1652 Solar Heating Device for Swimming Pool

Not a fast or super cheap solution to heating water in a small pool, but it works just as advertised by creating a pretty slow stream of warmer water. In other words, it takes some time to see real results in my 12 foot circular above ground. Still, I am happy with it and would buy it again. Simple to install and take off even with a 1000 gph pool pump going. I am using it with about 50 feet of hose currently with their Intex adapter (which fits nicely). Follow their directions and you won't have a problem. The outlet end of the hose should be submerged.

DO NOT BUY THIS PRODUCT......Description does not state you will need to purchase an additional adapter from them in order to fit most pools. They basically sell you an incomplete product. I emailed the company, Sounds like a man working out of his garage and he starting crying about profit margins. not a very professional person. He was a very nasty individual and I even gave in to order the adapter because I thought I was stuck. I just went to home depot and bought the same size parts in pvc and made by own converter for about $3. They want to sell you their adapter for $14.99 plus shipping.... DO NOT BUY THIS PRODUCT

Be careful who you buy from! Bought one at the start of the season and it worked great! I purchased on Amazon through a third party merchant. My kids broke it, no fault of the product. It was definitely helping heat our 24 round above ground pool. However when I ordered a replacement, this time directly from Amazon, the threads on the pool side hookup are not 1 1/2. For some reason the threads are just a bit smaller. Can't get a part to fit it. I will be returning. Such a shame. I am trying to get from the third party again to see if they still have the ones with the right threads. Shame on Amazon. However, if you get one with the right threads, it is great! We have a 1 1/2 horsepower pump that generates a lot of water, but the Beluga unit had no problems. We were able to dial in the right flow through a black hose and really increased the pool temperature. We used the solar cover at night to keep the heat in. Pool was up to 90 degrees this summer!

Despite efforts to discover any kind of stats based on ambient temps and hose sizes, there were none known or publishable. I went ahead and purchased anyways.The concept is good. I can see how this will work, although the volumes are probably not sufficient to move temperatures enough in larger pools. I have a pretty small inground pool at 12K gallons. I have experimented with various configurations and found the best was 2 135'ft light duty hoses. Medium and Heavy duty hoses, regardless of color, appear to be too insulated to propogate the heat. Anything over the 270ft I'm using causes the pressure to drop too much and not much water moves.My opinion is that having a couple of these would work a little better. 1 of these at 270 feet of hose moves temp about 10 degrees. However, given the volume of water coming out of the hose, you will not cycle the pool volume in one day. Temperature in the pool moved approx 5 degrees in one entire day of use during 85degree temps in full sun with dark colored light duty hoses on concrete. I would wager that having 2 of these with 135' hose each might work better. While the temp diff coming out the hose would be less, perhaps moving more volume in total would raise the pool temp more.That being said, the construction of this is so-so, so the thought of buying another is problematic. Its plastic, so I'm concerned with how this will stand up to the rigors of sitting in chlorinated water for any length of time. The threads for hose and pool out are plastic, and have already shown signs of wear. The cover is attached pretty precariously with tabs, and has blown off already for me.I will update as things progress, but all in all, I find this to be a potentially good idea, but I really expect more for over $70. This really needs have metal fittings for hose, pool insert and the valve covering it to be worth this price for what it does.Update - June 16, 2014As expected, the plastic isn't of high enough quality to be in a pool all day. The tabs holding on the adjustable opening are cracking and failing to hold this piece on. Yes, in case you're doing a double-take, the main adjustable valve designed to push water through a garden hose is attached with plastic tabs. Sufficient water pressue (like from a pool pump!) is sufficient to blow this thing off after mere weeks in the water. Reducing my review to 2 stars. Again, good concept. I expect a LOT more for $70.Update - Aug 21, 2014If you saw the comment on this review, the company has identified a defect in a run of these that made the plastic weak. They contacted me, got my info and shipped me a replacement cap. It definitely appeared to be of tougher stuff, and so far has not exhibited any of the ill effects of the previous incarnation. I have changed my review to 4 stars, as most of my initial concerns were in quality. These appear to be resolved so far, I will update if there are any changed. Company support appears great also, and pushes from a 3 to a 4 for me. That being said, I still feel for $70, these fittings should be brass. I have some concern with plastic and many attachments/detachments over time. However, this does what it purports to do so any issues with it are my own and it functions about as well as it can be expected to given the small amount of water a garden hose can exchange. I have numbers on that matter also for anyone interested.

Love this...it's working really well. I need more hose, but I made a coil with 100 feet of black hose, & it's working really good! I'll keep the package just in case, if it breaks, I will send it back, but for now, I'm satisfied.So it's August, and it's still working really well. My pool is still 82 degrees, with 4 black hoses! I love this and highly recommend it. One thing I would suggest, I take it off when I clean the filter, the pressure could certainly break it once you start up the filter again, (letting the air out of the line). If the 3 triangles are completely open on top, it may stay on, but I recommend taking it off the output when you restart your filter.

Beluga requires a lot of attention to use. It has to be removed whenever the robot pool vacuum runs which for us is about 3 times a week. I found it clumsy be bending over the side of the pool to place and replace the Beluga at the pool water return and you must also remove the hose each time as you cannot screw/unscrew Beluga into the water return with the hose attached. If you tried the hose goes round and round and gets tangled.For my efforts, I got about a 6 degree increase which I immediately lost if I did not keep using it consistently. For all the effort it requires, and given that it is made of plastic and the design is pretty simple, it should only cost $20, in my opinion. So I would not recommend buying this product. Buy this product only if you have extra money, time and energy.

This is the 2nd time purchasing this item. The 1st one lasted 2 seasons and then broke at the hose attachment point. This year we purchased it again and it was installed for 1 week and it broke in the same place. Very cheap material. Very easy to install and would work well as it did before but I wouldn't waste money on something so cheaply made.