DIY solar panel for inground pool research questions

[Bobzilla]

Hello Gents, been a reader here off and on for a little while, first post though.

I have an inground pool which is 16'x32' ~20,000 gallons.

I am looking at various options on making a solar panel / solar configuration to get going.

I do have a solar cover which goes on almost every night and is used many hours of the day.

Some questions I have so far while reading lots of posts across the net:
1. How well does black rubber hose conduct heat? Do pool chemicals deteriorate it over time?
2. How well does drip tubing work? Such as the tubing for irrigation.
3. If the panel size is 1/2 the area of the pool is that a sturdy rule of thumb, meaning will building a setup with less area than that not be effective?
4. I want to keep the pool area nice and neat, I read several posts where one uses black rubber hose on top of a roof and they state that " it works well" . I think for me hiding one panel or alot of rubber hose on the roof would be OK, but adding a large setup might cause problems ( mostly due to the pesky neighborhood rules )

Thanks in advance for any help that could be offered.

Also, I live in the Northeast, so I don't plan on making my pool season longer, just make the most of the 3 months of summer we have ( well, sometimes we have summer )

- Bobzilla

[russ]

Try looking at Black pipe coil pool heater http://rimstar.org/renewnrg/solar_po...ter_diy_fp.htm

Lots of good information there. You are on track for one of the more practical uses of solar.

Russ

[Naptown]

General rule of thumb is 50% of the pool surface area in collector area.
If the pool is shaded more is necessary.
this will give you a season beginning of May to end of September.
however we use aquatherm collectors which will give a lot more area than black pipe will.
It really comes down to what temperature you want your pool to be for comfort.

[russ]

however we use aquatherm collectors which will give a lot more area than black pipe will.
It really comes down to what temperature you want your pool to be for comfort.

Also cost - the Rimstar type are the most cost effective by far - easy and cheap to add another coil.

[Naptown]

Also cost - the Rimstar type are the most cost effective by far - easy and cheap to add another coil.

But would be rinky-dink for a pro to put in

[russ]

But would be rinky-dink for a pro to put in

Can't disagree there