DIY Pool Heater (On Demand Heater)

[RonsPlc]

First for a little bit of information.
We live in the "Sticks". If you go 1/2 mile from me in ANY direction, you do NOT have broadband Internet or the option for it. The only reason that I have it is that the Volunteer Fire station that is on my trunk line (DSL) requires it so lucked out in this area.
I have been on the waiting list for StarLink for over a year.

The power grid here is so bad that I joke... "If my neighbor sneezes, I lose power.". So I built a Solar tracker with some batteries and an invertor as a power backup in case of emergencies.
It has been set up for a few years, and the whole time I keep looking at it thinking that there has to be a way of hooking up a pool heater to it to give me "Something" to extend the season.

The pool is in shade until noon, and back in shade by 4:30pm.

Then it occurred to me to use an "On Demand" water heater hooked to a 12v pump run by the backup power batteries and to control it with an Arduino so it ONLY comes on when the batteries are full, and the solar charger is producing power. (NOT at night when it would deplete my batteries.)

Well, not only does it work, but it works WELL!!!
At this point I need to add a temperature probe to the system, so it does NOT come on if the pool is above temperature!

Our pool normally does not come above 80F until mid June, and is too cold for us by mid August. I am usually closing the pool by Labor Day.

Here it is May, and my pool has been above 80 for 2 weeks! Today, it hit 86.1! That is something that we have not seen until mid July in the past!

Does it work to bring the pool up to temperature quickly... NO. But does it work, and is it worth it, YES YES YES!!!

Total costs are around $600 including 100lb Propane tank and fill. (A LOT cheaper than a "Pool Heater"($3000+)), and a little bit of my time. the wife is happy, and I am ecstatic that it works!
And even better, it doesn't use $$$ in gas to run. At full flow, running 6 hrs per day total, the gas lasted a week it cost $67 to refill, and raised my pool temperature by 20 degrees.

I have it running at minimum flame right now, and will see how long it lasts. (Updates to follow).

Sorry for the long post, but I am thrilled with this experiment!

 

[kimkats]

SWEET! Thanks for sharing!

 

[RonsPlc]

Well, as promised, here's the update.
I ended up running the gas at medium instead of low, and it lasted a full 2 weeks. I am happy with that.

I also added a temperature probe to the setup, and set it to only come on if the water temperature at the 2' depth was below 83 degrees.
I have to say that this experiment is well worth the time, and the money spent.

Now I have to put everything onto a proper circuit board, and get it all off the breadboard I was using as a test bed.

 

[kimkats]

What a great follow up!!! Want to take some pics to share?

 

[RonsPlc]

What a great follow up!!! Want to take some pics to share?

Pictures will follow... probably later today!

 

[tim5055]

I have been on the waiting list for StarLink for over a year.

I will just say, I also live in the sticks (west of Asheville, NC) and have lived with poor DSL for years now. I was on the waiting list for Starlink for a little over a year and got it three months ago.

For it to work you need a large area of clear sky. As opposed ot HughesNet or ViaSat, instead of looking at one geostationary satellite where you need a clear shot of that one satt, Starlink is kind of a reverse cellular system that switches from one satt to another as they fly past so it's looking at a larger area of sky.

My antenna is mounted in the center of the roof and we have trees close by three sides of the hose so Starlink says I'm "obstructed".

Even with the obstructed view, I get anywhere from 20Mbps to 200Mbps download and 2Mbps to 20Mbps Upload. My DSL I was lucky to get 5 down and .5 up.

But, sporadically I'll go thru times of no coverage where I have no internet for a minute or so waiting for a satt to get in range. The Statlink system is designed for 12,000+ satellites and currently only have about 2,300 in the sky. More birds = better coverage.

They have been offering the "beta" service for a couple of years starting with residents near the Canadian border and working south. Other folks in my area say they have been waiting over a year as well and have not been offered service. I will just say, they use a proprietary pole mount and cable. Be ready to purchase the mount you need (pole/roof/wall) as well as a hard wirre kit (if you need it) and maybe a longer cable. Those things take a while to ship but realistically are priced reasonably.

I'm amazed because by watching the satellite tracker, there may not be a satellite anywhere close by but I'm on line.

Take a look and this will show you all the birds in the sky. The long lines of birds are those that were just released from a rocket (usually 53 in a line) and are waiting ot be directed to their final orbit. There are currently 4 of these lines flying around the earth as a result of four launches over the past 10 days.

Starlink satellite tracker

Live view of SpaceX starlink satellite constellation and coverage.

satellitemap.space

 

[RonsPlc]

As promised ... some pictures!

The first is the cold water collection point.
A 1" pipe with a T fitting set just off the bottom of the pool.

From there it goes to a 3/4" reducer and sent to black irrigation tubing tied to the top rail.

Then to where the magic is. The pump is attached to the solar tracker support post. The dual axis solar tracker is another project that I built. (Also controlled by an Arduino Nano)
The Solar charge controller, batteries, and Arduino pump controller are in the black deck box below the pump.

From there, the water is sent back to more 3/4" irrigation tubing on the pool rail, and finally to the on demand heater, which bumps the heat just before sending it back into the pool.

If anyone has questions or comments, they are more than welcome to post them.

 

[kimkats]

Well done!!!! THANKS!