Make a Pool Heater - $25 Solar Pool Heater 

I'd recommend another trip to the hardware store for some black matte paint and some plexiglass. Paint all the wood black with the matte finish and then cover everything in plexiglass so that as the hose heats up the box heats up making the hose even hotter and you should be able to get 110-120° or output.

Hey, I can't tell you how much I appreciate the fact that your video was under 5 minutes. I've watched several other vids that were well over 25+ minutes that provided no more content/info than you did in a very abridged version. Thank you.

I constructed a very similar system last summer. It worked wonderful for the first three or four minutes. Then once the water inside the system cycled through a couple of times, the water eventually went cold again. I imagine I would need to buy some kind of a timer that would constantly turn the pump on about every 10 minutes and let it run for five minutes or so.

I did pretty much the exact steps he did , but it’s not heating my pool. Really wish it would have worked too

Well, from the looks of the flow rate, it might be warm by the end of summer. You need lots more hose, and a considerable more flow rate if you expect to heat that pool, at all.

Great video. Did you get all 200’ of tubing into that 4x4’ frame? (Minus the few feet coming out of it)

I'm in Winnipeg...my pool is small (12ft)... I heat it with 600ft of black poly and a Grundfos pump and filter. After 2 days of 90 degrees I had the pool at 109. The trick is 1.5 inch blue styrofoam under the pool; like a thermos.

How hot did you get the starting 70-degree water up to in the end? The water coming out is 97’ish, but what’s the overall temp of the pool in the end?

Good idea man, but how is that water coming out of a garden hose going to heat up a full pool like that? Just doesn't seem like enough flow to make a difference

Man you cool! I'll tried before, but didn't get it work. But your description is really good and easy. Will try again.

I am buying a Bestway pool with the Chemconnect™ Dispenser. What size chlorine tablets do I need to fit inside them ? Thanks friend. Just finished building my solar heater! So happy.

I made one of these. A few observations: 1. The black tubing can be VERY challenging to coil - especially in cooler temps. It kinks easily, and does not unkink well. Also hard to get to lay flat. 2. Looks like the DIYD lives in a warmer climate judging by the palm trees in the background. Here in upstate NY, the temperature gain is not so dramatic. 3. Shade trees are your enemy.

What is the white thing at the end of the hose where the water is coming out? Is that a regulator to ensure the water isn't flowing too fast to ensure it heats up as much as possible in the hose?

I'm thinking about trying this! I see that the recommended pump VIVOSUN 800GPH Submersible Pump(3000L/H, 24W) didn't get great reviews online. What have others used for this project? Thanks!

Hey ok so first I make this then on one end connect only to my pump ? I can be using my regular pool pump at the same time as this correct ? Also if tubing only comes in 100 ft is that even enough to make one or would I have to connect two ? Thank you!!

I know it's been a while you posted I haven't gotten a pool yet but I'm trying to Budget things before anything, can you show how to attack the heater to the pump?

This is exactly what I wanted to build, I like the frame idea so it can be moved. One question, what pump are you using, there are a lot of pumps out there. Or at least what is the flow rate?

Thx from germany, very great idea 👍

What is that bubbled wrap is doing on top of the water?

How powerful has to be the pump? Can it be too powerful?

It's a great idea but it only works for 2mins, once the heated water has completely passed through the coil, it back to normal temperature. You would need at least 1000ft to actually achieve a difference.

Cool idea but why is there no explanation of the pump system?

what size pump do i need

What kind of pump did you use? We tried it with a 1880 sump pump and it quits on and off on us.

I've been thinking on building this, but have one question. My 18' pool has a drain that allows attachment of a garden hose. Any reason why I couldn't attach a garden hose, then transition to drip irrigation assembled as in your video and then return the water after it is heated? I would think there is enough pressure at the bottom of the pool that I wouldn't need a pump at all.

Where did you buy the pump

$45 just for the tubing using your link.

Did you use potable or non potable tubing?

NICE!💯

How much of the $200 feet did you actually use?

What diameter of hose is it?

Need to add another 100’ to bring it to 200’ but as of now the pool water cooled off the tubing so much that it didn’t work, anyone else have this problem or will it work once I add the extra tubing? And I painted the box black.

what size pump did you use??

The pipe in your description is wrong it has emitters punched into the tubing to deliver water along the line; not good for this use.

Ok so the pool water is being pumped through pump into the irrigation tubing and back to the pool? Also the pump, so I just put the tubing straight into the pump? Doesn’t the pump have to be a connection that is 1/2 inches because I believe the pump I got is has a 1/4 connection? Does this mean I have to find another adapter for the pump?

I need help... I did this with two coils (250' of hose) with a Plexiglas cover and am not getting anywhere near this temperature increase, I am getting a 5-7 degree increase w/ 80 degree water @ 2 gallons per minute in San Jose, Ca. This is not making a dent in my 20,000 gallon pool with a solar cover - temperature went up 1 degree in one week. Any ideas? Thanks!

Just curious, wouldn’t the natural heating of the water circulate the water in the tubes? Cold and hot water and all just moving around?

Good idea but if you put the pump and output hose (headed water) on the opposite sides of the pool. You'll achieve maximum efficiency. Water is colder at the bottom so put the pump as low as possible in the pool. 👍

Thanks for the video, super great way of doing it. I wanted to mention that I also painted the 4x4 plywood black and added a plexiglass cover (unfortunately $$$), but raised the output temperature to 114 on 78 degree day.

You should have painted the wood either flat black or OD green...to absorb more energy

- What type of pump are you using? - How much 'sun time' do you get during the day? - how big is your pool ( gallons )? - Where are you located? - If your pool starts out at 70F .. how long to get to, say, 86F ?

Thanks for you video and discussion - here are my solar experiences for comparison -. We live in central florida and got a free roof mounted system that my neighbor was discarding. It was six 4’x10’ sections that ran 3” pipe through it and raised the 1.5hp pool pump flow level about 3 degrees every pass through the pump. That is about 240 sq feet. It made our 10x10 inground hot tub 120 degrees in one day if we forgot and left it on. We kept the partly shaded 18,000 inground pool in upper 80’s from march to November and 74 in the cold of winter, which was way too cold for us but visiting Yankee family members liked it. The problem with inground pools is that you are heating the earth as well as the water. Hurricane Jeane and Francis removed all panels from our roof, shearing 120 tapcons flush, from a small spinner or microburst. anyhow, before the roof mounting I never got the same heating level results laying panels on the ground because the heat radiated DOWN into the earth - when I installed them on the roof and the got full sunlight that was the cheeeeeze. Using this method you are getting about 13 square feet per panel so I would need 18 of these panels to achieve similar heating effect - has anyone considered installing 1” of rigid wall foam between the pipe and the wood? Maybe this 13 foot effect is power of suggestion to make people believe water is warmer - but I’m willing to try a few panels. What we found - Another issue with high heat making rooftop mount is constant water leaks from expanding and contracting panels (it ruined my neighbors roof and then mine) - and occasionally some water draining out and super heating the water up there to near boiling. It was almost like we needed a cover to slide over it to turn it off - like a Victoria have doors to control volume. Heating PVC pipe over 140 degrees will begin to soften it and create a real issue for buried pipe. Ive heard that copper pipe solar collectors collect and transfer more heat to the water but its the pricey and heavy route.

70 meanwhile my pool a couple of years ago in Canada was like less than 10 Celsius (50F)

One idea I’ve seen is to paint the plywood surface black (under the tubing) to absorb more heat and add a hard sheet of clear plastic on top, basically turning the tubing compartment into a mini oven.

Our Other Pool Videos: Above Ground Pool LED Light Install: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-gSR2oAzT2B8.html DIY Solar Pool Heater:ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-PbAimKCUdcQ.html Do solar pool covers work: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-W3tnlHHbrRA.html Should you buy an above ground pool: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-5g-jk2BT5xk.html Robot Vacuum for your pool: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-K3shfxKX5Cc.html How to kill algae FAST: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-SVEm-1F37DY.html Another way to kill algae FAST: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-a82fCLyFYA8.html Should you buy an above ground pool? ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-5g-jk2BT5xk.html Hayward above ground pool vacuum: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-_R63547QI_c.html Hayward Pool Vacuum 4 years later: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-CYXiRLR_ees.html Make a solar heater for $25 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-PbAimKCUdcQ.html Wrap your pool in bamboo: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Ai9DoZN9nbY.html How to get rid of brown pool water: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-rQts8UGsfbw.html

Add clear plastic to put more heat in the coils (or even use bubble wrap, if cold outside). -Wind takes lots of your heat away... if you need it to be even better. :) -plus the black paint on the wood. (as Mike T says below.)

Nice good.. Mantabb..👍👍❤️ Harun Service from Indonesia .

This isn't a $25 project anymore the tube alone is $47.

I wanna know what the temperature of that water is coming out of the black tubing after 15 or 20 minutes of running. All these videos only show people taking the waters temperature only a minute or two after running the solar pump. Once that hot water circulates out of the tubing, the water will just run cold again.

If you line that board with tar paper then put the hose down plexiglass on top of it that are really heated up

Unfortunately irrigation tubing has a very short life as the heat and pool chemicals make it brittle. We made ours 3 years ago and all need replacing. Suppose that the problem with living in Florida. We are going to try Pex coil this time.

Run a length of garden hose across the pool a ways... that way your supply pump isn't as likely to pick up the heated water that's being returned to the thermal mass.

How strong of a pump do you recommend? 800gph or 1000gph?

It looks like you’re building a giant record player. I like it

We are definitely looking to make this as well. Thanks so much for the idea! Do you have one question, what pump are you using? We have an above ground pool, approximately 10,000 gallons of water. Is there any one that you recommend over another?

Seems great, the biggest difficulty is how to get your wife to be ok with an ugly bunch of black tubing sitting out on the pool decking?

Does this actually work to heat 6000 gallons of water? Or does the ambient temperature cool down the heated water before the heated water can make any significant change in the pool temperature? How long does it take to heat that much water?

How about ice/ water shield( roofing material) UNDER PIPING, absorbs heat and put return line close to bottom. HEAT RISES RIGHT ?

I have a strong pump/filter. So my output is strong. Making my input strong. Won't that make the water go through the hose too fast not letting it heat up?

Do the math on this, but a quick look says you simply don't have enough surface area to make a difference. If it's solar heat your going for then just put something black on the bottom of the pool. Or just throw your contraption into the pool directly and save the money spent pumping. Really not seeing how the scale of this can work.

Great idea and thanks for making the video. Did you notice a difference in your pool temperature after about a week?

Might be worth trying it with a Beluga water heating device to avoid the pump. But I like your build. Not the best but simple and cheap.

I live in Gran Canaria and will be installing this in my Airbnb villa. This means that I myself am not on site and can monitor. I will set a timer so that the pump only circulates water when the sun is up. But as there is a lot of sun on Gran Canaria, the water will quite quickly reach over 30 degrees. Is there any gadget that can automatically turn off the power to the pump when the water is 30 degrees.

Can you confirm a few things. you say you used 1/4" tubing and the link is to 1/4" pipe, but it looks like you are using 1/2" tubing. I ordered and tried to follow your exact setup and my tubing and amount of excess space is way different than your video. Also how many gallons per hour pump do you recommend?

What power pump do you need to make this work? I have built the solar heater with 1/2 inch black tube but have tried it and failed with 2 pumps that produce 24 W / 800 GPH and 100 W / 1600 GPH. Neither was strong enough to get water to flow. As I do not want to have to buy and return more pumps, please help!!!

Thanks. Can I use some old garden hose's that's not black and link them together?

To retweet, nice and short and informative video. Not sure which pump to use, any recommended for my 10 x 16 x 42" pool, GPH? Washington State resident if it matters.

How about painting the bottom of the pool black? Then the whole pool will become a heater.

Lets me give you my honest opinion. I made one for those, I had about 250" of tubing,. Does it produce lots of heat? (read the whole thing) Yes... but... I got it to produce 90°+ water, from the 55° tap water I was putting in, BUT at a flow rate of 1 GALLON \ 5 minutes (SLOW). That is nothing compared to the size of the pool. I recently bought a 4'X20' manufactured pool heater off Craigslist and it is producing 3° increase at a normal flow (Several gallons\ minute), now that may not seam like much but that means my entire pool would increase around 5° in a few hours, that's actually a pretty big accomplishment. A couple sunny days and the pool will be toasty warm. The DIY one I made was way to small to provide enough heat to do much. Notice how in this video the water coming out is a little dribble. it is impressive at first, but try pumping gallons\minute and that temp increase will be so tiny. Not Knocking you @doityourselfdad - I did the same thing you did and that my experience, I thought I was pretty slick making one....Fun project though, would be great for a small pool (12'X 24")

Using Intex pool filter pump with 1 1/4 in hose coming out of filter, I went to Home Depot + asked they sell me a connector that would connect to one end of a 5/8" garden hose and then another connector to connect to the other end going into the pool filter hose which then fits back into the pool inlet. No 1 know what I'm talking about.

thanks,,,Love it and your pulling the colder water, near bottom of pool, and putting warm water in...nice! thanks.

Did the water come out that slow, or at the low rate with that pump? Or did you have to slow the flow down? Seems like water would be coming out faster than that. But idk, just asking. I wasn’t sure if the pump was adjustable? Thanks in advance, I’m building this tomorrow.

Mine totally melted the black pipe inside

Great idea Thanks Can we attach the pipe to the water filter attached to the pool ? The pumps in the filter are doing the same work of removing the water first andpumping it back !

The hose link is for a drip hose, is that what u used?

Thank you for the video lesson but I would like to know what size pump do I use if I have a 1/3 horse power sump pump. Can I use this pump?

So, I made it. And realized there are many questions that are not answered in this video. But first, let's be clear that this will NOT cost you under $25. Ultimately, it cost me $60, and I got the pump for free.

So my pool is 50000 gallons. Do you think it would take more than a half an hour to heat up?

Did you try covering it with plexiglass? I think that would help get the tubing hotter so you could increase flow.

Do you still use the original filter system or do can you swap the black tubing to it? We’re wondering about whether we need 2 units or can combine to 1.

Why are so many of you not just installing this inline after your existing pool filter/pump? The existing pump will most likely support it without issue. There's no need to buy an additional pump just for this.

Can you tell me what sump pump you used for your solar pool heater? There are so many on the market, I don't know which one to purchase for this project...thanks

Will this work for an inground pool?

what type of pump did you use and connection to use to hook up your pump?

cover in plexiglass and paint black and it will work better

Link says 1/4" hose but fittings are 1/2". What diameter hose did you use?

On a hot day 70 is perfect. Awesome tip, that really was easy and cheap!!

Interesting idea but...cheaper and easier just to put bubble wrap over the pool surface!!

Blankets gonna make a huge difference too I wouldn't bother without a pool blanket

Great idea! Would a bilge pump work? I’m thinking of hooking pump up to solar panel to power it.

Nice video filled with good tips & trix. I'm setting up a solar powered pool heater right now and my goal is 30°C / 86°F. I'm starting with 250 meters / 820 feet of 20 mm / ¾ inch PEM hose in a similar rooftop setup as yours. A 20V rainwater barrel pump (2,000 liters - 528 gallons / hour) will be connected directly to a solar panel, so it's a completely automatic system controlled and powered by the sun. No sun = no pump = no heating. Since I'm located at 60° latitude in the northern hemisphere, I'll guess it'll be some problems to solve along the way, but it'll be fun. Keep up your good work

The poly tubing, fittings, and plywood are cheap,...the submersible pump is not.

where do people buy 200ft hose for $17? the cheapest I see is around $80

What the output on the submersible pump?

Can you use the pool filter as your pump and attach the outflow to run through the black tubing or black hoses and then back into the pool? I know your pump is at the bottom of the pool but for those of us who dont have a pump?

Can this be done with a pool pump that isn’t submersible?

Is the water continuously flowing through the black piping? is this the case with all pool heaters?

Paint the wood gloss black as well.

I don't think the pump was in the price was it? I made something like this too. And sure the water is 10 C warmer than the water (18 F warmer). But it is about 120 /h. My pool is 26500 liter so it helps but not a lot. On a fully sunny day I have exchanged 1/26th of the total volume. I wonder one thing: why i sno one buying a translucent sail used to pretect boats or those sheets people use for greenhouses? I have ordered one but expect a lot more. A green house is easily 10-15 C( 18-27 F) warmer than the air surely in the spring. So I think this will have a better effect, but unsure. We'll see.

Putting a big black thing at the bottom of the pool wouldn't do the same trick? Maybe it could a black sheet and we could test with varying it's height in the water with how much it absorbs