Lot's of " " in the title, because these are not quite DIY and not quite solar rings, but I finally found the solution to my cover and solar ring issues and it is working great! Basically I bought 10 foot Intex above ground pool covers and used them as solar rings. I even easily cut one down the middle to ensure max coverage. These are only about $12 on Amazon, so I got 450 sqft of coverage for around $60. Similar coverage of the inflatable covers would have been over $700. The video shows my easy way of getting them out of the pool. Using these + solar has allowed me to get
Best "DIY" "Solar Rings"
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Lot's of " " in the title, because these are not quite DIY and not quite solar rings, but I finally found the solution to my cover and solar ring issues and it is working great! Basically I bought 10 foot Intex above ground pool covers and used them as solar rings. I even easily cut one down the middle to ensure max coverage. These are only about $12 on Amazon, so I got 450 sqft of coverage for around $60. Similar coverage of the inflatable covers would have been over $700. The video shows my easy way of getting them out of the pool. Using these + solar has allowed me to get
- Jul 3, 2013
- 9,028
- Pool Size
- 15000
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool SJ-40
NICE job! Hummmmmmm wonder if we could keep the cats from trying to walk on them? Will have to play with it.
Kim:cat:
Kim:cat:
That looks like it is working great
It is working really well. Allows me to hold 80+ over night. Air temp was 85 today so I hit 90 degree water with the solar running due to a starting the day with an already warm pool utilizing the covers.
Well they are very thin, so they well learn quick! But realistically if you over lap them a little bit they seem to stay in place pretty well, so you can probably keep a decent sized channel around the edge of the pool to keep them from getting tempted. Only issue there is, is the overlapped section tends to get picked up in the wind, but so far we have had a decently gusty day and they stayed pretty well put on the water. They have a couple holes on the top which I believe helps with anchoring.
How much would you say the solar is responsible for the heating as opposed to the rings themselves?
Well, a lot. I am not really relying on the rings as a source of heat, but more as heat loss prevention which I think they are doing a great job at. I might be getting a couple of degrees out of them, and I had 92 degree water and we swam tonight at 7 pm. It was too warm, but I just got the solar and am pushing it. However, I do not believe I would have gotten there uncovered and this is a quick and easily solution for me for covering. I am totally happy with it so far.
So I just checked and my solar is set to turn itself off at 90 degrees. My pool water is 91 now, so I would have to assume that the extra degree came from the covers since air temp isn't even 90. So looks like they are offering some radiant value.