Smart Pool S601 Inground Pool Solar Heating System, Includes Two 2’ x 20’ Panels (80 sq. ft.) – Made of Durable Polypropylene, Raises Temperature Up to 15°F – S601P, Pack of 1, Black

OK, here is a great invention with a product handled by a terrific company. Smart Pool. THE FACTS: I live in Miami Florida and yes it is hot here in the summer however my pool has a lot of landscape and palms around it which provides shade to about 2/3 of the pool so my pool water rarely gets to the desirable temperature it normally stays between 82 to 85 in the summer while the temperature outside is 91 to 95. we like the water in between 88 and 90 especially those days when we use it in the evening and into the night. THE PROCESS: My pool holds about 12,000 gals of water so as per their chart I needed two boxes (4 panels) but I went ahead and ordered 3 boxes (6 panels). I installed it myself with the help of my two sons and took us a few hours. I ran the piping myself as well. at the first try it didn't work - there was too much pressure on the pump and there was not enough flow to run the jets so I contacted the Company directly (Smart pool) and this is the part that gets really good. THE COMPANY: Their customer service was great; it exceeded my expectations. They took all the necessary time on the phone to review the installation I had done, the layout, etc. we even traded pictures over the email so they consulted with their experts and came back with recommendations including changing the configuration of the piping connecting to the pool pump and worked with me all the way through until it was resolved. Kudos to this company for their superb Customer Service. THE PRODUCT: I am Completely satisfied with this product. it is a great invention and works well - easy to install. I was expecting to raise the temperature of my pool water by 4 to 5 degrees and to my surprise it went from 86 to 93 by the the second day. I hope I can extend my summer a month or two here in Florida with this Sunheater. BTW: the water stays warm at night as well it only cools down 1 to 2 degrees through the night. We are enjoying it!

We have an 18'x36', 26,000 gallon inground pool so we bought the recommended 3 boxes of these solar panels (which is actually 6x20' long panels). We had just enough room to install them on our south facing roof slope by the pool. We live right near the NY/Canada borderline so we really wanted to extend our swimming season as long as possible. This is our first good warm, sunny day (77 degrees) with them hooked up and the pool went from 70 degrees this morning to 77 degrees by sundown. Without these panels we might have achieved a maximum of 72 or 73 degrees. A friend nearby has a similar set-up and says his pool stays in the mid-80s from May-Oct, and sometimes swimming in April. On the recommendation of other reviewers, we didn't bother buying the installation kit and instead bought our own connectors, hoses and clamps at the local Home Depot. We also bought the Hayward 3-way automated actuator which (using sensors in the water lines) will automatically feed the warm solar-heated water to the pool whenever that water is warmer than the pool, and then turn off to just circulate the pool water at night or on cooler days. On start-up, everything is working great and I must say I'm impressed so far, but I'll update our review in a few weeks after a longer period of evaluation.

I'm writing this review (my first ever Amazon review) as an endorsement of solar pool heating in general because I'm sure other similar products would perform the same. My experience so far with this particular one has been stellar, but I can't say whether or not it's any better or worse than other manufactures with similar designs. When I researched this, this one seemed to offer the best value. We had an inground pool installed in January and February of 2014 in Atlanta, GA. The pool is in sunlight for only a few hours a day, from noon until around 5:00 PM. More shade in the winter as the sun is lower, but that's of little consequence when it comes to water temperature. Last year, I actually seriously regretted putting in a pool where I put it, because it was COLD. The pool has a 406k BTU gas heater, and we were only able to swim throughout the year with only enormous amount of gas use. Even in mid-August with temps consistently above 90, did the pool temp reach 80 degrees unheated, never warmer unless I ran the gas heater. I'm completely satisfied with 78+ degrees, as are my children, but my wife and other friends consistently complained that it was too cold. Therefore, we used the heater for hours prior to every swim, which was not only expensive, but inconvenient to plan to turn on the heat in advance of swimming, so we really didn't use the pool a fraction of what I had anticipated. I installed four of these panels (two purchases with two per purchase) onto the sunroom roof nearest the pool equipment. At less than 100 square feet of panels, this is less than half of the recommendation that you do at least half of your pool surface square footage. My pool is 550 sqft, so I would have needed 10 or 12 panels to reach the recommendation, but my only option would have been to go a storey higher to the top of the house, and that would have been 24 feet of lift for the pump and I didn't foresee that working well. The results - my pool has been 82+ since mid-April. We were swimming in mid-March (sans wife) in 72 degree water, where last year the pool was still in the 50s at that time. Today's high was 76 degrees and the pool is 83, uncovered. The gas heater has been used three times total this year, and that was just to bump the temp up to 84 for a few pool parties ("playdates") following several days of rain and overcast skies. Even after our pool is in shade in the evening, the roof is exposed to full sun, and it is noticeable that the water entering the pool is significantly warmer than the pool water. On a couple of early May days when the air temp was in the upper 80s, the pool water reached 85 and I actually shut down the flow to the solar collectors because the pool water was beginning to be less refreshing and a little too warm for swimming laps and vigorous horseplay. I can imagine that in the hot summer months, we'll be looking at a pool getting close to 88 degrees (that's a guess though, because evaporation will start to keep that at bay). In summary, because of this product, I have heard more "it's warm!" than "it's cold!" this year, and we are still in mid-May. It has been an unusually warm May here in Atlanta, but it's nowhere near as hot as the weather seen last July and August, and the pool water is at least 6-8 degrees warmer. Last May at this time, we still had unheated pool water below 70 degrees. I spent more on pipes and fittings and valves than on the actual panels, but that was with the expectation that these will not last more than a few years. To be honest, if they needed replacement every year, it would still be well worth it, because I have already saved on my gas bill more than the upfront cost of the panels. I installed a Heyward automated valve actuator that can be set to the desired pool temperature. I have not wired the actuator in yet, but that will be necessary as it gets hotter and my pool will eventually get to be too warm - a concept that was completely foreign to us last year. In all honesty, I'm disappointed that my pool builder talked me out of solar and into purchasing the gas heater. My end result is that my pool is dual heated, which is great for cloudy Spring days, but when the gas heater needs replacement, I'll probably test out a year without it, with only solar. Apologies for the rambling review, but I cannot say enough that this setup has completely transformed our swimming experience from everyone avoiding the pool and it just being eye candy in the yard, to something we use every single day. Oh, and on pool covers. I bought a bubble wrap style pool cover last year and never really saw much benefit from it. I've toyed with it this year and I just don't see the point. On a day when the pool gets up to 83, I've covered it overnight and the water was 80 the next morning. The next day, under the exact daily highs and lows, I let the pool get up to 83 during the day and I left it uncovered. 80 the next morning. So save your money on the cover and get solar heat!

My pool went from (hahaha freezing of) 26c (79f) to a very comfortable 32c (90f) I know you are laughing at me... but honestly a warm water pool you can spend hours of fun in! I have had this now for 4 years and I have a large 20,000 galloon pool so I have 5 strips or this. It works great in the summer (Of course) I wish it was as warm in the winter but the angle of the sun and amount of daylight that is just not possible. I have only needed to make one repair in all those years and it was easy.. a screw.. yup thats all that was needed.

Below is my original 3 star review, which I now have to supplement and give this product only one star. The reason is that certain components they supply with the system have proved weak and inadequate in just a few weeks of operation, and they refuse to replace them with sturdier components, and even told me the defective components are not covered by the warranty; they went on to say that even if they were covered by the warranty, they would not replace them because even tho they fail in a couple weeks, they are not "defective". Therefore, my review goes down to 1 star. Here's the problem: The panels connect with a length of large diameter rubber hose. This looks a bit like the black cooling system hose on a car, except this hose is flimsy, weak, soft rubber, with no reinforcement at all. After running the new system for 1 week, one of those hoses ruptured. This caused water to pour off the roof, and nearly drained the pool. I was not home at the time, and I lost maybe 1000 gal of water. I replaced the ruptured hose section from an extra that was in the box. Two days later another hose section ruptured. Luckily I was home at the time, and shut off the system immediately. I contacted the seller and they sent replacements, but the same flimsy, soft rubber hose sections. I explained to them these are not adequate to withstand the pressure in a normal professional pool filter system, but they then responded that they had "determined" that my system was not installed properly, because I had not purchased the separate installation kit, and thus did not install a "pressure regulating valve". The separate installation kit costs a hundred bucks, and has a variety of items that are duplicative or not needed, like extra hose clamps, a diverter valve (which my system already has), an anti-siphon valve (which I bought locally for $10), etc., and nowhere in the listing description nor in the installation manual does it say that there is anything in the separate installation kit that is REQUIRED for the system to operate correctly. They just want you to spend an extra hundred bucks on overpriced unnecessary parts. The seller told me the kit is required for each 4 panels, when the listing says it is used (not required) for each 8 panels. Importantly, the installation kit does not contain a "pressure regulating valve" nor does the installation manual mention one. So the seller was just making excuses. Then I called the manufacturer in New Jersey to file a warranty claim. They did not say that a "pressure regulating valve" was needed (proving the seller was wrong) nor that the installation kit was required. After describing the installation the representative said my system was installed properly. But she said the rubber connecting hoses are NOT covered under the warranty--only the panels themselves are covered; and the rubber hoses would not be replaced even if they were warranted because they are not "defective in manufacture"-- instead they are just too weak to do the job. (Amazing!). Besides those weak hoses are the only ones they have anyway so they would have nothing to send me. So the bottom line is I am SOL. I now have a $1500 solar panel heating system that I have to turn off every time I run an errand because I dare not run it if I leave the house. This is completely unacceptable. I may try to rig some other connection between the panels, at my expense, with no help from the seller or manufacturer. Otherwise, I will have no alternative but to dismantle the entire system, box it up and return it to Amazon. Under the circumstances, one star is generous. Original review: There is good and not so good. This seems to generally be a good product, and the price is cheap; but 3 caveats: 1) it is much harder to install this system than one would think. I am a very experienced do it yourselfer, and working alone, it was a HUGE project. Two people working would have been much easier. The panels come rolled up, and don't like to be unrolled--literally fighting the curl in the panels, trying to get them to lay flat out in the sunlight--was an effort that delayed the installation by 2 days. Even after installation and operation for a month, the panels have retained some curl at the ends. 2) The supply/return tubing is 1 1/2 inch; most in-ground pools use 2 inch pipe (my old solar system did), and reducing the 2 inch diameter down to 1 1/2 inch diameter is easy, but it does reduce the flow in the pool. So far this is not a problem, just a concern. 3) The biggest issue is that after installing and using the panels for a month in the fall, I am disappointed in the amount of heat they produce in the pool. I ordered TWICE as much surface area as my old panels (which were professional grade) and this new system seems to produce about HALF the heat of my old system--in other words, 1/4 the efficiency. I think the reason is: these are thin, plastic panels, whereas my old system used thick rubberized panels, which absorbed much more heat from sunlight. Now, in winter, we can't expect too much from a solar system as the days are short and the sun is lower in the sky. However, this new DOUBLE SIZE system only heats the pool from 69 Deg in the morning to 72 deg after running all day--not even close to the high eighties I am looking for. And I am in South Florida! My old system produced about an 8 degree rise in winter. With double the surface area I expected a 10-12 degree rise. I expect this system will produce adequate heat as summer approaches, when the sun is much hotter and more direct, but ironically that is when we don't need it--we need the heat in the cooler months. So, in conclusion, this is generally a well made product, and it is cheap, so I'm giving it 3 stars, but I caution that however many panels you think you will need, you had better double or triple the number. Otherwise, you will end up disappointed like me.

I bought two sets of two last year and it helped I’m not quite enough. I Live in North Florida but the water to fill the pool comes from a well. The pool has a screened in enclosure and usually stays about 72° year-round. That meant we could comfortably swim about four weeks in June and July. This year we started swimming early May and it was very comfortable by the 15th. Now, in early June, it is absolutely delightful.I bought two more sets this year. I may not have enough pump to handle it all but it’s very close. I have been encouraged to add a booster pump but I’m not sure I’m going to need it now. Anyway, one panel leaked and was relatively easily repaired. If you’ve never done it before don’t expect a simple installation getting everything right can be a bit complex. Don’t let that scare you away just let yourself plenty of time. Definitely buy the installation kit, including the automatic diverter valve. Use the nylon building to hold it down. Last year went through two hurricanes, North Florida style, without a problem. Be sure to get some advice on how to screw the tiedowns down without causing leaks. I couldn’t mount them vertically and it would probably be better if you can.

I have had this on my roof now for a couple of months and it does heat the water. I have 4 on my roof for a 16X30 oval inground pool. It will push out noticeably warm water. We got to use our pool much more at the start of the season than last year. However, I'm not sure the trouble of installing/maintaining and the damage it does to the roof to install it is worth it. When you take these out of the box they are coiled up so tight it will take two people a lot of work to get them unrolled. We did this early spring when the temps were in the 50s and they did not want to flatten out at all, even in direct sun! We had to weave them through a plastic fence so the bends would start to smooth out over the course of a couple days. It wasnt until they installed on the roof in warm temps that they flattened out. Obviously you will have to put holes in your roof to install the brackets for this, so be sure to seal them up good. I did not buy their installation kit based off of the reviews. I bough everything from home depot. What is lousy is that they give you almost all the brackets you need with the solar panels, but leave out some to force you to buy more. I have yet to find where I can purchase just the missing brackets. Since the only thing securing the panels is nylon rope over the panels themselves, the pipes can move around. I have noticed that this is causing them to wear through my shingles either from wind or expansion/contraction when hot and cold. Either way, it is something I now have to fix. Mine has a section of one of the panels that will not flow water. Because of this that sections stays hot while the sections around it become cool when water flows through. So the hot sections becomes warped and unsightly. I contacted their support who told me to disconnect the panel and look for baffles that could have been installed on accident. This is not easy to do once it is installed obviously, and there were no baffles in it. Depending on what they do when I call them back will determine the final rating of this review.

I bought two of these heaters. I thought the quality was very good. They were a bit of a challenge to unroll. I used a torpedo heater to soften the plastic so I could lay them flat on my garage floor so I could tell what I was working with. The roof on my small barn work shop is 20 feet long and I wanted to be sure these would fit. They measure just short of 20 feet so they fit fine. Each heater comes with 2 solar panels, 4 rubber connectors with hose clamps and a bunch of metal pieces about four inches long that have a right angle bend on one end and a screw hole on the other end. Each panel has small slots in the plastic near the top and bottom edge that I assume these "hooks" are suppose to grip as you screw them down. I saw no way to use these with strap of any kind. I can understand the problems and confusion some people have had with these because they came with zero instructions. No suggestions on how to plumb or fasten these down or together. The most important thing to understand about these is that you can not run the full flow of water from your pool pump through these. They can not handle that much pressure. You have to install valves in the line that control how much water flows to the heater and how much goes straight back to the pool. The people that have leaks at the connectors or the connectors rupture must be trying to run all the flow through their heater. Complaints that the rubber connectors won't work because the ends of the pipe are threaded are unfounded because the pipe ends are designed to use with either threaded fittings or hose clamped fittings. The rubber connectors slide past the threads and on to a wide groove made to seal with a clamp. If you plan to run water through one panel and then back through the next you will have to buy four 1 1/2" threaded pvc pipe caps and thread sealer tape. To connect the input and output water lines I used the rubber connectors and inserted a 1 1/2" slip to 1" female thread reducer. Then I threaded in a male 1" threaded to black plastic pipe barbed adapter. I also used unions in a couple places so I could easily disconnect the water lines if needed. My system worked great on the first try with no leaks or problems. To hold my system down to the roof I used five pieces of 1/2" metal conduit. I laid each piece down across the assembled heater and marked the conduit just below each panel then drilled a screw hole through the conduit at each mark. I cut a 3/4" piece of 3/8" rubber gas line type hose to use as a spacer and seal between the conduit and the roof. I filled the short piece of hose with silicone, put it under the conduit and ran a galvanized screw through the conduit and spacer into the shingled roof. The hose will squash down and force the silicone to squeeze out a little so you can be sure you have a good seal on the roof. Other than lack of instructions the only quality issue I had was one of the heater panels had been trimmed too close to the last tube and that tube would have leaked. Be sure to look for this before installing so you can fix it easily. I cut out a small piece of that last tube at both ends and ran a small screw into where it connects to both pipes. On a sunny day these warm the water by several degrees. How much it heats your pool depends on how much water is in your pool, how much sun you get and how cold it gets overnight. These only raise the water temp a little so if the water in your pool is 50 degrees the return from the heater may be 55 to 60. If your pool is 80 degrees the return maybe be 90. Also, temp is relative to flow. If the water trickles through it may come out very hot. If it flows through fast you may not be able to feel much difference. Either way you may be adding the same amount of heat to your pool. I hope this review helps a few of you. I thought the product was worth buying and I may buy one more to add to what I have next year.

Me dejó sorprendido subió la temperatura de mi alberca de 45,000 litros 10 grados en 5 días. Y eso que aún estamos en marzo. Llegó muy rápido y se instaló en 4 horas. Estoy muy satisfecho.

I installed 8 2’ panels on 2/12 pitched roof in pacific north west(Vancouver b.c. / Seattle Washington. On 3 of our summer days(approx 75degrees) raised 16x32’ pool to 88 degree from 73 defrees Like everything, quality of product isn’t as good as old ones from 15 years ago, but so far so good.

Muy buena calidad

First set arrived in a severely beat up box and when we opened there were obvious defects in the panels. We didn't even unwrap. Had a replacement sent. Box wasn't as beat up but same thing with the panels. Visually you can see major defects in the channels. No way water would flow through correctly and not leak so we didn't even open and unwrap. We then had to figure out how load these two heavy large boxes into our vehicle and get them to Canada Post to return. What a huge hassle from start to finish.

Works fairly well, connected a rainbird thermostat set to 85, a motorized 3 way valve with Y return so when the sun hits my roof mid day, panels turn on and take my pool an extra few 5 or so degrees. Panels were also on for half price when I bought them.