My experience with a DIY "bubble wrap" Solar Cover

convan23 · Jan 5, 2022

Okay! I couldn't find any example of someone else trying this on this forum, so figured I'd be the guinea pig and post about it in case anyone else gets the same crazy idea I had...

During the week of Christmas/New Years here in Dallas we had uncharacteristic high temperature...was over 80 a few days and multiple days of mid to high 70s. As a new pool owner (filled in October) that hasn't gotten a chance to use the pool much....we heated the pool up and had an Xmas day pool party!

Wanting to keep the pool heated for a week with the nighttime temps dropping into the low 60s (or lower), optimizing my energy bill, and making efficient use of my electric heat pump, I knew a solar blanket would be ideal. But, as a new pool owner I didn't want to drop $200+ on a solar cover that we may not end up using a ton, and I had no way of getting a solar cover the right size quickly between Xmas and New Years.

So...I made my own! Sam's Club has these roles of bubble wrap at $15/each. I needed 2 rolls to cover most of my pool except for the tanning ledge. So I got to work with two rolls of bubble wrap and a roll of packing tape...and wa-la! A redneck solar cover. Surprisingly, it seemed to work rather well:

1. Before the solar cover, the heat pump was running all day and night to maintain a ~20 degree heat differential with nighttime lows, couldn't make it to 90 degrees during the day (stayed closer to 80-85).
2. After the solar cover, the heat pump stopped running almost entirely during the day, stayed at 90, and would kick on at night to help maintain the temperature
3. When the temperature started dropping and we had freezing temps multiple nights in a row, the solar cover minimized my heat loss and it took 5 days with no heater running and the nighttime lows in the 20s-30s (1 night in the teens) for my water to drop down to the 50s.

I'm not sure how well these solar covers are supposed to work, and how much difference I'd see with a real one. But for $30 and ~an hour of labor, I have no problem with throwing this away, and it cut my heat pump bill in half last week and we got to swim daily!

Newdude · Jan 5, 2022

Any membrane would work the same. Seran / Cling wrap even, But good luck unfolding that.

I love outside the box thinking, so bravo and good on you !!! Next time save your hour and buy a $30 tarp if the need arises for a week or two.

convan23 · Jan 5, 2022

Newdude said:
I love outside the box thinking, so bravo and good on you !!! Next time save your hour and buy a $30 tarp if the need arises for a week or two.

So the air bubbles do very little compared to minimizing evaporation loss, is what you're saying?

Newdude · Jan 5, 2022

Yup. They’ll help it float better than a tarp which may let a little water pass through once saturated.

The thickness of the cover only helps its durability. Then again tho, an akward heavy cover is more prone to getting snagged somewhere while you’re struggling with it. So it lasts longer by itself but still may not last longer.

cadw2005 · Mar 30, 2022

I'm curious - how did you get that cover on and off?
Thanks!

convan23 · Mar 30, 2022

cadw2005 said:
I'm curious - how did you get that cover on and off?

Just bunched it up. It was pretty easy tbh since it was split into lots of small strips it folded pretty easily. I recently tried a Tarp instead...that was a pain in comparison. However, I would not expect it to last very long. I'm not sure how much of a pain a regular solar cover is....

I was also not super careful with it...since it only cost $30 and an hour of time to make it, my plan was to throw it away at the end of winter, which I did. So I'd bunch it up on the pool, loosely fold it on the water, then throw it on the decking and leave it there. Since it was split into strips (with holes for water to drain) folding it on top of the water was pretty easy because it stayed buoyant.

brimorga · Mar 30, 2022

I love this! I have an autocover and I'm surprised at how it still loses 5 degrees of temp a day. For my 18x37 pool I'd love to find something super cheap that I can put on top to try and double insulate. This seems about at cheap as you can get!

I'm open to other ideas, it doesn't have to float, even a large blanket or trap would do, I just want something easy to take on and off and small enough to store. The main idea is to just create another layer and double insulate.

convan23 · Mar 30, 2022

if you can get a tarp that's the right size and it's not very windy in your area, I'd maybe start with that. A harbor freight tarp wasn't much more expensive then the bubble wrap, but was more durable / felt less ridiculous. but I'm not sure how much multiple layers are going to help....I'd definitely think the bubble wrap on top of your autocover won't do much at all.

If there's air between your water and autocover....then maybe? not really my expertise. I'd just say the bubble wrap feels ridiculous the whole time....taping it together you feel ridiculous, putting it on the pool you feel ridiculous. taking it off, etc. lol. wife thought I was crazy. but hey...it worked

Newdude · Mar 30, 2022

convan23 said:
If there's air between your water and autocover.

This right here. Evaporation accounts for 70% of heat loss. A barrier of any kind *on*, not over, the water stops it.

While not as good as a solar cover. Auto covers usually stop a good deal of the heat loss. Maybe yours has alot of airflow to keep a larger temperature difference between the water and air above it.

For example, cover a bowl of hot soup tightly and it will retain the warmth alot better than if you cover it loosely and blow on it.

brimorga · Mar 30, 2022

Newdude said:
This right here. Evaporation accounts for 70% of heat loss. A barrier of any kind *on*, not over, the water stops it.

While not as good as a solar cover. Auto covers usually stop a good deal of the heat loss. Maybe yours has alot of airflow to keep a larger temperature difference between the water and air above it.

For example, cover a bowl of hot soup tightly and it will retain the warmth alot better than if you cover it loosely and blow on it.

The autocover sits on the water. It’s got 2 small gaps at the corners where it closes but that’s about it. I’m thinking about this like a double wall cup insulates super well because of the layer of air in between. If I can experiment for 30 to 50 bucks and see if it makes a difference, it’ll be worth it as it’s about $20 alone just to heat the spa when water temp is in the 50’s. This would only be used to extend my swim season, so only a few months out of the year.

Newdude · Mar 30, 2022

How high is your water table? Ground water chills pools like nobody's business.

brimorga · Mar 30, 2022

There is no ground water where i live unless it’s very deep. When they dug the pool the dirt was dry as a bone and hard as a rock

Homebrewale · Mar 30, 2022

Newdude said:
Any membrane would work the same. Seran / Cling wrap even, But good luck unfolding that.

I love outside the box thinking, so bravo and good on you !!! Next time save your hour and buy a $30 tarp if the need arises for a week or two.

Uh-oh. Don't put any crazy ideas in my head. Amazon accidently added a 3000 sq. ft. roll of food plastic wrap in a box of other stuff I ordered. They didn't want it back. I don't know what to do with it.

convan23 · Mar 30, 2022

I’m thinking about this like a double wall cup insulates super well because of the layer of air in between. If I can experiment for 30 to 50 bucks and see if it makes a difference

If you want to test this ... Harbor freight tarp that's large enough to sit on top of your coping. Weigh the edges down with sandbags or similar.

Newdude · Mar 30, 2022

brimorga said:
When they dug the pool the dirt was dry as a bone and hard as a rock

That can change greatly from season to season. But if it's not a commonly known thing to you, it's probably deep enough to not matter. For example, I can point out all the local spots and/or houses that flood. Even though I know my property sits a bit higher, it's still a thought in my mind being close.

cadw2005 · Mar 31, 2022

convan23 said:
Just bunched it up. It was pretty easy tbh since it was split into lots of small strips it folded pretty easily. I recently tried a Tarp instead...that was a pain in comparison. However, I would not expect it to last very long. I'm not sure how much of a pain a regular solar cover is....

I was also not super careful with it...since it only cost $30 and an hour of time to make it, my plan was to throw it away at the end of winter, which I did. So I'd bunch it up on the pool, loosely fold it on the water, then throw it on the decking and leave it there. Since it was split into strips (with holes for water to drain) folding it on top of the water was pretty easy because it stayed buoyant.

Ok, I really might have to try this...at least until the water can easily stay warm enough when summer temps come. We've had to put way more money into landscaping than I originally budgeted, still need to get all patio furniture/decor so I'm trying to keep the electric bill reasonable (using heat pump) while heating and maintaining a water temp anyone in the house would swim in without spending another $500 for pool cover and reel.

brimorga · Mar 31, 2022

I don't want to highjack the thread too much, but last night I put a tarp I already had over the autocover just on top of the spa and it made a HUGE difference. Normally the next day the spa has dropped back down into the low 80's. I just checked and it managed to keep the spa at 93 overnight. There was also some condensation that built up where there is a gap between the autocover and the coping, so that is telling me that even though the gap is small, water is evaporating out of it. I guess the autocover is great at keeping my pool safe and clean, but not so great at actually holding the heat in as much as I thought it would.

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