Should I put my solar cover on now? Or wait?

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wayner

wayner

LifeTime Supporter
May 31, 2012
972
Toronto, ON
Pool Size
100000
Surface
Vinyl
Chlorine
Salt Water Generator
SWG Type
Jandy Aquapure 1400
I am in Toronto. My pool was uncovered a week ago and is now pretty much cleaned up. The water is still pretty cold, at around 56F. The air temperature is still pretty chilly and I likely won't be swimming for a couple of weeks until it warms up.

Is there any reason not to put the solar cover on now? Does the cover help the pool to heat up, is it an insulator or both?
If I do put it on do you have to take it off every week or so? I have seen comments saying that you need to take it off so that your pool can off-gas the chlorine, but I am not sure if that is really the case.
 
Both.
With it on now, solar will add a number of degrees to the water temp. Mine, in the height of summer, would drive the pool up to 90 (F) in Minnesota!
BUT - it will accumulate all sorts of wind fluff - seeds, pollen, tree stuff, bugs, etc. So getting it off without washing that into the pool can be a chore. Without it, the skimmers/filter get it progressively. Now that the kids are gone, and the dog is the primary user, I've stopped using mine due to the cleanup. I'll just pay for the gas consumption from the heater if we really want an early season swim.
It's not the chlorine, but some of the CC components that will off gas, but if your pool is otherwise clean, that is not much of an issue - and they are not a tight seal, so it still has a chance to leave around the edges and due to agitation from continued circulation.
 
Thanks. I tend to keep my cover on during the week in the summer, other than in the hottest weeks of July. I would take it off for the weekend.

Agreed on the wind fluff, but you have to deal with that anyway - either gradually or all at once when you take the cover off.
 
wayner said:
Does the cover help the pool to heat up, is it an insulator or both?
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Its an evaporation stopper which accounts for 70% of heat loss when the temperature dips. (Usually at night but not always).

They work awesome to their abilities but its a moot point when the pool is 62 instead of the 57 it would have been on its own.

As said above, Your skimming stops, but i swept my cover with the pool brush to a reachable spot every few days and got most of the crud off.

If you keep it closed too long, it'll 'smell like a pool' when you open it. If its during the day, the CCs will burn off in minutes, like 2, and the smell will be gone. Mine usually made it more than a week, but not two before it stunk. No harm is done if it sits a couple days too long.
 
wayner said:
Fair enough but this will save a few m^3 of gas when I do heat the pool to 85.
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Oh yes. Its a must when you are paying to heat. Unless you're rich. Lol.

But your question was should you do it for the sake of doing it early. :)
 
I put the cover on last night. One other advantage is that it will keep the ducks away! Over the last few days I have had a pair of Mallard ducks in my pool making a mess. I am kind of the opposite of Tony Soprano.
 
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My dog looks forward to the first trip out each morning to confront the ducks! He hasn't got one yet, but is silent in his approach. So far, when he gets close, he stops and doesn't seem to know what to do. The ducks are pretty casual about the whole thing. The prior dog never understood that loud, shrill barking as he ran made the ducks fly away long before he got near.
 
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