Harnessing the power of the sun to heat your swimming pool water offers a two-fold benefit: saving money on keeping your swimming pool water warm and allowing you to extend the use of your swimming pool for a few extra months. The warmth you will reap from the sun as a way to heat your Michigan swimming pool will hinge on the amount of sun your pool is exposed to daily.
Swimming pool owners who live in areas of the country, such as Arizona, where the sun can be unbearably hot, will likely place their swimming pool in the backyard in a way that provides more shade throughout the day. The placement of a swimming pool in the eastern or middle part of the country will be in an area that is more in the full sun throughout the day where it can reap the full benefit of the sun’s rays. Your local swimming pool builder considers the proper placement of your pool during the planning phase to help you reap the greatest benefit.
Michigan swimming pool builders explain that to truly use the sun and its heat effectively, you need to capture it as a heat source to warm the water. In most regions of the country, the warmth that is captured during the daytime quickly leaches away when the sun goes down at night. The most effective way for swimming pool owners to trap and utilize this solar heat is through the use of a solar swimming pool cover or thermal pool blanket. These covers prevent heat loss and also draw in the heat from the sun and push it into the water. Covers offer benefits by keeping dirt and debris out of the water as well as trapping in latent heat. You can also talk with your Michigan swimming pool builder about installing solar heat panels to keep the water warm and swimmable.
Installing a solar swimming pool heating system will come with up-front costs, but with the savings you realize over the traditional cost of heating your swimming pool, these solar options more than pay for themselves. Additionally, for the environmentally conscious consumer, solar power is truly the wave of the future. Once your solar swimming pool investment pays for itself, you’ll find you’ve made an environmentally sound choice.
How does solar swimming pool heating work? In most cases swimming pool solar panels are arranged alongside the pool or on your rooftop. It goes without saying, you need to have adequate sunlight for these systems to do their job properly. The solar system has collectors that capture the sun’s energy and heats water in hoses. These hoses then circulate your pool’s water back into the pool to keep the water heated for your swimming pleasure. The key to having a solar swimming pool set up, is in the correct placement of the solar panels.
Additionally, when using solar methods to heat your swimming pool you may want to consider having a dark colored bottom for your swimming pool as the dark color will help the pool retain its energy and the warm water effects. The reason for this is that dark colors absorb heat and then slowly release it. A light color pool bottom would reflect the heat; if you live in an extremely hot climate and don’t want the pool to get bathwater warm, you might opt for the light-colored pool bottom.
The demand for eco-friendly energy alternatives has made solar heating for swimming pools more popular. Many swimming pool owners are simply looking for ways to conserve energy and money and that makes solar heating an attractive proposition. Another plus, when it comes time to sell your home, solar systems retain their value and enhance the selling points of your home.
There are many reasons to go solar with your swimming pool heating and the first step is to contact your Michigan swimming pool builder for advice on how to get started. Remember too, that in many areas of the country there are government tax credits available to homeowners that install solar heating systems.
