For over 40-years, Camp America Day Camp in Chalfont, Pennsylvania has been providing a place for local youth to spend their summers. Among the facility’s amenities is a 30’ x 60’ swimming pool, which the camp’s owners had left unheated for fear of high heating bills. After hearing the benefits of a solar pool heater, Camp America decided it was the most cost-effective way to give their campers more use from the pool.
The Camp’s owners contracted Solar Living, an Aquatherm Master Dealer since 1998, to install 18 Solar Industries SI-1500 Collectors on the nearby pool-house. The system is automatically-controlled by a Goldline Aquasol with digital temperature control and Hayward motorized diverter valves to operate the system.
“Heating two pools with one solar system not only takes full advantage of the sun’s free energy, it makes great economic sense as well.”
Steve Mitchell, one of the owners, noticed how well the solar heating system was working after just a few short days, and called Solar Living back to discuss solar-heating a pool on the opposite side of the pool-house as well. Richard Bonte of Solar Living had the novel idea to design a control system that would connect the two pools to one solar heating system. According to Bonte, “the system was performing so well the pool was getting up to temperature early in the day and the solar was turning off, even though there was lots of free energy still available. Now, the Camp has the option to switch the solar to whichever pool needs it.”
Bonte said while this is the first time Solar Living has heated two pools with one solar system, Mr. Mitchell and others at Camp America have reported the system is still performing above initial expectations. “Heating two pools with one solar system not only takes full advantage of the sun’s free energy, it makes great economic sense as well,” said Mitchell.