A swimming pool solar heater uses sunlight to generate heat to warm the water in your pool. This is a very efficient way of eating your pool because it uses naturally occurring heat and does not have a very high operating costs. In fact, the only cost you need to pay is the energy used by the swimming pool pump as it circulates water. For these reasons, this is considered to be the cheapest and most efficient way to heat your pool.

However, the cost of installing this heater system is higher than a traditional gas powered system, in fact it can cost three or more times as much! So how could it possibly be cheaper? While, the gas powered system is very expensive to run. Even in Florida, which has a hot climate, it can cost up to $3000 a year to heat your pool using propane. Compare this to the free sunlight which is otherwise wasted every day, you will see how it's possible for a solar power system to pay for itself in as little as two years.

The first component of your solar power system, and by far the cheapest, is a solar blanket. This is a cover which goes over your pool, which is transparent and allow sunlight through. Once sunlight has got into the pool, it finds it cannot get out again, and so the energy in the sunlight is converted into heat within the pool. Simply covering your pool with a regular pool cover can save up to 75% of the heat loss, so allowing sunlight in as well allows it to heat up while preventing heat loss. This step alone can halve your heating bills when used alongside traditional heater system.

The next component of a swimming pool solar heater is the solar panels. These are not the same as electricity generating solar panels, they simply heat the water. As a result, they're much more efficient -- converting sunlight into heat is more natural in converting sunlight into electricity. It's an easy conversion. These panels are made out of black material, and have pipes within them which water flows through. They sit on your roof, or in another exposed area, and soak up the sun lights, turning it into heat. As the water goes through the panels they pick up the heat and circulate it back into the pool, where it raises the water temperature.

Panels need to be tilted at the correct angle so that they will be able to soak up all the sunlight easily during the coldest months of the year. This angle can be calibrated very easily, and is based on your latitude -- a measure of how far north or south you are of the equator of the Earth.

The flow of water through your swimming pool solar heating system is controlled via a digital controller, which uses a thermometer to make sure the wall to temperature is just right, and doesn't go too high or low. The power to pump your water through the system usually comes from the swimming pool pump, but if this is not strong enough you can get a supplementary pump that will help the water to run uphill to get to the solar panels on your roof. This is usually not needed, but it is an option if required. Some fancy systems allow you to divert heat to your household water heating system once your pool is in at the desired temperature, but this is not required if you don't need this functionality.

As you can see, swimming pool solar heater is an efficient low-cost way of generating heat for your swimming pool that quickly recoops its higher installation costs in as little as two years. You can buy everything you need to install one of these systems over the Internet, and there is a website which guarantees the lowest possible prices on all the equipment. They will undercut any lower price that you find by 10%.

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For more information about pool heaters you can have a look at this swimming pool heater site.