Stock tank heater?

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ta2dwonderwoman

ta2dwonderwoman

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Jul 1, 2016
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fall river ks
Here it is January and I'm already beginning to think of Summer. I'm trying to make some decisions now so that I can Implement them in the spring. I am considering adding a 55 gallon barrel with a stock tank heater floating in it to my solar heating setup that I'm currently using. I found that my solar heating system does keep my pool warmer than it would be without it but it's still not quite as warm as my husband would prefer most days so was hoping to supplement the solar power. Does anyone have any experience with this method of heating and any advice?
 
Where would you put it and how would you get the warmed water into the pool? I wonder if it would warm the water enough to make it worth while. I don't know what kinds of temps the stock tank heaters get to. I don't think they get that hot as they are more to keep the water from freezing BUT I am not sure.

I also worry about the danger of shock from this kind of heater. I have heard of many that shook the critters but in most cases it if from one of the critters biting the wire so.......just use much care if you do go this route.

Kim:kim:
 
My thought is to build a second table next to my solar table and put a big 55 girl plastic water barrel on it there's a hole at the top for the water to come in and a hole at the bottom for it to go out. My other thought has been a hot tub heater in the same setup... haven't done much research on that
 
I don't know what kind of wattage you are looking at, but odds are if you are running it off of household 120 volts you won't see a bit of difference. Pool heaters run in the 150,000 - 1,000,000 BTU range. A 1500 watt resistive heater would be about 5,000 BTU.

I also wouldn't throw together a homemade electrical device to be used in a pool. If you don't want the expense of installing a heat pump then another row of solar panels would be a far better bet.

Sent with Tapatalk on HTC Ten
 
It sounds like you are looking for something electric. Hayward and Raypak make smaller heat pumps in the 50k btu range for smaller pools. I have the Hayward HP50HA and it works well. They are under 1500 bucks.

Otherwise, I agree with Donldson that more solar panels is better.

One BTU of heat will heat one lb of water one degree in one hour. Water weighs 8.4 lbs per gallon. 12k gal is 101k lbs. So, not accounting for heat loss and assuming 100% heat pump efficiency a 50k btu heat pump will heat the pool 1/2 degree per hour.
 
In your pool (an above-ground Intex pool), heat loss is going to be an issue. AGPs are notorious for heat lost to air, especially soft-side Intex pools and, as such, finding a way to insulate the walls of the pool and/or creating a wind break would be another issue to consider. I'm assuming you already have a bubble cover for it as that would be absolutely necessary to use for any kind of heating process (solar thermal or heat pump). Insulating the pool against heat loss is important because if you do install an electric heat pump, you may find it runs all the time trying to keep up with the heat load. In that case, your on-going electric bills are going to make the purchase and install cost looks like peanuts...

Some pictures of your pool setup would help.
 
It sounds a lot like I would be getting just as much heat out of my solar heat just maybe not for as long everyday... we have what is called a beluga water diverter that divert water that is on its way back into the pool up into a water hose, we have between three and four hundred feet of hose on our table and then the water comes back in over close to the deck that we have now added. Maybe we will just add more hose to the stable and possibly build another table and put more hose on it as well and maybe even consider covering it with plexiglass.

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This little Beluga cost me $30 or there abouts and was the only water diverting system I could find that didn't require a whole bunch of plumbing and piecing together different pieces of PVC pipe to make it work. To be fair I only look for a couple of days before I stumbled on this and then I quit looking so there may be other things out there that I just never ran across. I also have a little $20 Hydro powered fountain from Walmart that I can use to cool my water and raise my pH if needed through agitation... other than the original pump and filter setup that came with it that's my entire setup. I am seriously considering switching over to an swg this year because I have COPD and it's very hard on me too try to carry bleach back and forth and shop for it and all the other things associated with buying and using liquid bleach.

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I have also considered going back to using pucks with the understanding that they will raise my cya level and I will need to drain and refill some of my pool as needed to keep my cya level within the range I want. I guess I need to do some more research and see what else they have to do that is not recommended and then decide if that's something I'm even willing to entertain going back to

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And of course if I were to do either the stock tank heater or a hot tub heater it would always be on clothes while people are swimming
 

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Chlorine pucks do add CYA as you well know :rolleyes: They can also be acidic so can mess with the PH but again so long as you know what to do to counterbalance it you are safe. What TFP is all about is KNOWING what does what to the water and what to do to keep it balanced.

:hug:

Kim:kim:
 
I must say that the knowledge I have gained working with tfp has been absolutely priceless. I've had a few people asked me how I take care of my pool and when I start trying to explain they get lost pretty quickly because it's so much to absorb but it's definitely worth holding on and continuing until you get it... I'm absolutely not an expert but I feel like I know enough that i am not at the pool stores whim anymore! My main concern with an swg is the increased possibility of corrosion...
 
That is the main reason I have held off too :( My last pool was all rusted on the bottom BUT it was caused by lack of care by former owner and all of the dirt that was allowed build up around it so.........but I am still not ready to use one yet.

I LOVE TFP! I have several friends with pools. They all LOVE how my pool looks and feels but only one so far has tried the TFP way and that was only after their CYA got so high they FC could not work any more :( I am waiting for the others to ask for help.

:hug:

Kim:kim:
 
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