Intex 28685 Pool EcoFriendly Solar Heating Mat, Includes 32mm hose attachment points Suitable for above-ground pools with a capacity less than 30,280L

We have run a 12 foot pool in the past with a heat pump and never got the temperature above 28 degrees. We have gone for a smaller 8 foot pool at a new home and thought I would try this heat mat as a low cost way of raising the temperature. I know we have had some very sunny weather, but we managed to get the pool to a tropical 32 degrees. This was certainly well above even the highest ambient temperature.The mat is high quality, especially the connections and flow diverter, this is great as it allows you to pass through at higher volumes/speeds which is critical when you want to prioritise filtering the water over heating.Remember, you will need a pump to push the water round. We use the Intex pump that came with our original 12 foot pool and it works very well. Also, make sue you don't leave the pump on with water moving through the heat mat overnight... it is just as effective at losing heat if you do this. This is where switching the flow valve to pass through works well.Overall, really effective product at a good price and delivered quickly.

I have 4 of these in series to heat my hot tub with a separate pump. They do work well and managed to get the tub to 40deg in the recent hot weather! I do find though that the cumbersome connectors cause the pads to flex on the joins causing he veins to kink and it restricts the flow of water. Not a major issue as there is still water flowing, it just reduces the overall flow rate to a trickle at times.

Waste of money

Bought this but wasn't the product s fault ,you need lots of sun for this the pool didn't heat up , easier to assemble than I thought , doesn't leak, good quality, just need the sun.

My system is a bit heath Robinson but was trying to find a cheaper way to heat the hot tub.The pictures were taken on 8 July 22 . It was very sunny and hot. 25 Deg in East of England.The instructions say don't put on the roof , but I've a sturdy log cabin and 2x8 beams inside.Since the roof gets hot it seams ideal.I've a 1500l/h pump which isn't strong enough really.Getting connectors to fit was a pain. But my old hottub pipes were just the right size to jam in the panels connectors. I then used standard hose pipe connectors to get the water from the pool , up 2.5m to the first panel.The slower the flow rate the hotter it gets. 56 was because the rate was too slow. But I started with pool temp at 26 Deg at 11am and had standing water heating up in the panels all morning.By 5pm the pool temp is up to 34.5. and water from the roof is 40. The digital thermometer is also on Amazon. 8 quid for 3.Room temp for the pool room is 32.1Until my bigger pump turns up , I have to feed mains water pressure from the garden hose to remove the air and get the flow going again.Yes it's a bit of a faff but for £30 a panel I've had an 8 degree increase today . And that's just lovely to sit it on such a hot day.New pump now fitted 4000l/hour. This seems to be enough to give a gentle flow through 4 panels.10/7/22 pool temp rose from 33 to 40 in 7 hours.Outside temp was 27 with uninterrupted sunshine.I do find that air builds up in the panels and needs about 4 mins of mains hosepipe water pressure to blast it through, then I swap to the 4000l pump.I've since added a 110ah leisure battery , 300w inverter and a 60w solar panel so it's now off grid.Seems to cope with the 90watt pump.

good

One reviewer here talks of turning off the pump to let the panel heat up. This is the wrong thing to do! It will give hotter water, but less heat, because heat lost to the air is greater the higher the temperature. Unless you want hat water, any panel without insulating glass is best run at maximum flow rate. This is like the basic physics question - put milk in your tea first if you want it to stay hot, as if you leave it sitting at high temperature and then add milk it will lose more heat. Any black panel is going to absorb around 500 watts per square meter in reasonable sunshine (full sun is 1 kW per square meter), so you can expect this panel to be the equivalent of a 500 to 800W heater in full sun. That's not a lot, but enough to heat a small pool significantly in time. The panel, laid out on a patio, tends to crease up unevenly in use, and the outlet valve is a rather ugly addition. I'd prefer a rigid panel mounted at an angel, but cheap ones don't seem to exist. It does the job though, on my 8ft long pool for the kids..

I have a 10 foot pool Intex pool with the smallish pump that comes with that. Provided you lie the mats flat carefully at the point the connectors attach, and clamp them carefully with the clamps provided, then the connections won't leak at all. Just to add, because the description doesn't say, each mat comes with fittings and clamps, and also a length of black pipe. Having read various reviews that suggested the flow through these mats is not all that great, I decided to take a gamble and get two of these mats and elsewhere got some extra tubing and adaptors, and connected them in parallel. This works really well, and you get a decent flow through the two mats even with this smallest pump. The only downside is that it has not been sunny for more than the odd half day (UK summer 2015) although I am confident it will be worth while.