. TOP SURFACE AREA OF POOL (SPECIFY SQ FT OR SQ M) OR DIMENSIONS

area:

Estimate the amount of shade on the pool surface over the middle six hours of the day in the first month of the year you want to heat the pool...% That's shade percent not sun percent.

. Do you or will you use (IN THE "FRINGE HEATING MONTHS") A :

solar "BUBBLE" type pool cover?

OR AN:

other than solar type night cover?

OR DEFINITELY

NO COVER, I hate them. They are unsafe. They look terrible. NO WAY, NO HOW! Please realize that 70% of the heat lost from a pool that is at an elevated temperature (heated) is in evaporation off the top surface of the pool. With solar the heat is free so you can afford to waste it in the regular season but in the extended season there is too much heat loss especially at night and only the largest solar heaters can be expected to extend the season without the help of a cover occasionally.

YOUR GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION -PLEASE INCLUDE CITY AND STATE AND ZIP CODEPlease don't just input a zip code.

Tell me about the roof pitch, direction the roof faces and the type of roof we're dealing with. Example: south facing ashphalt shingle roof with a normal pitch Roof type is very important. ie: tar and gravel, roll roofing, membrane, cedar shake, tile, asphalt shingle. North facing roofs at normal pitches don't see much sun in the US. In the sun and facing the sun are very different.

Think about getting 2) 1-1/2" or 2" PVC pipes from the pump/filter to the bottom corner of the above roof. Use comments space below if necessary

Consider the wind losses from the solar panels. If you can see the ocean from the collectors and the wind is coming at the panels then this is going to be a factor in sizing the system. If you stand on the roof and face the direction the wind is coming from and you can see for miles horizontally then wind will be a factor. Flat roofs don't see much wind loss. Roofs facing the direction away from the direction the prevailing wind is coming are relatively wind sheltered. Tell me about the wind factor. Wind loss on the pool itself is also a big factor.

Solar can extend the season significantly especially if you help with a cover. Are you interested in maximizing the pool season or do you just want the typical pool season as if you had a gas heater?

This isn't required for general sizing and pricing but it is required to design the system. Sometimes solar isn't feasible in a standard configuration and sometimes pool pumps have to be changed to accomodate a solar heater and sometimes solar has to go on a separate pump and sometimes these changes aren't even possible. What is the:

Pool pump HP?

Pressure gauge reading on the filter after backwash (or cartridge cleaning)?

Height of panels (elevation difference between roof and pool)? Specify feet or m and just roughly is fine.

Size of the PVC pipe coming out of your filter (1-1/2" or 2" usually. 1-1/2" measures 1.900" outside diameter and 2" is almost 2.5" OD?

Is the filter a cartridge type or a sand filter or diatomaceous earth?

Which of our collector types do you have in mind? Polypro or Powermat. I'll tell you if I think you're wrong. The main page tells you roughly which is best in your case

VERY IMPORTANT Your e-mail address Your phone number would help if I can't get e-mail to you for some reason. What you type in here is the only place I have your e-mail address. When responding to a form I don't get it automatically from the browser so check your typing.

Please gimme the e-mail address again in this box without any other characters or phone numbers

Your name makes it easier for me to identify you if you call or pursue this further. I'm not passing this info on to anyone.

On average we're looking for about 75% of the pool top area in collector area on the roof. Collector sizes are 4'2" wide by 12' or 10 or 8' peak to gutter dimension. You need about 6" extra peak to gutter so a 4x12 requires 12'6". What collector size will fit? I'll tell you how many I recommend and then you can measure accurately.

If there is a spa built into the pool does it have its own pump for powering the spa jets or is it all done with one pump? Leave blank if there's no spa.

COMMENTS/Other questions:

Thank you for the inquiry. We'll be in touch shortly by e-mail. If you don't hear from me within 24 hours your e-mail didn't get to me or I couldn't get mine to you. If you can't wait then call me at 858 627 9007. I prefer that you fill in the form as the first step. Note the new section of our web site on sizing is really powerful and impressive stuff. Please study that.

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