A simple solar thermal pool heater

Pool is 8,800 gallon 1-piece fiberglass with a concrete deck.

The main concept for the heater came from info on

 www.builditsolar.com/Projects/PoolHeating/pool_heating.htm

View toward west end.  Pool is situated in south yard of our passive solar home, pictures of which can be seen at www.mildevco.net/house2

West end runs up hill, so it is slanted slightly to east and begins to get morning sun around 8AM.

System was installed 6-10-2012.  The 1" supply pipe runs around the outside of the gravel outside the fence, and act as the edging - the gravel sits on landscape cloth to prevent weeds. 

Local retailers only had clamps in two packs, which would make them VERY expensive.  Had to order them bulk to get a good price.  The water coming from the pipe when in full sun is quite warm, but I have to wait till I get the clamps on to fine tune the flow-rate.

I made a turntable / lazy susan out of a swiveling shop stool, a 4'x4' piece of plywood, and a 1' diameter disk of 3/4" mdf, centered on the plywood.  I hung a fishing snap-swivel on a rafter in the garage, and attached the free end of the 1/2" poly to it, allowing the supply line to spin, up and out of the way while winding the coil.

 We pre-inserted zip-ties under the coils as we were wrapping, every two coils near the center, increasing to every three, then every four out near the edges.

I had the 1" well poly left over from running a water line to my shop, about 150' of it, and the 3/16 wire rod was scrounged locally ( i.e. dumpster cut-off freebies from a local fabrication shop).

Without the cost of the 1", the installed cost of this system was around $170.  I got the 1/2" poly pipe, fittings, and valves from http://www.dripsupply.com/   If I had to purchase the 1", it would have been another $45 from them.

I used 1000' of the 1/2" divided equally into the four coils of approx. 4' diameter with a 1' hole at the center.

I used the same 1" pipe around the rest of the gravel areas, so the overall appearance is cohesive.

Close-up of the u-shaped stakes/pins.  I have a metal bender, but they could be made by bending the mild steel rod around a piece of galvanized water pipe.  They should get a nice rusty patina