Can pool cover solar panels be used to heat the house?

Pool cover solar panels are probably not your best option in home heating. Similar systems, which typically consist of small tubes through which pool water circulates, can be used to heat domestic water supplies, especially in extra-sunny climates, but are too inefficient to have any real effect on heating the home.

Pools require less "infrastructure" to heat, in part because they are outside under the warm light of day in the first place, and also because pool solar panels need not get as hot, nor retain heat as much as home heating systems. Pool heating panels are usually unglazed, flat-plate collectors. Solar thermal heating systems usually require a much higher level of efficiency, which translates into evacuated tube or more complex flat-plate collectors.

Without the aid of an intelligent passive solar design, it is logistically difficult to entirely heat a home with any solar heating technology. And while pool heating panels can certainly have an effect on warmth in your home, there are simply better ways to go about it.