Description
- SOLAR POOL HEATER: The GAME SolarPRO Curve Solar Pool Heater has been designed for above-ground and most inground pools. It increases the pool temperature by 5 degrees in 4 days (for an 8,000-gallon pool).
- DURABLE CONSTRUCTION: We’ve designed this above-ground solar pool heater with high-quality materials that will hold up against frequent exposure to the sun and outdoor elements.
- UNIQUE CURVED SHAPE: The GAME solar pool heater has been engineered with a unique curved shape that maximizes heat collection. The treaded ports have been added for versatile plumbing options.
- ADJUSTABLE LEGS: This solar heater is compatible with Intex, Bestways, and most above and inground pools. The adjustable and foldable legs allow the heater to be set for maximum exposure to the sun, along with a clear cover that locks in heat.
- THE PERFECT GRADUAL HEATER: This solar pool heater is not intended to be a miracle-cure heater. It’s designed to extend your pool season by gradually increasing the water temperature by a few degrees. Maximum heat output with space saving footprint
LaBand –
I have an in-ground pool ~100000 liters (10×5 meters oval) in Montreal area, Canada.
My old pool heater got broken and fixing/replacing it became a surprisingly complicated task.
So – I’ve decided to try solar heating. I was not ready to do roof installation, but installing several rectangular panels near the pool appeared as a doable task.
My expectations from this setup were quite low because:
1. Government of Canada web site suggested that solar heating panel (uncovered, probably) size must be ~half of the pool surface size to be effective.
4 solarpro panels (which I’ve installed) are not even distantly close to the mentioned size.
2. I’ve discussed the issue with an expert (whom I usually trust) from a local pool store – he told me these panels “will not make any difference”.
Nevertheless, I’ve decided to give it a try.
To me the effectiveness of solar panels is measured in how many extra temperature degrees the pool water would have throughout the swimming season. If the difference is up to 1-2 degrees Celsius – to me it is a failure (not worth the efforts). 3 or more degrees C – is a success.
In the past my pool never got higher than 24-25 Celsius during the summer without extra heating (with solar blanket).
For higher temperatures I always needed a heater. At 27 Celsius I start to subjectively perceive pool water as “warm”. Thus – reaching 27 degrees (+3 C to non-heated temperature) looked quite tempting and not that demanding.
Based on SolarPro advertisement material I estimated that I need at least 4 panels for my pool.
I have not bought extra bypass kits to connect the panels – I’ve got whatever was available in a nearby pool store and made those connections myself.
So far I’ve used this heating system for 1 month and it appears to achieve the temperature I wanted. Here are some details:
1) With ambient temperature ~30 C day / ~20 C night pool water is ~27.5 C. Maximum I had so far was 28.5 C during warmer weather.
So, my pool temperature is increased by at least 3-4 degrees C.
2) In a sunny day when pool water temperature is low and ambient air temperature is high the pool gains 1 degree C per day (faster than I expected).
3) Solar blanket is a MUST overnight. Otherwise 1 degree C gained during the day gets lost overnight.
In my case I keep solar blanket during part of the day as well (I swim in the afternoon/evening), so it could be that solar blanket also participates in heating the water directly.
4) My panels are exposed to direct sunlight ~5 hours a day, from 11AM to 4PM (tree shadow/partial sun after 4 PM).
5) Water coming from the heater to the pool during direct sunlight is noticeably warmer than the pool water. Not hot, but definitely warmer.
6) I have a variable-speed 1 HP pool pump which I decided to run at 40-60% of its power for solar heating. I don’t really know which speed is best. At lower speed it heats water more, but at higher speed it heats more water – so it might produce the same result in the end.
Also, when the pump runs at 100% power (1 HP) the system does not explode, which is good.
7) I usually turn off the system overnight (or use a bypass) to prevent heat loss. However, I forgot to do this a few times and the temperature did not drop noticeably (like it would drop without solar blanket). Which leads me to a conclusion that low ambient air temperature does not affect the water passing in the heater that much. Which leads to yet another conclusion – that without direct sunlight ambient hot air does not heat up the passing water that much either.
8) Make sure you connect IN and OUT properly (on the advertisement picture the panel is connected in the WRONG direction) – it might affect the heating efficiency. IN and OUT are marked on the panel itself (IN to the left, OUT to the right).
9) I’ve seen a lot of complains in reviews about panel legs. In my case all 8 legs are OK so far. I tried to be careful with them.
In case they break I will just put concrete bricks under panels upper side. I don’t see it as a big deal.
10) There is a minor design flaw (at least it appears like a flaw to me) with the transparent plastic that covers main black body of the panel.
After water enters the system this transparent cover develops a 1-2 cm side gaps with black panel – so the air is circulating freely from left and right sides. Based on what I’ve read about insulation in general, this gap may reduce transparent cover usefulness by 70% (NOT the overall system heating efficiency, just the added effect of the cover). For me the solution was simple – I just covered these gaps with a transparent scotch tape. There is a special ~2 cm hole at the bottom – leave this one opened, so moisture could escape.
Overall – I was quite unsure about this project, but it appears to work.
The setup consistently maintains my 27+ C goal temperature without much operation troubles or fuel cost.
Time will tell how long it will last and how well it heats up the cold pool in spring, but currently it’s great.
Nicole C. –
these work great if you have a simple understanding of how heat transfer works. there are many variables that go into making these work properly. first being pool size i would suggest having 1 panel for every 2000 gallons these things can only attract so much heat. the second would be placement. just because its a warm day these need to have direct sunlight . third would be to slow the flow through the panels i have a valve going back into the pool that i have turned to slow the flow if your pushing water though the panel too fast then there isn’t enough time for heat to transfer from the panel to the water. i upgraded pumps awhile ago i use a 1500 gph to run my skimmer at full power and i use it for the vacuum. then i use my old 1000 gph pump to run 2 panels that i have regulated to run slower to get good heat transfer. the third would be to adjust your expectations this will keep the pool up a couple degrees at best may spike up on warm days. these arent magic. with that being siad they do what i expect them to do. my pool always dropped to around 60 degrees when i put it up and stayed there (sandiego) after a week it is at 64 i only get warm water out of it for about 4 hours of the day due to placement. if i wanted more i would add panels not leave a bad review. i had a small sealing problem not at threads but hose wouldnt seal going from the nipple from panel to panel but i luckily had a hose with a slighty smaller diameter that sealed it up for me without the clamp. if your not getting warm water out of it you either dont have air out of the system or you have flow to high. one you detect barley slightly warmer water coming out that is all your gonna get. it will take days to notice anything
SN29 –
I bought this solar panel for a above ground 15 ft round pool. This thing has been great! After 1 day it was keeping the pool at 82 and by day 4 the pool was up to near 90! I will say that if you want to keep that heat though, you must have a solar cover so that your heat doesn’t dissipate to badly at night. The last two days, we have had very little sun and cooler temps in low 70’s and the pool was still sitting between 80 and 82. Our pump is also less than 1hp so the water flows through it at a pretty decent rate and still warms up nicely as it goes through the coils.
Some things to note though
The hoses are not long at all, so if the panel needs to be placed somewhere away from the pump in order to get full sun, you will need to buy longer hoses.
We have an Intex sand filter and had to get creative at the local big box home improvement store to make adapters to accommodate longer hoses. No stars dinged for that though, because if you just used everything that came with it and you are able to put it right near the pump, you wouldn’t have to do anything special. Mentioning this though because many people will be at the mercy of where the sun shines and you will most likely need longer hoses.
Did I mention the sun.. because you will need full sun for the better part of the day if you want to see those pool temps rise. If your panel is only getting sun for a couple hours, your going to have a bad time. Our panel gets a full 8 hours of sun where it sits and our pump runs 6 to 8 hours during that time. Partly sunny days keep it at 82 to 86, full sun days get’s our pool near 90, and cloudy days it can drop to 80 if overcast conditions last a few days.
If you have a bigger pool, invest in more than one of these. One of these heats our 15 ft pool nicely, but I would think that if you have something bigger than a 18 ft or even a oval pool, 2 would be your best option. The longer the water stays in the coils, the more it will heat your pool.
I know I mentioned it up top but it is worth mentioning again, you need to have a solar cover. A solar cover is not just for helping heat your pool, it’s best use is for keeping that hard earned solar heated warmth in at night. You can easily lose like 5 degrees of heat at night without a cover. If you have this panel and it never seems to get warm or stay warm and you don’t have a good solar cover, that’s not the panel’s fault… that is your fault for letting all that wonderful heat escape into the night.
Overall, this panel delivers as long as you do your part to make sure it can do it’s job.
LaBand –
I had this for three years and it works great.
20 years of Prime! –
I really like the nice clean look of these, and that they are compact and a little portable. The hose adapters are a challenge as others have said. I was unable to get a water tight seal with the Teflon tape and had to use silicon. They do add heat to the water passing through them although, this is not by any means a high BTU solution, its an eco friendly way to add a little heat to the pool. If the adapters fit better I would give it more stars.
Rejean –
The connections and hoses could be of better quality. I had to purchase a 2nd panel, at a better price I might add elsewhere, for my 12×21 foot above ground pool. On a really hot day my pool finally reaches 84’F, but on average days 78-80’F.
Amazon Customer –
one star is way over rated, this is just junk. 1 in pipes under a piece of plastic. definitely not something I could or will recommend. Poor quality and unless you live in hot climates, this is a useless devised, a true scam. I will garbage the unit, horrible simply horrible. the cheapest and worst thing every bought on amazon, should be removed.
Jeff G. –
I purchased a solar panel two years ago and one leg broke off within a month. Month later the other broke so I had to set three bricks underneath to prop it up. Also had two major leaks underneath in the second year. Purchased a brand new one this year and the legs lasted one week. Both broke. This issue is that the legs are made of cheap aluminum. When the panel sets up, the legs are on a slant towards the read of the panel. The weight of the water forces the legs out even further and the legs just bend and snap off. There is a lot of water weight that runs through the tubes that are supported by the legs and the legs can withhold the weight. As far as the item working, yes, it works great. It does what it is supposed to do. I just wouldn’t buy another until they fix the issue with the legs always breaking off. It has a 90 day warranty so I am going to test it out.
UPDATE: Submitted a claim and never heard back. Wouldn’t recommend purchasing from this company.
Gordon Appel –
truly surprised at how well this works! We started with cold water 60 degrees F. after 5 days the temp reads 76!! I do have a solar blanket that works quite well but it would have taken a few weeks to get the temp to 76 with the blanket alone. The other benefit is that this heater heats ALL the water not just the top few inches like the solar blanket does. Highly recommend this product. My only negative point is that the hoses that it came with are absurdly short… you will need longer for sure, the longer the better so it can be moved to take advantage of the sun throughout the day.