Pool Heating XL-Lily Pads

First off, respect and credit to Make Zine and Cogzoid for sparking this idea. I modified their designs and instructions to make the project cheaper and more cost efficient.

Summer is upon us and that means it's time to open the pool. However, I don't have a pool heater, or the desire to spend thousands of dollars on one. After surfing the net I found a solution I liked: the so called lily pad passive pool heaters, and made it better!

Why Lily Pads?

• They heat- by attracting and keeping more solar energy in the water
• They slow evaporation- by forming a barrier between the air and the water
• They are easy to use and store- just push them aside or stack them on the deck
• They're safe- no solar blanket to get tangled in or caught under
• They're cheap- ten for $35 (Pro versions will run you $25 each!)
• They're green- they use no gas or electricity to heat, conserve water, and can last several seasons

We'll be making ten 4.77' (about 4' 9.25") lily pads. That's a combined surface area just shy of 180 square feet. That should cover a good chunk of just about any residential sized pool.

This project involves hot irons, please be careful.

I bought all of my materials from Lowe's for a total of $35. Assuming you have to tools this shouldn't cost you a dime more.

Materials:

• Black plastic sheet, 10' x 25', 4mil (in building materials section)
• 1/2" Black irrigation tube, 200'*
• 10 1/2' barbed tube couplers
• Vinyl electrical tape

Tools:

• Silver marker (anything that will mark on black plastic)
• Measuring tape
• Scissors
• Saw
• Soldering iron
• Household Iron

*For this project we will only use 150', but I could only find 50', 100', and 200' rolls. Since 15' doesn't divide nicely into 50' or 100' you need to get the 200' roll and figure out something fun to do with the extra 50'. Also, the 200' roll was only a few dollars more then the 100', so it's cheaper this way.

In both the video's referenced, they used hulahoops. While theirs were awesome, I wanted larger lily pads and didn't want to pay high prices for a bunch of hulahoops. Here is the solution: make our own hoops.

1. Measure and mark 15' from the end of the tube
2. Cut at the mark
3. Using the cut tube as a reference, stretch, mark, and cut nine more 15' lengths
4. Lay a tube so it lays flat
5. Seat one end of a barbed coupler in one end of the tube
6. Seat the other end of the tube to the other end of the barbed coupler and push them together
7. Tape the joint for good measure
8. Repeat for the other nine lengths

This is easy! The ultimate goal is ten 5' x 5' squares.

1. Unroll a length more than 5' off the roll of plastic sheet
2. Measure and mark 5' from the edge
3. Cut at the mark
4. Unfold the sheet and cut down the center crease
5. Repeat for the rest of the roll

If your roll doesn't have a center crease just measure, mark, and cut at 5' again.

This is the only tricky part, and it's not too bad. What we're going to do is weld the plastic sheet to the hoop.

1. Preheat iron to medium (I used level 4 of 7)
2. With the plastic sheet laying atop the hoop, press the iron against the top edge of hoop
3. Hold with light pressure for about one second, then remove
4. Continue doing this, working your way around the entire hoop
5. Cut off excess plastic sheet from around the hoop
6. Using a hot soldering iron poke a few (5-9) holes in the plastic sheet

Perfect! You're done! Now repeat this step nine more times.


Tips for using the iron to weld the plastic sheet to the hoop:

• Take your time and go easy
• Do this over a heat resistant surface (tile, concrete, etc.)
• Angle the iron so it leans away from the hoop. This was any accidental melting will be on the excess to be cut off
• Be careful about leaving hot irons around the house