Installation: Swimming Pool
Client: Derek Hudson
Location: Chelmsford, Essex
Project Criteria
The client had requested a design brief with view to installing solar thermal system to generate the entire peak (summer) season pool heating. An oil-fired boiler originally heated the pool but this had proven expensive, so the main objective was to replace the existing system with a completely renewable alternative. Mr. Hudson only required the pool to be heated in the summer as it would not be used during the winter and was ideally requiring a warm temperature of around 30oC as the pool would mainly be used by his grand children.
Collector array
With the existing pump and filtration system located in a small out house by the pool, this would act as a good south facing location to mount the collectors. The pool was a standard size at just under 48 square meters so we were confident we could meet the brief using 5 x20 tube SPA 58/1800 evacuated tube collectors. With 60 tubes on one circuit and 40 on another we mounted 3 of the collectors on 'A' frames with the front 2 resting on the pitched roof of the out house.
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Heating the Pool
This pipe work ran back into the out house plant room where we had integrated it into the pool system on the return pipe work. By heating the return, the now cooled water returning from the sump and skimmers would be re-heated by the solar and simply bypass through the boiler. IN many cases, during off peak (winter) season the boiler could also top up any solar gain if the pool was being used, but as this was for summer season use only, the pre solar heated water would simply bypass the previously used boiler on a new section of pipe work. The heat was exchanged into the pool via Bowman heat exchanger and this was controlled using a standard pump station and an up-grated control unit.
This system has now completed its first full summer cycle where it produced in excess of 4000 KW hours as well as maintaining the required temperature. As informed by a very pleased Mr. Hudson.
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