DIY Solar Pool Heater Kits

Please use our interactive sizing calculator to accurately size your collector area needs, if you have any difficulty please contact us. Note: we frown upon the practice of selling you more coverage than what you actually need for your heating goals - to back our sizing recommendations we provide a sizing guarantee.

Yes, for a flat pan style gal roof, however for better water flow and leaf clearance we recommend it sits on top of the valleys, hence runs across the roof.

There are a number of options. Easiest is to snake the PVC strip up then back then again up and back to reduce the 12.5m length to 6m. However, we recommend you cut the strip and use more manifolds for the offcuts, as this will reduce the pressure and increase the flow. For example for a 6m run just cut the 25m strip in half, you'll then need double the amount of manifolds to connect up the spare offcuts. For a 9m run across the roof, just cut the strip at 18 metres, leaving 6m offcuts. Three of these offcuts can be spliced together to form another 18m length which can be connected to the main array using an extra manifold pair. See the manual for full details.

No, it's difficult to splice in an extra manifold section into the main manifold pipe once it's all glued up; it's best to size your system right the first time. There are very good reasons why a system should not be dramatically undersized. Effective heating requires a minimum daily turnover typically 50% of your pool water volume. However, there are flow limitations on strips; hence an undersized system may not handle the flow required which could over-pressurise strips, or if the flow is insufficient, will result in an unmixed stratified layer of warm water which will cool excessively overnight.

You can use your existing controller and pump if it's in good working order and the correct size. We have pump sizing tables in our manual downloadable from our EcoOnline website download page.

It is a false economy to use a large filter pump for solar applications – the pump still has to expend energy to pump water to the roof, putting back pressure on the pump reducing filter flow, hence there is no free energy gained. Besides this we don't recommend running a high power filter pump for 8 hours per day for the solar side (potentially over pressurising panels) if you don't need to filter for that long. An independent system with a well matched small pump will save you money in running costs and look after your panels in the long run.

No, after witnessing customers try such pumps and struggle with them our advice now is not to use them, unless they can be set to run at a constant speed without a start up surge. We find variable pumps start at full power then taper back, this puts a lot of pressure fluctuations through the system on start up which could limit system lifetimes. We only recommend pumps that can pump at a constant set pressure.

Generally we don't recommend this as you may have priming issues with your main filter pump during start up due to air being drawn in from the solar line tee you installed. Whether your filter pump will deprime in this case will depend on how far below the waterline you installed the solar tee. Note, a non-return on the solar line will not help here as non-returns are not generally air tight over time. If you do not have independent solar lines and can't install the tee far below the water line (minimum say 1m below) then your options are a manual system, a booster system or a motorised ball valve option, see the manual for plumbing diagrams.

At present unfortunately no we do not have installers as we ship around Australia. However, our manuals are very comprehensive and cover most situations and issues. There is also unlimited tech support available. Most handymen/tradespeople can install our systems. From what we hear, solar pool heating installs are very seasonal, hence most specialist pool heating installers are run off their feet during the install season, this means they charge an arm and a leg for poor rushed installs. Our advice is if you can DIY safely or source a trusted installer that will take his/her time, you will save a great deal of money and headaches.

Yes, in fact we highly recommend you check over the manual to get a good idea of installation requirements before you purchase. The manual can freely be downloaded from our EcoOnline download page.

Yes, the system is easy to install for a relatively experienced DIYer or tradesperson. (Please note safety notice when climbing up on a roof.)

No, this is a common misconception. Slowing the water flow dramatically may result in a warmer outlet, but will also result in less harvested energy overall as collectors are being made to work at a higher temperature and hence a lower efficiency point. Faster flow rates better strip the heat from the tubes (up to a point of diminishing benefit); max flow rate for 25m loop lengths is 5L/min/m². Oversizing flow rates beyond 5L/min/m² is only possible if you double the number of manifolds and use 12.5m loop lengths, as this will significantly drop the pressure loss across the array allowing for greater flow up to 10L/min/m². This will increase the thermal efficiency of the collectors by ~5% at the expense of more electrical usage. On the other hand, we promote the "eco-flow" concept of decreasing flow rate to save on electricity at the expense of a slight collector loss which can be made up by increasing the collector area. If you're interested in this kind of system, we have produced an interactive online calculator that simulates flow rates and their impact on collector efficiencies and electrical savings.