im looking for a cheap pool heater for a 6ft easy up pool?
Answers:
With cheap being the operative word, a solar blanket would be an option. They don't per se actually heat more than the top 1 inch of water, but they do help minimize heat loss at night. The flip side is that they can, in some cases, actually promote algae growth. Another alternative that can be used in conjunction with a solar blanket and will actually work much better, is to create your own solar heater. You'll just need a 20 - 30 foot coil of irrigation pipe( lawn sprinkler pipe), a few plumbing fittings and a balancing valve. This sort of system , although not as cheap as a solar blanket alone, works far better and is still relatively cheap.This way, you can use the blanket at night only, to conserve heat that your pool has accumulated during the day. The materials are avaliable at Home Depot and shouldn't cost more than 100 bucks or so.
Locate the coil in an area that get's good sun most of the day and plumb two T's into the return line, with the valve ( can be a gate valve or ball valve) between them run your coil ends to each T. The valve acts as a throttle, pushing more or less water to the coil. The slower the water through the coil, the more heat it picks up and puts in your pool. At night, simply open the valve all the way, allowing no water to the coil and stopping any heat loss radiated out. Commercially avaliable solar heatrs work exactly the same way, but with bells and whistles like temperature sensors that shunt the water through the coil and cut off flow, automatically. But then, you also pay more for them.
Other answers:
I just use the sun
the pools here are too hot
I just use the sun
the pools here are too hot
Have you tried Ebay???
Your best bet is a solar cover. Inexpensive and effective. A gas fired heater would cost way more than the pool did, and the operating cost would eat your liver! Similarly with electric heat.
try ebay look for pond heaters they are under KOI