Solar Covers

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jordangregory

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Jul 12, 2010
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Does anyone have experience with different types of solar covers?
I see many different ad's for these. Different colors, thicknesses, etc. Is there any difference in what color you get or what thickness?
Does anyone know about how much warmer one of these can get your pool?
 
I've had three different kinds. The only one I've purchased twice is the blue/black 8 mil one because the FC loss due to sunlight was significantly reduced. They were all about the same in retaining temp, which is what they really do - retain temp gained during the day by holding it in at night.
 
jordangregory said:
Is there any truth to the claim that the clear covers allow more sunlight through and heat up the pool better?
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Well, the answer depends on circulation. If the cover is very clear, then the water in the pool will absorb around 60% of the sun's energy turning it into heat, assuming the pool surface is white plaster. If the pool surface is dark, then 90% or more of the sun's energy can be absorbed. Of course, if the sunlight is getting into the water, so is UV and that means chlorine usage will be higher which is the main downside to using a clear cover.

A black cover will absorb most of the sunlight, but if it's an insulating cover it may not transfer very much of this heat to the pool water. Even if it did, you'd have to have good circulation moving water from the pool surface to lower depths. Otherwise, the pool surface water gets hot as does the cover and they radiate and convect a lot of the absorbed sun energy back into the sky/air. There are some black covers that are more clear on top and black at the bottom surface touching the water that theoretically should be better.

I have a mostly opaque electric safety cover so it's only about half as insulating as a bubble-type cover. I did notice a small increase in pool temperature rise when we switched from a tan cover to dark blue so the color does make some difference, but not nearly as much as opaque vs. clear or covered vs. uncovered.

The ideal cover for heating, insulation, and low chemical usage would be a very well insulated perfectly transparent cover to infrared and visible light but that blocked UV. Unfortunately, such a cover does not exist as far as I know.
 
frustratedpoolmom said:
I've had three different kinds. The only one I've purchased twice is the blue/black 8 mil one because the FC loss due to sunlight was significantly reduced. They were all about the same in retaining temp, which is what they really do - retain temp gained during the day by holding it in at night.
Click to expand...

Where did you get a blue/black cover? Trying to reduce FC loss...
 
jordangregory said:
I was always led to believe that UV light does not go through glass. From that, I assumed that UV light did not go through plastic either.
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What we do is uncover the pool during the day and let the dark liner absorb the sun's rays. We only use the solar cover at night to retain heat generated during the day.
 

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jordangregory said:
I was always led to believe that UV light does not go through glass. From that, I assumed that UV light did not go through plastic either.
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Glass and plastic are not at all the same with respect to absorption of UV light. Even ordinary glass is partially transparent to UVA though is opaque to shorter wavelengths. UVA is from 315-400 nm while UVB is from 280-315 nm and UVC is from 100-280 nm. UV from solar radiation at the surface of the Earth falls off rapidly at around 290 nm. Chlorine breakdown from sunlight is mostly from 310 to 370 nm for hypochlorite ion and 320 to 350 nm for hypochlorous acid so mosty in the UVA region. UVA goes through most clear plastic pool covers. Some plastics, like polycarbonate, block most UV. Most pool covers are made of polypropylene or polyethylene for bubble-type covers or vinyl (PVC) for the more opaque thinner electric safety covers. There are generally UV-stabilizers that absorb some UV to protect the plastic and are typically in the bluer bubble-type covers.

Most people using clear bubble-type covers report chlorine loss consistent with a large amount of UV getting through the cover.
 
mbd said:
Is it necessary to buy a reel with a solar cover? Can you just fold it up? Some of the 12 and 16 mil covers I have seen say the warranty is voided if it is used with a reel.
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A reel is not necessary, but there are several considerations.
Pro:
- If you have an inground, I'd expect constantly dragging the cover across the coping wouldn't be particularly good for it.
- The thicker covers can be pretty heavy, beyond the capabilities of the non-beefcake set.
- Manually hauling the thing on and off every day could get old fast.
Con:
- The less like a rectangle your pool is, the more inconvenient a reel is.
- If you cut the cover into pieces, reels become less useful.

I don't have a reel, but my pool is oddly shaped (sort of triangular), two sides of it have little maneuvering room, and the cover is two long strips. A reel would be awkward, and the two pieces aren't too much for my teenage daughters to handle.
--paulr
 
flyboy320 said:
Has anyone tried or heard of Thermo-Shield covers?

Wonder if they might heat the pool up better then the traditional blue bubble covers?
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I guess you didn't read chemgeeks post, clear heats up the water best because it allows the light (radiation energy) through into the water but the cost is chlorine loss to UV. Black covers absorb the energy but also radiate it back out into the air.
 
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