SunHeater S120U Universal Sun Heater, 2 Feet by 20-Feet

I have to give credit to these guys, I looked at my purchase history and I bought these in 2018. It is now 2025. They have been laying in the dirt with weeds growing through them and they still aren’t leaking. My pool is ludicrously warm in the peak of summer (pool cover is a must). Kudos for a great value product.

Yaaa this wasn’t all it cracked up to be. It’s heavy enough but the tubing the water goes through is rather small so there’s really no way for the water to heat as well as it could Since the link is flowing at a fast rate. I couldn’t get the air out of my hoses all summer. Just when I thought I had it, air came back in. Hard to fight gravity with this one. Then directions say to put on an angle. Ummm that plastic wouldn’t stay at an angle. I ended up zip tying it to the fence. Did require two ppl. This had full sun from noon until 8p. We didn’t have many 100f days mostly 90+ but water was still chilly. I would turn pump off at night and start it in the morn to get the pool warm. I don’t see how 80f+ night could make it still feelCold. I honestly think I would of been better off with a solar cover. Maybe if you bought 4 of these for. 16ft round you’d achieve the desired temp. Our stayed in the low 80’s all summer. Now I have to figure out how to get all the water out for winter since I don’t own a air compressor.

We used this for a week before deciding that we needed to upgrade to an electric pool heater.Positives:1- Seems relatively well built and sturdy material.2- Works reasonably well on sunny days in sunny locations. Likely raised the temperature by a degree an hour for the 6 hours we could keep it in full sun. Had little to no effect on the average days of mixed sun/clouds and overcast situations.Negatives:1- Required a separate set of adapters to attach to our Intex 15’ pool equipment. It seems like this targets the above ground pool market, and at this price the set should include adapters to match the sizing of the dominant pools in their target market.2- It needs to be in full sun to be effective. Partially cloudy days or a yard with any type of tree/home coverage kills the effectiveness and likely makes it not worth the investment.3- To get maximum sun, you need to lay it either in the grass (kills the grass in a few days), build a stand (no instructions), or place it on the roof (requires large hoses, mounting equipment, no instructions). All of those options make this really a pain or expensive to install/maintain. Unless you are very handy or can lay it flat on stone/concrete I wouldn’t purchase it.

Over all its a great panel. I have a 18' x 48" intex pool. I use the Intex solar cover. I hung the solar on the side of my house vertically which isn't the best position but for my yard I did not have tons of options. It faces due south but has some shade in the morning and late afternoon. When I filled it the temp was 59 degrees. I set up a secondary intex pump that pumps about 600 gph through the solar. I added on thermometers at the input and output of the solar array as well. I have the pump set up on a cheap wifi plug so I can start the secondary pump from my phone. Using the second pump for the solar means I don't need to use diverter valves or have the solar pumping when no sun. It also means I can turn on and off remotely from my phone. I feel getting a wifi plug and second pump to use with this solar heater is the best setup. I normally run it for 5 min in questionable sun and check the thermometers to see if there is a temp gain.When I first set it up i had some problems with it leaking. it comes with pvc adapters that will fit intex hoses. From reading, pipe tape is not the best way to secure a threaded pvc fitting, but it is what they include. With a single wrap of tape the fitting did leak badly. The second time I tried with 3 layers of tape over all the treads and did not over tighten like the first time. All the leaks stopped. So, use a lot of tape and don't over tighten.As I mentioned it does fit intex 1.25 inch hose but does not have the gasket needed. I took the gasket off an intex T and used a screw driver to push it into the grove in the intex hose. Once the gaskets were in and the included hose clamp was used there were no leaks.With the wifi plug I bought for the second pump that feeds the solar, I tuned on the pump when ever the sun was on it. I could confirm it was working by looking at the thermometers on the input and output of the solar. If there was at least a 1 degree difference I would run the pump. If not, I'd turn it off. In full mid day sun there was a 4-5 degree difference. When used with a intex solar cover, my pool went from 59-77 in 4 days. I would loose about 1 degree every night which would be more without cover.So in summery, it definitely helps expedite heating of your pool. To keep the heat you have I recommend a solar cover as well. I recommend 3 layers of pipe tape to prevent leaks and no over tightening. I also recommend a separate pump and wifi plug so you can turn it on and off easily without changing you main pump schedule or having to turn diverter valves (not included) It is compatible with intex 1.25 inch plumbing but will need a gasket.Update: my pool is now 83 degrees and has been open for 1 week!