Pro's and Con's solar pool cover

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texan4ever

Member
Sep 14, 2021
20
Dallas, TX
Hello

I have a 25k gallon in ground salt water pool in Dallas TX. I am looking to get the water temp up early in this year (want to swim laps). Instead of going through the cost and complexity of a pool heater. I was considering a solar pool cover.

The water got up to 63 yesterday and then dropped down to 60 last night.

I have read that the solar pool covers mostly prevent heat loss. Does anyone have experience with black bubble type pool covers. It would seem that black would give you solar heating and also prevent heat loss at night.


Thoughts?
 
I had the 'clear' one which was really opaque white. And. It. Was. Hideous. If you go blue it will fool your eyes anytime you look in the general area without staring at the pool. The entire time while mowing the lawn for example. There is a blue pool over there. White and black call attention to it *not* being water if it's anywhere in your field of vision.

We all agree on 2 things.

1) They work awsome to their ability (lowering heat loss by stopping evaporation, thereby 'gaining' heat)

2) They are a royal PITA

Some say they are still worth it, and others say no. But they work awsome to their ability.
 
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We are a new pool owner, and installed one mid Feb. when water was high 50s low 60s. Granted we had a warm Feb/March months in CA, water was up to 72 F until the last rain (which then dropped down to 68F).
We have a friend with similar pool but has appropriately sized solar heaters (without a cover), he was only 3-4 F warmer than our pool. We are planning on using cover for 2-3 months at the beginning of season, and last 2 months of the season.

Being new to this here are my pros/cons
Pros
Warms water for lower cost.

Cons
UGLY
Hassel to remove
Hassel to clean pool while on
Supposedly only lasts 2-4 years before bubbles blow apart.
 
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Newdude said:
2) They are a royal PITA
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I like the benefits of a solar cover and agree with the above. I am actually avoiding putting mine on until after it heats up a little bit more because that is how much I hate pulling it on and off. I literally roll my eyes and give it dirty looks.
 
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joeprunc said:
We are a new pool owner, and installed one mid Feb. when water was high 50s low 60s. Granted we had a warm Feb/March months in CA, water was up to 72 F until the last rain (which then dropped down to 68F).
We have a friend with similar pool but has appropriately sized solar heaters (without a cover), he was only 3-4 F warmer than our pool. We are planning on using cover for 2-3 months at the beginning of season, and last 2 months of the season.

Being new to this here are my pros/cons
Pros
Warms water for lower cost.

Cons
UGLY
Hassel to remove
Hassel to clean pool while on
Supposedly only lasts 2-4 years before bubbles blow apart.
Click to expand...
This is where I'm at with it. I went from almost getting a 400K btu heater $3700 to a 450sqft solar setup $4300, to maybe we calm down and just invest $200-300 for a cover and see where it takes us. I also understand to have the best heating, you still need to cover overnight. So, no matter if I spend $4,000, I will need a cover to keep the heat in till next day. So I should just start with a cover before the huge investment. That's what logic is telling me.

Where did you get your cover and you happy with it so far?
 
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We have a 400k BTU heater too, but its nearly free for the solar cover. We bought ours online from Amazon.
We do plan on adding a small solar panel setup in the future to help increase temps to combat the spring and fall nights.

The other thing to look at is a heat pump (especially if you have electric solar which is sized sufficiently to offset the electricity).
 
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I would like to add another PRO if you have trees near your pool. My solar cover collects almost all the stuff falling from the trees during spring bloom. Before I remove it 1-2 times per week, I use my pool brush to sweep everything into the skimmer. It doesn't trap everything but does help a lot.

I also have my return nozzles pointed upward to collect more heat from the sun but also to make sure I get good circulation in between all the bubbles. Last spring we were renovating our house and were living in an apartment. I had an algae outbreak on the bottom of the cover due to not removing it enough and not getting good circulation getting FC in between the bubbles.
 
AndyTN said:
I use my pool brush to sweep everything into the skimmer. It doesn't trap everything but does help a lot.
Click to expand...
+1.

I easily scooped the pile off the cover so it didn't get washed clean in the skimmer.
 

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joeprunc said:
We have a 400k BTU heater too, but its nearly free for the solar cover. We bought ours online from Amazon.
We do plan on adding a small solar panel setup in the future to help increase temps to combat the spring and fall nights.

The other thing to look at is a heat pump (especially if you have electric solar which is sized sufficiently to offset the electricity).
Click to expand...
I was under the idea that a heat pump doesn't work as well in dry climates. But after further reading.... it might be the answer. Thanks!
 
Lineman7 said:
I'm in the country. I did the math on propane. It'll take me to the cleaners
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Again, lots of things change the equation. Solar PV panels for Example, basically making the HP run for free, is one.

Stupid high gas costs is certainly another.
 
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Do the little solar circles work? I’ve seen various reviews online, and while I know a blanket is better, my wife is not interested in being responsible for taking it on/off for swim days with our kids. I think the smaller options would be much easier for her to get in/out and maybe provide a little bit of temp gain. We have a blue bottom liner pool that will warm up with Oklahoma heat, but it hasn’t been hot yet and rainy, we’re currently sitting at 68° temp o_O
 
Solar covers do a better job retaining heat than creating heat. Most heat loss occurs at night when water temps are warmer than ambient temps. The more surface area you cover at night, the more heat the pool will retain. Full covers are a pain to deal with. Another option is to cut a full cover into smaller, more manageable sections.
 
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I’m battling with our cover(s) often. I did the DIY 4 sections attached to buoyant pvc piping. Easy to manage for our 18 x 38 rectangular pool. If there is no wind, they work amazingly. Any gusts 15-20mph which we seem to get a lot and all my effort/time ends up in the corner of the pool to be straightened out again. It also does collect a lot of debris on top which is a good thing, but the current debris we have are small birch tree seed like circles that are hard to keep out of the pool when removing the cover(s). If we weren’t in such a windy area, I would be ecstatic about the benefits. Retains so much heat at night when our temps drop to 50-60 and I feel like I can trap the heat created with our expensive gas heater. But the wind ultimately always seems to ruin it…..
 
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I wonder what the easiest way to clean the top of the cover is without just dropping everything into the pool
 
kul said:
I wonder what the easiest way to clean the top of the cover is without just dropping everything into the pool
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I’d love suggestions to this as well. I’ve tried having another person with the net skim as the covers are being pulled. I’ve also tried pulling the covers carefully up onto the deck and then hosing off. It’s the little debris and dust/dirt that’s the problem. All seems like a lot more added work to the solar cover equation than I’d like.
 
kul said:
I wonder what the easiest way to clean the top of the cover is without just dropping everything into the pool
Click to expand...
I used my pool brush as a broom to push/pull everything to a couple of easy to reach spots along the sides, then hand scooped the bulk of it off.

Be extra careful when doing anything close to the covered pool. A slip/fall could be the end of you. So I knelt with a solid 'footing' when scooping, instead of awkwardly squatting.
 
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