An honest answer
Yes, when they are sized right and kept in repair. Here is the honest version, including the downsides. Questions? Call 866-412-4218.
Call 866-412-4218Solar pool heaters do work, and Florida is one of the better places in the country to use one. We have been installing and repairing them since 1999, and we would not do this work if the systems did not deliver.
But they are not magic, and the people who end up unhappy with solar pool heat usually fall into one of three groups. They expected hot tub water in January. Their system was undersized or badly placed on the roof. Or, most often, the system developed a small problem, the installer was gone, and it has been sitting shut off ever since. The first two are about expectations and design. The third is the one we fix most.
That is one of the situations we see most. AllSolar Energy repairs and takes over pool heating from any brand and any installer, including companies that are out of business. We have served more than 18,000 customers across 17 Florida counties since 1999.
Request ServiceYou will see pool panels on a lot of Florida roofs, and not all of them are running. When we go out to look at those systems, the story is usually the same: a leak, a stuck valve or a controller problem, and a phone number for an installer that no longer answers.
That is not the technology failing. It is the service failing. A lot of those systems can be brought back with ordinary repairs. That is why this whole part of our site leads with repair and taking over abandoned systems, not with selling new ones.
A few questions get you most of the way there. Do you have a reasonably sunny roof area near the pool equipment? Are you hoping to extend the season rather than keep the water very warm on the coldest days? Will you use a pool cover? The Florida Solar Energy Center found that a cover retains more than two thirds of the heat needed to keep a pool at a comfortable swimming temperature, so it makes a big difference.
If you already have panels on the roof, the question is simpler: are they working? If not, start there. See how solar pool heating works for the parts, and call us if you would like someone to look at it.
Yes. They use the sun to warm pool water as it passes through panels on the roof, and in Florida they do a good job of extending the swim season. They depend on sunshine, so they heat less on cloudy days and not at night.
The main advantages are free heat from the sun, low running cost, simple equipment and a longer swim season. The main drawbacks are that it depends on the weather, heats gradually, needs sunny roof space and has plastic parts that wear over the years.
For many Florida homes it is, because of how much sun the state gets and how low the running cost is. It works best when the system is sized properly, a pool cover is used and the system is kept in repair.
The most common reasons we find are leaks at the panels or header joints, a stuck valve, a controller or sensor problem, and weak flow from the pump or filter. Many of those are ordinary repairs.
It helps on sunny winter days, and many homeowners use it to keep swimming later into the year. For the coldest, cloudiest stretches, a backup heater or heat pump fills the gap.
A properly installed and maintained system should not. Problems usually come from leaks, worn mounts or roof penetrations that have not been checked in years, which is one reason we recommend an annual inspection.
A service request from your Solar Home already carries your address, your equipment and your history, so you are not describing your system from memory on the phone. Free to create, and you never need a membership to request service.
Free to read first, no account needed: what you can safely check yourself before calling anyone, what a diagnostic visit involves, and what to have ready.
More from AllSolar Energy on solar pool heating:
AllSolar Energy holds Florida Solar Contractor license CVC056660 and Electrical Contractor license EC13005027. Call 866-412-4218 or fill out the form below and we will get back to you.
Call 866-412-4218AllSolar Energy has licensed local crews in 17 Florida counties. Find yours for local service details:
