solar cover woes..HELP

[flyweed]

HI all

well, we are in our 3rd year with our 33ft above ground, and we love it....HOWEVER I have found putting the solar cover (HUGE) on and off is just a royal pain in the keester! The cover is huge, the solar reel is HUGE, and it's just a nasty chore at the end of a day.

I have been looking at the "solar rings" at Doheny's Water Warehouse...here's the link:
http://www.doheny.com/poolsupplies/Dohe ... paign=2620


anyway..are these basically just round pieces of solar cover that you can collect up individually? I really like the idea of going out on the deck, and collecting and stacking up these rings, as opposed to the big old heavy solar cover and reel..but I want to be sure these things actually hold in heat.

Any help, opinions, anyone use them?????

Thanks
Dan

 

[crs16]

I saw some hexagonal ones that really interested me. They have Velcro on the sides to help hold them together on the surface. But my husband likes the huge cover we have. Though I laugh b/c my cover is pretty small compared to yours. :-D

Anyway, I'd like to hear feedback on these also.

 

[LauleaHere&There]

I liked the idea, too, because even with a small pool, the cover is hard to remove. But at the end of it, I decided against the circles. They're expensive for what they are, and I think that the wind could play havoc with them--lightweight smaller pieces, lots of edge to catch a breeze--they could be in the next county before you know they're gone.

 

[Suziqzer]

I too have a love/hate relationship w/my solar cover. Something us further north have to deal with until them overnight temps get a little higher. Hubby hates a "cold" pool... anything below 80, well, probably more like 82.

 

[crs16]

Oh dear. 80 or 82? My kids teeth start chattering at those temps! . We like our water amnice toasty 86 at the minimum, most days now we are trying to cool it off from 90 or higher.

 

[colormesummer]

wow..80 degrees sounds tropically heavenly..my grandson & friends were in @ 72 f. today & having fun..here in Wash. state its the 1st of a few nice sunny days..way overdue. but we can get the pool up 84 after some really nice days & putting the solar cover on every single nite..yep it's a paim it

 

[crs16]

I liked the idea, too, because even with a small pool, the cover is hard to remove. But at the end of it, I decided against the circles. They're expensive for what they are, and I think that the wind could play havoc with them--lightweight smaller pieces, lots of edge to catch a breeze--they could be in the next county before you know they're gone.

That is why the hexagons interest me, would they be more or less likely to have problems since they have the Velcro to hold them together.

I may have to order some and see. I despise the big bulky solar cover.

 

[bf1967]

Hi Dan, Someone on here suggested this approach to me and it's been working well for us. Cut your cover into sections. I have a 30' round and cut my cover in half. I also though about cutting it in thirds, but this seems to work pretty well.

I was unwilling to spend the money on a reel large enough (and of good quality) to handle my cover and this approach enables my wife & daughters to get the cover on and off easily.

Bob

 

[Suziqzer]

If you go w/the hexagon ones let us know how they work out... would love to know before we replace ours what the general opinion is of them.

Ours is cut in half because of an idea I had to try and make the cover easier to manipulate. We ended up putting zip ties through it and putting it on a reel in the end. With it cut in half it's very difficult for me to manage by myself. Hubby can do it but even for him it's a chore. Always had to be sure there wasn't anything important in my pockets before I attempted removal... the loss of a cell phone would put me over the top w/solar covers

Yes, 80 has finally got here and we've enjoyed it. Luckily we've climbed past it and seen 84 a couple of times. It was a cool rainy start to the summer ... hopefully we'll get some use out of the pool now