DIY solar water heater project - how big and what type of pump do I need for 1.5 story roof?

[Slight]

I'm planning (to my wife's dismay) solar pool heater project 3.0 for the summer for our Intex 18x24 above ground pool. We get a ton of California sun and my plan so far is to get a glass table top off of Craig's list and use it as a cover on a horizontal box on the roof filled with 1/2 inch irrigation tubing. If I were to use a regular garden hose to bring the water to the base of the house, would it better to have the pump push the water up to the roof or have the pump on the roof pulling the water up? Would a $100 1.6 hp motor have enough power to do this? Last question, would I need to put some kind of check valve so the water doesn't fall back and then I have to re-prime the pump each time? Also, I have a salt water pool, so is this a problem when purchasing a general hobby pump?

I'm on a serious budget, do I appreciate any tinker-ers out there who have input! I tried this last summer and used plastic sump pump hose and an old Intex pool pump but it was really inefficient. 

 

[RDspaguy]

What you are asking for is head calculations on an unspecified system with a vaguely specified pump. Even if I got the details from you and spent the time doing the math, and figured out what pump you need, there is still no way it will work. Sorry.

Rule of thumb for solar panels (much more efficient than yours) is greater than the surface area of your pool. Your tabletop size panel will not produce enough heat to make up for running the pump. 

Garden hose is a bad idea. Pvc is what you want.

With pumps, as with most things, you get what you pay for. Don't expect much from a cheap pump.

Intex makes a 4ftx4ft heat mat designed for use with their pools. It lays on the ground and connects with your pool hose. Amazon has them for $25. I don't think 1 will be enough, but if you can avoid the roof you can avoid all the extras.

[Slight]

Thanks for your feedback. I tried the heat mat route and didn't really do much. I'm not looking to heat the pool to 90 degrees or anything. The ground area in our back yard is limited and we rent our home, so putting panels up and investing in a full blown system wouldn't be possible, especially for an above ground pool. One corner of our roof is just baked in the sun from April through October and it would just be perfect for some kind of solar heater to at least get the water from 60 degrees to 70. Anyway, thanks again. 

 

 

[RDspaguy]

Fair enough. Give me all the details. Pipe size, distance, number of elbows, details on your solar panel plumbing, are you running it on a bypass or straight run, will it drain back or hold prime, will it have an automatic air bleed? That should be enough to get me started.

[Mari]

Have you finished this project? It actually sounds like a really great idea, however the plans that you are having are quite... unrealistic. Back when I started a similar project with my dad, we were really dissapointed, as our calculations were really... bad and messed up. We also though that a $100 1.6 hp motor would actually have enough power for this, however it was just some wasted money. Thankfully, we have actually done it recently, with the help of the guys from https://city2surfroofing.com.au/roof-repairs-sydney/. They are probably the best in roof repairs and many other things.