We bought a pool last year and it never went past 72. The pool this year is 68 with no signs of it changing. We have tried a solar cover and filtering the water through a hose into hot coals and back which actually made it worse. Is there anything else we can do???
It takes energy to raise the temperature. If you have enough sunlight, a solar heater like what is used for a hot water tank will help. So does the solar blanket you mentioned. Naturally, a swimming pool has a lot more water to heat up than a hot water tank. Pool heater for little or no cost: For a far out there idea, have you ever considered making your own heat exchanger then building a fire under it? I'm thinking something like one of those old cast iron radiators with some of the pool water piped through it. Don't think you could re-direct all of the water through a radiator because the pressure would be too high. You would also have to do something about the rust that would come out of an old radiator. It would work and depending on your fire source, might not cost all that much. If you are able to cut your own fire wood, you could do it for next to nothing. After the temp of the water gets up high enough, the solar blanket should help keep it there. You can disconnect the homemade heater and hide it away until next spring.
This one would take some serious engineering............. Does the wood burning stove have a wet back? In other words it heats water. If that is the case you may have a chance you will need to fit a pipe from the bottom of the pool to the lower point on the water boiler part of the stove then take another pipe fix it to the highest connection point on the water boiler and connect the other end to the top of a holding tank ( Make sure the holding tank is higher than the boiler unit on the stove. Then from the from the base of the holding tank connect a pipe that will take hot water back to the pool. You will not need a pump for this if the system is well sealed. You will just have to make sure there is water and in all parts of the circuit and not air locks. When the stove heats the water the hot water will rise to the holding tank and and at the same time cold water will be drawn into the lower part of the boiler.
At no cost? That is going to be a handful. The best you may be able to do is cut down any trees that may be shading it, or if it's in the shade of a neighbors house, ask him very nicely if he REALLY needs the second floor for anything. {smirk} All kidding aside, unless you've found a way to negate the laws of physics, you're going to have to expend some sort of energy to get any sort of heat output. Expending energy=spending money. Al
