Solar covers...do they really work?

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darrenkarp

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May 1, 2011
49
London, UK
Hi All,

Do solar covers really work? They appear to me to be heavy duty bubble wrap. I do understand that we will always lose heat through the wooden sides of our above ground pool but would love to see if a solar cover really does help heat the pool during the day. I have a 9 kW heater which costs an absolute fortune to run during the short UK summer and would appreciate any feedback or advice on how to minimise these heating costs. The other issue I have is that my wife and daughter want the water heated to 84 degrees!!!!

Thanks
DK
 
Yes, they are indeed super heavy duty bubble wrap. Their primary purpose is not really solar, but rather to prevent heat loss from evaporation, which is how a huge amount of heat leaves most pools. I believe they actually help more at night than during the day. In direct hot sun, you are usually better off without the cover on.

With an electric heater, I suspect you could make back whatever you spend on a cover very quickly...like weeks or months.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk
 
I think they work.
We have had a blue and clear one over the past few years. We left ours on when not in use, and we've seen temperatures rise upwards in the 90's.
That's too warm for my taste, so we would just leave it off a few days and the temp would drop.
Given this information, my pool is in the sun almost all day, so that does have a lot of effect on the water temperature.
 
Like others said they greatly slow heat loss from evaporation, I used one for the first time over the winter dormant months when I do not use my indoor pool due to the cold water temperatures this year (I only have solar heat), and the result was much lower humidity in the building and ambient air temperatures were several degrees cooler than without the cover on.
 
Mine does not protect the part of the liner that is above the water line because my cover is cut into strips and fits very nicely directly on top of the water. I did not like when it came over the top of the pool, it seems to cause more stuff to get caught on top. I am not sure of the relationship but very little get trapped on top of the cover now and I am happy this way:)
 
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