Mesh cover- on or off for thaw?

[Liz70]

Hi there! I've owned a house in the country with an above ground pool for 6 years. Two years ago we bought a mesh winter cover. Last Spring, even though the snow and ice had thawed on the cover, I left it on so that leaves didn't get in the pool before opening. However, when I took it off for my pool service to come and open the pool the majority of the pool was still quite frozen, even at the end of April! We did have a cold winter last year, but all the snow had thawed in our area at least two weeks previous and the temperatures were normal for Spring in our area. I should mention that I live in Eastern Ontario, Canada. I figured since the cover is black it would attract the sun, but should I have taken the cover off and let the sun do its work instead? As we're approaching opening yet again, I'd like to get some advice for this year! Thanks!

 

[mknauss]

Welcome to the forum!
A cover works at night to retain heat in a pool. To warm the water during the day, the sun shining on the pool surface does the best.

I suggest you read ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry and consider reviewing the entire Pool School eBook

 

[blazer58]

I kept mine on till the ice was gone, which was still about two weeks (first of April) before I opened it
Mine is dark green, and when checking it, I could feel heat inside during the day.
I think next year I will take it off earlier, if I get leaves, ect, it should be easy to get them off the ice as it seemed to take forever for the ice to melt

 

[BMK]

I believe direct sunlight will melt the ice quicker than if its covered.

 

[Husky25]

Take the cover off for ice melt. Ice melts from the bottom. If direct sun light is shining, the ice acts like a greenhouse and warms the water underneath. A cover prevents this.

 

[Liz70]

Thanks everyone, but today we found that the walls of our pool are collapsing and sand is therefore escaping from under the pool! It has no water in it, just a huge 3 foot thick chunk of ice. Apparently the empty soda bottles (that someone advised we put in the pool under the mesh cover before closing) didn't do their work of preventing the ice from expanding the walls. Alas, it looks like we'll have to replace the pool. Uggh. Any advise for next year?? We can get hard winters up here in Canada and this year was one of the worst I've seen in years...