passive solar for pool: fafco or heliocol?
Can someone please recommend which product to go with?
Both of these companies badmouth each other. I am looking for any insight on each product.
thank you in advance.
Hi,
I had Fafo panels installed just over a year ago. I don't have any complaints about the product or the company who installed them. However, pool solar heating in general might or might not be worth the money (5k in my case) depending on your particular pool lifestyle.
I have a gas pool heater but, with the cost of gas, I was hoping to save a few dollars especially in the shoulder seasons. I like a warm pool (85+) and since under ideal conditions it can only get the pool up to about 10 degree below ambient temperature, I still have to augment. For me, having the solar pool panels might help resale value but otherwise they haven't been that useful. I'm going to be making some modifications and taking some measurements this season to double check my conclusions. I'd be interested in hearing other owners' experiences.
If you want to discuss further, you can email me offline at:
eichfan at rawbw dot com
Cheers.
Jake
thanks jake for the info,
Do you have a pool cover on your pool? if not you might want to look into getting one because that is where you loose all of your heat in the overnight evaporation.
The 10 degrees you loose overnight would not have to be made up the next day. You could build on your pools temp to get it higher if you want. I have seen this and know it to be accurate.
I am just having a problem with determing whose product is worth the money in the long run.
Sorry my post wasn't helpful. My point was that I'm not sure that either product is "worth the money in the long run". And so I'm still interested in hearing from people about their actual experience.
I agree with you that a pool cover is probably the best first-effort in energy (and other) savings on a pool. I had my pool built with an automated pool cover :
http://www.aquamatic.com/hydramatic.html
The pool cover is closed except when the pool is actually in use (the cover meets San Jose's safety requirements so additional fencing/alarms were not required). The pool cover is great--keeps the pool clean and safe as well as serving as somewhat of a heat collector in summer.
Good luck with your product search.
Jake
