"Greg Cooper" wrote in message
news:6YAhe.55460$vN2.43371@clgrps13...
Ok I know that "Spring has sprung" and all - but my pond does get a lot
of shade and warms up slow.
I have wondered about the idea of a using solar heat from a roof top
collector to warm the pond to a better temp and extend the active season
for my finned friends. Not that I have actually done more than
thinking about it - living is coastal BC is about the worst place next
to Washington state for hours of sun shine anyway. But I thought if
nothing else maybe it would be an interesting thought experiment and who
knows maybe someone out there has tried it. I am thinking that one
would need a water/water heat exchanger because circulating pond water
up through a collector would grow algae and clog I am sure.
Crazy idea? what do people think?

Cheers.

I just purchased a solar heater for my pool. As soon as it is up and
running, I'll post some results. It may be a good way to go for you.


--
BV
http://www.iheartmypond.com

BenignVanilla wrote:


I just purchased a solar heater for my pool. As soon as it is up and
running, I'll post some results. It may be a good way to go for you.



Thanks - it will be intersting to hear.
Cheers.

i was able to heat my pond to about 20=B0C about a month ago - there was
a heatwave in early spring. about 25-30=B0C every day for a week. i
pumped the pond water through garden hose. it would come out about 1=B0C
warmer when it finished gowing all the way through. i used about 50ft
of regular garden hose.

as soon as the heatwave passed, this did the opposite, it cooled water
not heated it. in this case it wasn't as much solar as it was a heat
exchanger. heat exchangers don't work when there's no heat!

i left the pond alone and it warmed up on it's own. the fish are all
happy and the plants are doing good.

i would suggest errecting a greenhouse over your pond and heating the
air inside, this will probably be best during the beggining and end of
the season. electrical conduit could make a frame and you can use
vapour barrier as a plastic instead of "greenhouse" plastic - that
stuff costs a fortune around here.

whatever you do, don't get electrical heaters for a big pond unless you
can afford very high electrical bills. my 300watt heater can maintain a
temperature of 75=B0F in my 125g tropical pond that has greenhouse over
it. 75-80=B0F is about 5-10=B0F warmer than the air during daytime in
Ottawa, Ontario. keep in mind that's not much water and it's well
insulated on all sides.

if you are really made of money, just get someone to install a natural
gas heater for you, the type that's used on swimming pools. several
thousand dollars... gah.

if you are really made of money, just get someone to install a natural
gas heater for you, the type that's used on swimming pools. several
thousand dollars... gah.

I'd think those tankless heaters, for $700, would work pretty well...

I'd be careful, though. Water comes out of them at very hot temperatures.

Reminds me of the Koi Shop in Del Mar that is directly over a sushi store.

My wife has a photo of that somewhere.

C//