Making The Pool Warmer

In an attempt to make our pool warmer – just a wee bit warmer! – Bill has devised a solar heating system using black hose and a circulating pump.

First the fence needed covering with linseed oil, the last remaining piece of our fence project last year.  We covered it with two coats over two afternoon/evenings.  It looks really nice!

Next up, twenty thousand trips to Lowe’s, Harbor Freight, and Home Depot for the necessary pieces and parts.  And then frantic working Saturday and Sunday morning to get it all done – Bill seemed to have some sort of internal time table that required completing the job by race time Sunday afternoon.

So we now have tubing along two sides of our fence.

Then there’s a pump around the corner of the house, with an intake hose coming from the pool.

As you can see, the pump is electrical, so we also have an extension cord running along the edge of the house to the outside plug located on the other side of the back door.

And finally there is another hose letting the water flow back into the pool.

Bill has done some more reading and decided that we probably don’t have nearly the amount of hose surface area that we actually need.  We only need to raise the temperature three or four degrees, though, based on last year’s experience.  First, though, we need sunshine!  Ten days ago the pool temperature was 74.  Today it is 68.  We’re going in the wrong direction!