Solar water heating for an indoor swimming pool

by Sarum Solar Ltd

In November 2007 Sarum Solar completed the installation of a Gasokol solar water heating system, supplied by Organic Energy, to heat a swimming pool in Wiltshire. The solar thermal system, which comprises four freestanding Gasokol TecSol collectors, supplies heat to a small 12 square metre indoor swimming pool. A-frames have been used to mounted the collectors in a convenient location on an existing flat roof.

As well as heating the swimming pool, the solar panels are also connected to a conventional domestic hot water cylinder. Two pump assemblies and a controller automatically manage the distribution of the hot water between the two, as well as operating the pool circulation pump.

The installation of the solar thermal system to heat the swimming pool, which remains heated by gas in the winter, will ensure a significant CO₂ reduction and a saving on fuel bills during the summer months.

For the past 12 months Sarum Solar Ltd has installed solar thermal systems using almost exclusively Gasokol collectors. The Salisbury-based company, which is owned by its employees, says it has searched the market high and low for a solar panel that met all of its requirements:

• robust construction
• visually inoffensive when installed on-roof
• easy to install, with as few "bits" as possible
• no vacuum technology, and nothing to go wrong in the long term
• made in the EU

Benji Goehl, installation manager at Sarum Solar said: "I am particularly impressed by the way Gasokol in-roof panels integrate into a roof. The weather seal of the flashing kit is unrivalled".

The swimming pool installation is the latest in a growing number of Sarum Solar projects. The company undertakes work in its local vicinity, within a 30 mile radius of Salisbury.

www.sarumsolar.co.uk