Solar pool heater buying guide

Updated: October 2026

You have filled an above-ground pool, the water is still cold, and amazon.co.uk has mixed black mats with long strips and mains heaters.

You have filled an above-ground pool, the water is still cold, and amazon.co.uk has mixed black mats with long strips and mains heaters. A solar pool heater buying guide should settle collector area, hose size, and pump limit before the price does. By the end you should know which claims in this set are printed and which are missing. The solar pool heater comparison holds the seven listings, with shelf prices from about £17.99 to about £225.36 on 16 October 2026. Products Compared read those amazon.co.uk pages and public UK retailer notes. There is no lab test. A qualifying purchase through our links can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

Our top picks

Badge	Product	Area	Hose	Flow	Note	Price	Offer
Best overall	Steinbach Steinbach Speed Solar 3 m	2.1 m² (0.7 × 3 m)	32/38 mm	2,000–10,000 L/h	7.8	about £70.48	View offer
Alternative	Intex Intex 28685 solar mat	About 1 × 1 m absorber	32 mm, adapters for 38 mm	Up to 7,570 L/h	7.6	about £24.49	View offer
Preis-Tipp	Intex Intex 28685 mat	About 1.44 m²	Not stated	0.33 hp on the listing	7.4	about £17.99	View offer

Best overall

Steinbach Steinbach Speed Solar 3 m

7.8/10about £70.48

View offer

Alternative

Intex Intex 28685 solar mat

7.6/10about £24.49

View offer

Preis-Tipp

Intex Intex 28685 mat

7.4/10about £17.99

View offer

On this page

1.What you are buying
2.Area and the pool
3.Hose, pump, salt, and the box
4.Cover, sun, and what to leave off

What you are buying

You are buying an unglazed collector. The filter pump pushes pool water through black plastic the sun has warmed, and the water returns to the pool. That is a different object from a photovoltaic panel and from a mains immersion. The Intex 28685 is a flexible mat about 120 cm square, about 1.44 square metres. The about £24.49 listing describes the absorber as about 1 m by 1 m. The Steinbach strips are LDPE, 0.7 m wide and either 3 m or 6 m long, which is 2.1 or 4.2 square metres. The SmartPool SunHeater S421P is a polypropylene tube-on-web kit at about £225.36. If pool water never enters the plastic, you have the wrong product.

Area and the pool

Published rules of thumb do not agree, so name the source before you treat a percentage as a target. ManoMano’s UK guide suggests about 30–50% of the pool surface, tilted around 30 degrees, in the sun for about six hours. Allswim and AG Budget use about 50% for their EPDM matting, plus about 35–40% if the aspect is poor. Those cuts belong to that matting, not to an Intex mat. A Covers4pools handbook uses about 75% of the surface and a rise of about 2–4°C, and it mixes solar collectors with boilers. Every figure is a retailer rule of thumb, not a test of these seven listings. If the lawn cannot hold the area, a matching hose will not invent the missing square metres.

Testsieger

Steinbach Steinbach Speed Solar 3 m

7.8/10about £70.48

View offer

Hose, pump, salt, and the box

A collector you cannot connect is only a black sheet. The usual pattern here is a 32 mm hose with adapters for 38 mm. The Intex listing at about £24.49 prints both sizes and caps the pump at about 1/3 hp or 7,570 litres per hour. The about £17.99 Intex listing includes a fixing kit and mentions 0.33 hp, and the hose diameter is not on that extract. Steinbach’s page for the Compact 3 m states salt water, 32/38 mm fittings, 2,000–10,000 litres per hour, and 1 bar at 20°C, and it says hoses are not included. UK reviews say the bypass in the Steinbach picture is often extra. The 6 m file points at bypass set 00-60045 and does not include it. Add hose and a bypass when the bullet does not name them.

Cover, sun, and what to leave off

The mat warms water while the sun is on it, and the same plastic gives heat back after dark. A night cover keeps the afternoon’s gain. SPATA’s factsheet says the UK climate often needs a second heat source when you want a set temperature rather than a sunny-afternoon lift. Place the collector south-facing, out of shade, and flat enough that the channels do not kink. A loose mat on the lawn is a garden layout, not solar equipment fixed to a house. In England, roof-mounted solar equipment sits under Part 14 of the GPDO 2015. Bristol’s summary says permission is needed if it projects more than 20 cm, rises above the roof, is on a listed building, or breaks the stand-alone limits. Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland are outside that order. Leave MC4, A++, and a below 26°C line off the Intex sheet. They conflict with a hose mat whose bullet claims about 3–5 degrees. The connection steps pick up once the hose and the area match.

Common questions

What collector area should you plan before one mat?

UK Pool Store puts a 12 ft round at about 10.6 square metres. A 50% rule of thumb, as Allswim and AG Budget use for their own EPDM matting, is about 5.3 square metres. One Intex mat is about 1.44 square metres, and one Steinbach 3 m strip is 2.1. ManoMano’s 30–50% band and a Covers4pools figure near 75% are rules of thumb, not tests of these listings. One mat is a small share of a 12 ft pool.

Is the listed volume the same as one unit being enough?

The litre line is a seller’s ceiling, not a measured temperature. Intex says up to 30,280 litres, the Steinbach 3 m strip says up to 12 cubic metres, and FANTASK says up to 25,800 litres. A pool inside that ceiling can still have far more surface than one small mat. Use the square metres on the ground.

Do you need 32 mm hose, 38 mm, or both?

Measure the hose, then use a listing that prints the size. The pattern here is 32 mm with 38 mm adapters, on the about £24.49 Intex mat and on the Steinbach 3 m and 049128 listings. The about £17.99 extract lists a fixing kit and no diameter. Steinbach’s Compact page says hoses are not included. If your hose is neither size, budget for hose as well.

Which listings say salt water?

Salt water is stated on the Steinbach 3 m at about £70.48 and the 049128 set at about £185.56. It is not stated on the Intex bullets, the 6 m Steinbach file, the FANTASK panel, or the SmartPool. The Compact manufacturer page does state it for that family. If you need the words on the page you pay for, use a listing that prints them.

What pump flow will the mat and the strip accept?

The Intex listing that prints a cap allows about 1/3 hp, or under about 7,570 litres per hour. Steinbach’s 3 m and 6 m files want 2,000–10,000 litres per hour, and no more than 1 bar at 20°C. A small cartridge pump can sit under that floor. A kinked mat can stop flow even when the pump is inside the Intex cap.

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