Copper Pipe Solar Pool Heater

Comparing the performance of two diy solar water heating collectors cpvc vs copper sometime back i had a brief go at a solar water heating collector made from cpvc with aluminum fins.

Copper pipe solar pool heater.

Black pvc pipe works but copper pipe painted black works even better. Sun ray s metallic pool panels are superior in heat conductivity heat transfer and durability. However copper pipes can pit scale or corrode and is not as well insulated as pvc or cpvc and condensate forms easily on the outside of the pipe. Sun ray solar panels are heat exchangers specifically engineered to absorb solar energy.

Start with the actual collector. Mount them to the board using either adhesive or pipe mounts. Pressure and temperature ratings of copper pipes welded fittings type k l m are much higher than 80 psi and 250 f. We don t recommend using compression fittings with rubber joints in solar application since it contains plastic that cannot sustain high temperatures.

A solar assisted pool heater is very easy to construct and use. But the main reason that it s not used in pool plumbing is cost. It is not just a black plastic or rubber garden hose. Copper pipes and fittings pressure and temperature rating.

Copper pipe and fittings are around 10x more expensive than pvc. At the time it seemed interesting but not as good as some of the other options for building collectors. Copper is biostatic naturally killing bacteria.