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- #151,332 in Patio, Lawn & Garden (See Top 100 in Patio, Lawn & Garden)
- #59 in Swimming Pool Heaters
Enjoy your backyard swimming pool with the Made in the USA, FAFCO Papa Bear and starter kit! Extend your swimming season by warming your cold pool and ensuring comfortable water temperatures for all your favorite pool activities. The Papa Bear's connected tube design is the most efficient solar pool heater available. Extra large manifolds maximize the flow through the pump and filter system. More flow equals less time to heat your pool. The Papa Bear system is comprised of one 3 ft. 9 in. x 24 ft. solar panel and one Starter Kit for simple plumbing to your pool. We offer How To videos on our website fafco.com to help with your DIY installation. The panel is made from UV-stabilized polyolefin material and will last for many seasons in direct sunlight and comes with a 3 year warranty. The integrated manual bypass valve can be used to shut-off the system when the pool is up to the desired temperature. The Papa Bear can be mounted flat on the ground or on a DIY ground-mounted, tilted rack. *Tilted rack not included. Put the sun to work for you and enjoy free heat from your FAFCO Papa Bear. Note: For best performance, panels should face south, tilted 10 to 30 degrees with unobstructed sunlight. The system should operate between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. on sunny days.
Jon H
Reviewed in the United States on June 29, 2024
After 2 months of use this is well worth the price. I have a 27’ round pool and this does warm it up. No it doesn’t do it super rapidly but it definitely makes a difference. Especially on bright sunny days. If you don’t want to spend big bucks on a gas heater this is definitely a great option. Time will tell how it holds up after years of use. Little tip….turn red valve handle on solar heating about 75% closed or until you start to lose water pressure into pool, this helps to keep more water warming.
Jon H
Reviewed in the United States on June 29, 2024
After 2 months of use this is well worth the price. I have a 27’ round pool and this does warm it up. No it doesn’t do it super rapidly but it definitely makes a difference. Especially on bright sunny days. If you don’t want to spend big bucks on a gas heater this is definitely a great option. Time will tell how it holds up after years of use. Little tip….turn red valve handle on solar heating about 75% closed or until you start to lose water pressure into pool, this helps to keep more water warming.
Dayli
Reviewed in the United States on June 23, 2024
Since this is the first season with this particular heater I can't speak to it's durability but I can say it WORKS! We didn't build a frame for it to lay on so perhaps not having the proper angle to the sun is keeping it from it's full potential but it still works and works quite well! Even when I feel the mat and it feels cool, the water coming into the pool is toasty warm!Last night we had a cold front move though, and the pool water dropped to 80 over night. My husband ran the pump for a few hours this afternoon and the water came up to 86 degrees. Granted I do have a solar blanket on but keep in mind the pool is under roof so the sun doesn't have direct contact with the water. I'd say that speaks pretty highly of the heater.
Dayli
Reviewed in the United States on June 23, 2024
Since this is the first season with this particular heater I can't speak to it's durability but I can say it WORKS! We didn't build a frame for it to lay on so perhaps not having the proper angle to the sun is keeping it from it's full potential but it still works and works quite well! Even when I feel the mat and it feels cool, the water coming into the pool is toasty warm!Last night we had a cold front move though, and the pool water dropped to 80 over night. My husband ran the pump for a few hours this afternoon and the water came up to 86 degrees. Granted I do have a solar blanket on but keep in mind the pool is under roof so the sun doesn't have direct contact with the water. I'd say that speaks pretty highly of the heater.
SFS
Reviewed in the United States on July 18, 2023
Very easy to assemble and works quite well. This was purchased to replace an older model that lasted 10 years. The only issue I had with this item was that it did not include the handle for the water flow through the panel.I contacted the seller as well as Amazon and received the missing handle. This particular item is few feet longer than the original one that I am replaced.Hopefully this will last as long as the original one I had. It appears to be more rugged also.We are very happy with our purchase. This item is being used to warm the water in a 28 foot diameter above ground pool.
SFS
Reviewed in the United States on July 18, 2023
Very easy to assemble and works quite well. This was purchased to replace an older model that lasted 10 years. The only issue I had with this item was that it did not include the handle for the water flow through the panel.I contacted the seller as well as Amazon and received the missing handle. This particular item is few feet longer than the original one that I am replaced.Hopefully this will last as long as the original one I had. It appears to be more rugged also.We are very happy with our purchase. This item is being used to warm the water in a 28 foot diameter above ground pool.
cory west
Reviewed in Canada on July 9, 2022
We have an 18 ft round, 4 ft water depth, above ground pool and on a sunny day this unit will bring the temperature from a low of about 75 in the morning up to about 80 to 82 degrees in about 5 hours.
cory west
Reviewed in Canada on July 9, 2022
We have an 18 ft round, 4 ft water depth, above ground pool and on a sunny day this unit will bring the temperature from a low of about 75 in the morning up to about 80 to 82 degrees in about 5 hours.
Customer
Reviewed in the United States on July 2, 2022
Edit - Took much longer than I expected but the water has been consistently swimmable. No longer cold in the pool. That being said I thought two of the 24 foot ones would make my pool warmer than it is, but I'm more optimistic that it might actually get to that point. I can't complain too much. That being said the instructions recommend using flexible pool hose. I personally suggest going straight to rigid PVC.Original review -I bought 2 of the 24 foot long solar pool heaters to heat my 16 by 32 above ground pool. I built a rig to tilt the panels 30 degrees off the ground and my panels are pointed south west. I even have a solar pool cover that I use to make sure the heat doesn't escape through evaporation or from wind. According to everything I have read, 1 heater panel this size should raise the pool 5-10 degrees a day, but the pool is still freezing cold even after several high heat, clear sky, high UV index days. I was hoping buying two would mean it would raise the pool temp 10-20 degrees a day. I would be happy if the 2 panels together raised the pool only 5 degrees a day, but the pool has not increase more than 5 degrees over the course of 7 days.I'm going to keep trying to make it work, but as of right now, seems like an amazing waste of nearly $700.Next, the installation instructions are pretty bad.
Customer
Reviewed in the United States on July 2, 2022
Edit - Took much longer than I expected but the water has been consistently swimmable. No longer cold in the pool. That being said I thought two of the 24 foot ones would make my pool warmer than it is, but I'm more optimistic that it might actually get to that point. I can't complain too much. That being said the instructions recommend using flexible pool hose. I personally suggest going straight to rigid PVC.Original review -I bought 2 of the 24 foot long solar pool heaters to heat my 16 by 32 above ground pool. I built a rig to tilt the panels 30 degrees off the ground and my panels are pointed south west. I even have a solar pool cover that I use to make sure the heat doesn't escape through evaporation or from wind. According to everything I have read, 1 heater panel this size should raise the pool 5-10 degrees a day, but the pool is still freezing cold even after several high heat, clear sky, high UV index days. I was hoping buying two would mean it would raise the pool temp 10-20 degrees a day. I would be happy if the 2 panels together raised the pool only 5 degrees a day, but the pool has not increase more than 5 degrees over the course of 7 days.I'm going to keep trying to make it work, but as of right now, seems like an amazing waste of nearly $700.Next, the installation instructions are pretty bad.
glenn
Reviewed in the United States on June 22, 2022
Papa Bear Instructions and Support area joke. Page reverts to a general page with no value. There is a bag with black threaded parts and pieces pictured with the heater with absolutely no instruction.
glenn
Reviewed in the United States on June 22, 2022
Papa Bear Instructions and Support area joke. Page reverts to a general page with no value. There is a bag with black threaded parts and pieces pictured with the heater with absolutely no instruction.
Omgnice
Reviewed in Canada on June 17, 2022
J’ai acheté deux panneau comme celui ci par dessus mes 11 panneau existants, ma piscine etait a 75 et l eau des panneaux sortais a 90 dams une journée avec des nuages.Jai une 96 000 litres d eauxJe suis très satisfait
Omgnice
Reviewed in Canada on June 17, 2022
J’ai acheté deux panneau comme celui ci par dessus mes 11 panneau existants, ma piscine etait a 75 et l eau des panneaux sortais a 90 dams une journée avec des nuages.Jai une 96 000 litres d eauxJe suis très satisfait
K. Warren
Reviewed in the United States on September 4, 2021
I am not a professional plumber. Don't bother going to pool supply stores or the pool section in the hardware store. Connecters and tubing are found in the plumbing section, duh. I ended up ordering the tubing online because 3 hardware stores didn't have the right size. It took me several trips to the hardware store before I found connections that fit. I used silicon tape, liquid silicone, sealant, and O-rings, and everything leaked. After several attempts I got everything working somewhat but still have slow leaks connecting to the PapaBear Solar Collecter. I'm going to try using a plumber's putty to seal the leaks and if that doesn't work maybe caulk. I've resisted using any kind of permanent sealant because I may need to disassemble the setup in the future. You'd think the company would provide connections and supplies to prevent leaks but here we are.Otherwise, the solar collector works great, as expected. I almost immediately felt warm water coming out of the pool inlet. Raised the pool temperature 2 degrees in half a day. Lost those 2 degrees overnight, though. I'll update my post after using the collector for a while.
K. Warren
Reviewed in the United States on September 4, 2021
I am not a professional plumber. Don't bother going to pool supply stores or the pool section in the hardware store. Connecters and tubing are found in the plumbing section, duh. I ended up ordering the tubing online because 3 hardware stores didn't have the right size. It took me several trips to the hardware store before I found connections that fit. I used silicon tape, liquid silicone, sealant, and O-rings, and everything leaked. After several attempts I got everything working somewhat but still have slow leaks connecting to the PapaBear Solar Collecter. I'm going to try using a plumber's putty to seal the leaks and if that doesn't work maybe caulk. I've resisted using any kind of permanent sealant because I may need to disassemble the setup in the future. You'd think the company would provide connections and supplies to prevent leaks but here we are.Otherwise, the solar collector works great, as expected. I almost immediately felt warm water coming out of the pool inlet. Raised the pool temperature 2 degrees in half a day. Lost those 2 degrees overnight, though. I'll update my post after using the collector for a while.
Jason Knighton
Reviewed in the United States on May 2, 2021
We've been able to use the pool a couple times already. If the outdoor temp gets to 78 and will stay sunny we can expect 80 degree water. Unfortunately the Texas weather has been the normal up and down every couple days so I can't say how much the water would warm after 5 days in the sun. I have the solar heater plumbed in to an old Intex pool pump for a 15' pool. It moves a decent amount of water so I'm only seeing a 2 degree temp change from input to output. Might be higher if the water moved slower. Still, this is enough to let us already use the pool a couple times in April when the temps bounce from mid 40's to mid 80's.I had an issue with the PVC connections leaking. I finally used silicon and the leaks are resolved. Not sure how this will affect longevity when I can't completely drain it after the season.
Jason Knighton
Reviewed in the United States on May 2, 2021
We've been able to use the pool a couple times already. If the outdoor temp gets to 78 and will stay sunny we can expect 80 degree water. Unfortunately the Texas weather has been the normal up and down every couple days so I can't say how much the water would warm after 5 days in the sun. I have the solar heater plumbed in to an old Intex pool pump for a 15' pool. It moves a decent amount of water so I'm only seeing a 2 degree temp change from input to output. Might be higher if the water moved slower. Still, this is enough to let us already use the pool a couple times in April when the temps bounce from mid 40's to mid 80's.I had an issue with the PVC connections leaking. I finally used silicon and the leaks are resolved. Not sure how this will affect longevity when I can't completely drain it after the season.
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