PV Gap

Sarah Said:

Pool Heater: Heat pump vs. solar panels?

We Answered:

It's a catch 22. Solar is much more expensive to install and looks crappy on your roof. Make sure your orientation to the sun is correct. Heat pump will cause less aggrivation to install but might require more service in the long run. On a monthly basis solar would be less.

Gary Said:

Help with Solar Heating!!!?

We Answered:

If you want an exact temperature, well I can not give you that nor can anyone else really. It depends on the system you have, the placement of it, and the amount of sun that is beating on it. Can you get it as hot/hotter than a gas/electric water heater even in the middle of winter in Ohio?..Yes.

Solar panels can cool a house of 5,000 sq. ft. in full if you had enough of them. Even if you buy one panel it will reduce the cooling cost. If you only want to run the cooling off the sun, then it would not required a huge panel array, especially if you have battery banks to capture the power when the A/C is not on. Personally I have two 180w Evergreen Solar panels hooked to a few deep-cycled batteries, then hooked to DCBreeze set to 24v. if you want to use an AC air conditioner rather than DC, it will take a little more power (therefor panels) due to the loss in the conversion and voltage step up. My house is solar, but the A/C is hooked to its own system so that I do not drain the houses batteries unexpectedly (That an the house is 120v AC)

A solar pool heater, well if you mean the black thing that the water flows though and gets heated by the sun beating on it, yes I use to have one when I still had my pool and it kept it about 10F hotter than without. It hooked up after the filter, but before the water reentered the pool. If you are talking about a solar cover, my experiences the first 6 inches were nice and warm, the rest cold.

Sarah Said:

What is the cheapest way of heating my outdoor pool?

We Answered:

If you live in or close to the country side then think about straw burning boiler My friend has had one for twenty years and his pool is always at 70° F summer and winter, very little ash from a bale of straw, and all it cost him is about £100 a year.