solar heaters and covers. It consists of coils that form a spiral shape, thereby creating a dome, hence the name.
It works by sucking in the pool water, trapping it momentarily in the coils, and those coils are exposed to the sun. After a while, the water comes out of the hose and into the pool, slightly warmer than when it went in. It’s an ingenious idea, but the best part is you can make a solar dome by yourself. Only this time, rather than spiraling upwards, the apparatus will be completely flat.
That’s the DIY solar heater everyone’s been talking about recently. What makes it interesting is the entire project costs less than $100, $50 if you can find and buy the things you need for cheaper.
Most importantly, it can heat a pool fairly quickly. If a pool heater needs several days, this DIY heater should only take a few hours to increase the pool temperature by 10°F to 20°F, depending on the intensity of the sun in your area. Granted, the disparity in heating time is due to the fact that a pool heater covers a much larger area, but for a DIY project, this solar heater does its job pretty well.
What Materials Are Used To Build Solar Heaters DIY?
Everything you need for this project shouldn’t cost you more than $100 to get.
- 100ft to 200ft Irrigation tubing | $15
- Irrigation tubing connector | $10
- Sump pump | $10
- Wooden sheets and boards | $10
There are a couple more things you need, like a drill, screws, and a cutting tool for the wood, like a table saw for example. If you have these already, that’s good, but if not, you can either buy them or look for alternatives. Once you procure everything you need, you can proceed to the instructions.
How to Build the DIY Solar Heater
1. Cut the wooden sheets to create a square area. Add some boards to the sides to serve as boundaries. You may have to use the power drill to screw the boards to the sides.
This is where you’ll place the heater, so the solar heater isn’t just lying around.
2. Punch a hole in the middle of the wooden sheet. Make sure it’s large enough for the tubing.
3. Create a spiraling coil using the tube.
The more coils you can fit, the better. That way, it’ll take more time for water to travel from one end of the tube to the other, meaning there’s more time for the sun to heat the water.
4. Secure the coils. The way you do this will be entirely up to you.
5. Connect the tubing connector on one end of the tube and the sump pump on the other.
The flat solar “dome” should look like this at the end of the project. As for how to warm up a pool using this contraption, you just need to plug in the pump, place it in the pool, then turn it on.
The pump will suck in the water, pump it into the coils, and after a while, the water will come out of the other end of the tubing, just like how a solar dome works.
Wrapping Up
Keep in mind that this isn’t necessarily going to be the best method if you want to learn how to heat a swimming pool for free. The pump requires electricity, so it technically still costs money to operate, albeit not much since sump pumps aren’t power-hungry. Nevertheless, it’s still an ingenious idea that can save you not only money but also time waiting for your pool to warm up.
(Related: Geothermal Pool Heater: Cost, Pros, and Cons)
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About The Author
Lenard Arceo is an experienced writer and digital marketing expert. He loves to code and spending time outdoors. He has helped many reputable websites grow over the years.
