Solar Cover & Wind

[belgique]

I didn't see this addressed but might have missed it: is a solar cover practical in windy environs? We are on a sound on the Outer Banks and often get a lot of wind. 20mph+ is not unusual and it comes up quick and changes direction frequently. The regular winter cover lasted 1 week!

Since it floats on the water, I was thinking that it might be less susceptible to wind? My bride, of several decades, doesn't like cold water and a heater is not in the budget (next item is a SWG!)

Thanks in advance. Steve

 

[stbasil]

Hi Steve,
We are in Austin TX, and the wind some days will consistently blow 15mph, and often gust 20-30mph. As long as our solar cover is "stuck" to the water, no problem. But, if one end is out of the water (it is a little longer than the pool) and not tucked under the pool coping, the wind will catch it and flip over a corner. So, bottom line, I don't think you will have any problems as long as the cover is actually sitting on the water. Even in higher winds during a storm, I have not had the cover "take flight"!

 

[mart242]

Mine sits everywhere on the water and when it gets really windy, the wind picks it up and it floats in the air being held only by the straps that hold it to the rocky roller which is held in place by two bolts in concrete anchors.

I really have to find a way to hold it in place. When weather is bad, I spray some water on top of it or push it down a bit so it gets partially covered by water. That helps a bit, unless it's really really windy.

 

[stbasil]

Oh well, shows how inexperienced I am! Maybe our pool is more sheltered from the wind that others. Also, I have the pool cover trimmed so it fits flush against the tiles all around, except on the reel end where I tuck it under the coping (which overhangs the tile by 1").

 

[LauleaHere&There]

It's often quite gusty here in the Hawaiian Island chain, too. I had some extra 1" pvc pipe which I cut into 4' lengths and place on top of the solar cover (the kind that looks like bubble wrap) it's not heavy enough to sink it, but enough to keep it from blowing away. Around the edges and in the middle.

 

[shakenbake]

In austin as well, it's been crazy windy these last couple months.

The only problem I experiance is putting the thing on in the wind. Our is pretty unwieldy on its own though, nearly 50 feet long and 27 feet wide, but shaped like a boot. As long as it's stuck down, the wind does not seem to catch and roll it back.

I have a smaller cover on our kiddie pool, which has a long edge that overflows into the main pool. The water level causes the cover to ride up about 1/2 an inch above this overflow edge, causing the corner of the cover to get caught by the wind and rolled back.

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

I take empty bleach jugs and fill them with pool water. I place 3-4 around the perimeter of the pool on top of the cover and they float - they don't sink - about 1 foot in from the edge. Works like a charm and it's not uncommon to have 20 mph sustained winds where I am... works in 45mph gusts too (ask me how I know this) lol.

Does nothing to prevent a trampoline from blowing into the pool however....

 

[Cherie]

We're beginning our 4th season and have never had one blow off. Our back yard (we live on an acre) catches some pretty gusty winds. We have our cover trimmed to fit.

 

[Bart]

Our pool is in the mountains and it's at a weekend place so when the cover blows off, we don't know about it for up to 5 days! I took care of the problem with these clamps that I got at the local hardware store:

Since I've been using them, I haven't had any problems with wind. Because of the size and shape of the pool, my cover is in 3 pieces (2 large and one small), so I have to use 6 or 8 clamps.