Your pool represents a significant financial investment. Heating your pool enables you and your family to enjoy your investment more than just a few months a year.
Owner's Manual. Page 2 Contents. Disclaims any other warranties and assumes no duty to provide notice if it becomes aware of any deficiencies in these estimates.) The reader accepts full. Open any manual drains. Remove end caps at the lowest panel.
Heating your pool enables you to comfortably enjoy your pool – earlier in the spring, evenings after work, and later into the fall. A warmer pool means more time for family fun, more opportunities for healthy exercise, and a better gathering place for family and friends.
Cold water is pumped from your pool through our patented solar tube design where it is warmed by heat collected from the sun. This is very much like the water that sits in a garden hose and is warmed by the sun. The warm water is then pumped back into your pool giving you luxuriously warm water and plenty of extended swim time.
Studies show that there is enough solar energy in all parts of the United States and into Canada for you to enjoy a longer swim season with a solar pool heater.
Of course! Depending on your weather and climatic conditions, you can expect your FAFCO® solar pool heater to raise your pool temperature up to 10 degrees Fahrenheit over a period of several days of good weather. A solar blanket will help hold in this heat at night or when it’s windy, and can help the pool heating system be even more effective.
We think so. A solar pool heater can be less expensive up front than a gas heater, depending on the size of your pool. Once a solar pool heater is installed, your heat is FREE from the sun. With a gas heater you need to pay the gas company depending on how much you use the heater. In the spring and fall when you really need heat, you use the pool heater more, so it costs you more – but solar energy is still free. Also, solar is non-polluting, and it can cool your pool during hot months, something no gas heater can do.
No. Solar pool panels and controls are designed specifically to heat a large volume of water in a swimming pool. Household space heating is a very different application of solar.
A pool cover prevents evaporation loss, particularly at night. The cover traps the solar heat that has been added during the day. This is very complementary to the solar system. The solar system can be viewed as actively adding heat. The cover retains that heat passively.
During the hottest part of the summer, running the solar system at night can cool a pool to a more refreshing swimming temperature down several degrees in one night if the conditions are right. Also, if your pool is too warm, leave the solar blanket off at night to allow more heat to escape.
Solar pool heating system prices for a residential pool can vary based on the location and size of the pool, location of the solar panels, desired temperature and season, and type of pool equipment. Because of all the variables, it is impossible to give an accurate estimate without careful inspection of the site. To set up an appointment for a free analysis and estimate, find the FAFCO® dealer nearest you.
If a pool owner heats their pool with natural gas or propane through the normal swimming season, an investment in solar can pay for itself in 2 to 3 years. If the pool owner does not have a gas heater or wish to use one, solar will not really “save” money, but the pool will be much warmer and more inviting throughout a much longer portion of the year. A swimming pool, with decking and landscaping, represent a sizable investment for the homeowner. Maintenance costs exist whether the pool is used or not. The investment in solar pool heating will assure that the pool is used and enjoyed much more.
FAFCO®’s solar pool heating systems use an automatically controlled valve to divert the existing filtration flow to the solar panels, so there is no additional cost to operate the solar pool heater. Some pools might require an additional solar boost pump that would cost a few dollars per month to operate during the swimming season.
FAFCO®’s solar collectors, made of a proprietary copolymer blend for durability, can be expected to last between 15 and 20 years. Many FAFCO® solar pool heating systems that were installed over 20 years ago are still going strong.
Usually no special maintenance is required during the season. Modern electronic controls allow you to “set and forget” the solar pool heater. It is recommended that the panels be shut off and drained in the winter. This process takes just a few minutes and will protect the panels against freeze damage.
We can put you in touch with a FAFCO® dealer today — Find a Dealer.
A solar water heating controller is a device which measures the temperature of the solar panel and hot water tank in a solar water heating system and uses that information to decide when the circulation pump should be on (solar panel hotter than hot water tank contents) and when it should be off (tank contents hotter than panel).
We have a few articles on putting together your own simple solar water heating pump controller, and we also sell more advanced micro-controller based pump controllers in the REUK Shop. While these are simple to operate, easy to install, and cheap to make/purchase, they do not offer the monitoring capabilities (e.g. graphical display) and user programmability of commercial versions.
In this article we will introduce the Steca TR 0301 temperature difference controller which is a very effective solar water heating pump controller.
Steca TR 0301 Temperature Difference Controller
The Steca TR 0301 is a controller designed to monitor and control solar water heating systems. As the image above shows, this controller has a graphical display which presents system status and measured temperatures clearly to the user.
Below is a schematic of how the Steca TR 0301 can be integrated in a solar water heating system.
A total of three temperature sensors are used – one for the top of the storage (hot water) tank, one for the bottom of the storage tank, and one at the exit (i.e. hottest point) of the solar thermal panel.
When the exit of the solar panel is measured to be 8 degrees Celcius (or more) above that measured at the bottom of the storage tank, the pump is switched on circulating fluid around the system. When the temperature difference falls below 4 degrees Celcius, the pump is automatically switched off.
Advanced Functions of Steca TR 0301
The Steca TR 0301 has a selection of advanced features and functions not typically found on DIY solar water heating pump controllers. These features are introduced below:
Fafco Tr 0301 U User Manual Free
Maximum Storage Tank Temperature
If the temperature of the water at the bottom in the storage tank gets too hot (e.g. 60 degrees Celcius) the pump is switched off. It will only switch back on again when that temperature has fallen by 3 degrees.
Maximum Collector Temperature
Similarly if the temperature of the solar collector (panel) gets so hot that the heat transfer fluid could boil (e.g. 130 degrees Celcius) the pump is switched off until it has cooled to below 127 degrees Celcius.
Tube Collector Function
For evacuated tube solar collectors (where immersion temperature sensors cannot be used) it is difficult to get an accurate temperature reading. Therefore, this controller will automatically turn on the pump for 30 seconds twice per hour so that the temperature of the tube collectors can be measured.
Fafco Tr 0301 U User Manual Instructions
Holiday Function
If you go away on holiday and leave the solar water heating system heating water in a well insulated storage tank, it can get too hot since no hot water is drawn off. In order to bring the temperature of the stored water down, if the holiday function is switched on, the pump will be switched on at night whenever the water in the tank is within 10 degrees Celcius of the maximum. This circulates the hot water so that it is cooled in the collector.
Anti-Freeze Function
Whenever the temperature of the solar collector falls below 5 degrees Celcius, the pump will be switched on until the solar collector temperature reaches 7 degrees Celcius. Obviously this cools the water in the storage tank, but prevents the collector and pipes from freezing.
More Steca TR0301 Information
The Steca TR 0301 is a wall-mounted 230 VAC (mains) powered device which can switch pumps rated at up to 800 Watts. The controller itself draws less than 1 Watt of power and will therefore consume 8 kWh (units) or less per year of electricity.
Temperatures are measured using PT1000 temperature sensors. There are immersion thermistors which have a resistance which changes with temperature in a known manner – e.g. at 20 degree Celcius the resistance of a PT1000 sensor is 1078 Ohms, and at 40 degrees Celcius it is 1155 Ohms.
For more TR 0301 information click here to view the detailed 38 page Steca TR 0301 user manual (PDF). Click here for the PT1000 temperature sensor data sheet.
Other Steca TR Range Products
In addition to the TR 0301 with its 3 temperature inputs and 1 pump output, there is also the TR 0201 – 2 inputs, 1 output, TR 0502 – 5 inputs and 2 speed controlled pump outputs for multiple tanks and collectors, TR 0603 – 6 inputs and up to 3 speed controlled outputs, and the programmable TR 0704 with 7 inputs and up to 4 speed controlled outputs.
Buy a Steca TR Temperature Difference Controller
Steca TR controllers start from around £100 in the UK. Click here to see the latest listings for Steca Water on eBay UK.