DFW Solar Home Tour

Date/Time
10/06/2012
10:00 am - 4:00 pm

Tour Host
North Texas Renewable Energy Group
Mellen West
Phone: 2147075161
www.dfwsolarhometour.org

Registration Location
Cooper House Solar Pool Heater
6919 Middle Cove Drive
Dallas, TX 75248
United States

Tour Fee
Free

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Cooper House
6919 Middle Cove Drive
Dallas, TX 75248

Renewable Energy Features:

A patent-pending attic heat recovery system for warming a swimming pool or spa called WarmSpring. The combination of a conventional shingled roof and an attic space may be regarded as an unintended solar collector. The limited efficiency of a roof-attic comprised solar collector is offset by the large solar absorption area involved which typically consists of most if not all of the roof surface. WarmSpring works in the following manner: Hot air extracted from the attic space is blown through an air-to-water heat exchanger. As a fairly small flow of water (about four gallons per minute) passes through the heat exchanger, its temperature increases typically by 10 to 15°F. The warmed water then mixes with the water in the pool and thereby distributes the heat. The small water flow rate in the heat exchanger loop allows the use of very inexpensive ¾” PVC tube and fittings.
This attic heat recovery system differs from earlier technology in that it will ventilate the attic space whether there is a requirement for pool warming or not. In other words,
during mid-summer, when the pool will get uncomfortably warm with supplemental heating, WarmSpring can revert to just functioning as an attic ventilation system in order to reduce the load imposed on the air conditioning. Additionally, the warming action of the system only requires a 140 watt pump to operate rather than relying on a typical 1.5 to 2 hp pool filter pump to function. WarmSpring systems will typically add hundreds of thousands of BTU’s to a pool or spa per day.

Installer’s comments:

The house has two rooftop heat exchanger units. These WarmSpring units cannot be seen from the street since they are mounted on the north-facing roof overlooking the backyard. On the day of the tour, a rooftop unit will be put on display in front of the house. Data collected from this site has shown the pool temperature to rise as much as 7° F during the course of a day. This pool has never had any heater besides the WarmSpring system that was installed in 2010. WarmSpring provides an effective alternative for people that might be uptight about how adding solar collectors will change the looks of their house (rather than having a deserved feeling of pride) or worry that the neighbors will object. More information at WarmSpringPoolHeating.com

Owner’s comments:

“Warm Springs is a phenomenal product! I love the fact that we are using the attic air to heat our pool. It is saving energy and prolonging the time period each year we can enjoy our pool! The staff at Warm Springs is courteous , polite and knowledgeable. They were able to answer all my questions and set realistic timelines. This is a highly efficient product and I highly recommend it to anyone who has a pool in Texas!”
by Julie Cooper Dallas, TX