Join the La Manga del Mar Menor forum
My name's Alex and this is my website all about La Manga del Mar Menor in Spain. Register now for free to talk about General La Manga del Mar Menor discussion and much more!
We are currently looking into heating a swimming pool with solar panels. We are unsure of the practicality of it and would be interested if any members can give us some advice. Being a large pool we keep it full all year round, although used over the summer heating could extend the usage .Whether it would be practicable or cost effective we are unsure.
A friend has a 10m x 5m pool and has recently installed solar pool heating - where the pool water is pumped through a series of (what I would call) rubber mats that are heated in the sun. The water then returns to the pool. He is happy with this and states that he has raised his pool temperature from about 29' to 32' in the summer. He hasn't tested it in the autumn / spring yet.
We have the same size pool and we get up to 32' in the summer with no heating and a good summer cover, so I don't see any benefit yet from his system.
The other alternative would be to install a traditional pool heater pump and then solar panels to generate the electricity for the pool heater. We have had solar panels installed and are reaping the benefits of generation for self-consumption, but, as I said, we don't heat the pool, although we may consider that in the future to (as you say) extend the usable 'season'.
A builder friend suggested installing an air source heat pump to heat the pool. These are very efficient, but the cost of the pump was high - I think about €12k.
Hope this helps and happy to discuss further...
Find more General discussion topics from a particular area:
Or view all General discussion topics in all of Costa Cálida.
