Investigation into solar pool heating

[Kim Chamberlain (idowatsu)]

I have been on the phone and internet to investigate funding sources and incentives for installing a solar water heating system to my pool to mitigate the environmental and financial impact to my business. I replied to a post here about pool efficiency and it got me curious about the possibilities. After a couple days of internet browsing I found incentive programs and tax exemptions for solar hot water systems are only for the household use, pools and hot tubs don't qualify. Therefore I am not going to get any break for doing this beyond the payback of the system itself and the good conscience of being environmentally responsible.
Since I run on a residential meter, the business is not eligable for a grant or loan for my business. To be switched to a commercial meter I get a large monthly use fee and I need to use above a certian limit to stay commercial, which wouldn't happen after installing solar. As a resident I get a 20% discount for being low income but the usage is in the 300% range which significantly increases the charge.So I am left with coming up with my own funding source to finance this project. I am disappointed that I fall in a unique situation that would warrant my being left out of the many incentive programs available. In the long run I feel this is the way to go I just don't see how I can swing it at this time.
The percentage of pool work has increased recently which is a great, I got to Watsu my Deep Tissue teacher from many years ago and she brought another instructor with her for a session :) What a great experience. I was a little nervous before we started but settled into one of those vibrational connections that are such a gift to share. I keep an open mind and heart for the abundance to manifest holding space available for the healing of land and water therapy. Jai Ma

[Aurovici]

Have you considered making a solar heating system yourself. I live in South India and have taken 800 meters of 16mm black pipe and rolled it into a circle. I use a 1/2 HP pump to move the water through it and I get very hot water out the other end. This is enough to heat my small pool. If I used a longer length of pipe and created 3 circuits I could heat an even bigger pool. Also you should look into the possibility of building panels. I bought a DVD form Canada that describes the process of building one very well. Here are some links below you may find of some use. Also look at Solar pool heating on Youtube.

http://www.smarter.com/se--qq-swimming%2Bpool%2Bsolar%2Bpanels.html
http://greenterrafirma.com/diy-solar-pool-heater.html

I hope this helps.

Reg,
Aurovici.

[Sulis (Sara Firman)]

Thanks for sharing this Kim. I have a dream that one day we might create an organization/sponsorship/something that can help with funding for good pool environments. I started to work on a prototype pool setting and you remind me to get back to that. Lets continue to think out of the box and keep looking. How about putting your idea/wish out here?