Reviews of Solar Pool Covers

[iceflow]

Folks,
Am thinking of buying one of these but would like to see some reviews if anyone has any links. I did splash out on a few of those disks but I don't think they work. I plopped one in the spa.....that's about 3 ft deep.....with the pump off. Then I measured the temp of the spa water and the pool water and there was no difference. It was sitting in the spa all day, didn't do anything. There were no disks in the pool at the time. Also I live in Houston, it was a hot day.

Thanks

 

[lbridges]

The covers may actually inhibit heat production in the pool during the day. At least that's true in my area and I think Houston isn't much different. What they do is drastically slow down evaporation (the main heat loss mechanism) and help a bit with wind and "insulating" the surface at night from radiating the heat away into the night sky. I base this on trying the pool open in daylight/covered at night vice covered all day/night. While the tests were run for about a week each, I have to admit I didn't scientifically measure degree days, etc., so this is anecdotal evidence.

 

[reagan]

I've been searching the TFP forums for solar cover reviews as well. I saw this one at WalMart. I know we need a solar cover (our Intex 16' came with debris cover) and I don't want to spend double that and get 'pool-stored.'

Is it better to buy a solar cover that fits inside the pool, or will this type of cover serve well enough?

Thoughts?

 

[NWMNMom]

The solar blankets float on top of the water, fitting in the pool to the insided edges. While they are mainly to inhibit heat loss from wind and night temps, they do actually provide some minimal heating to the top couple of inches of water. You will probably get as much or more heat to your water with the cover off IF it is sunny AND there is not wind to evaporate/carry off the heat. Regular covers like those provided with the Intex pools do provide some protection from evaporation, but I believe that the bubble texture layer provides a bit more insulation than a plain cover. There are all kinds of claims about one color or another, and even clear being better than others on the solar blankets. Some of them are SO heavy that you end up struggling so much to pull on and roll up -

To come to the point - even the cheapest cover you can buy that fits your pool is the best cover - they all last just about the same amount of time WITH PROPER CARE because they really are essentially there to keep the heat in, not provide the main heat source for your water.

 

[reagan]

Thanks for the info, I didn't realize there was a difference between blankets/covers. Good to know!