Solar blanket Questions

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njwaves

njwaves

0
May 23, 2007
15
Central Jersey
Moved from here.

I am looking to try a solar cover for the first time. My understanding was that a solar cover would help to heat the pool a little in addition to its main benefit of retaining heat, and that thicker was better (e.g. 16 mil vs 8 mil). Point well taken about it needing to be manageable so that it actually gets used. I have a free-form pool shape and I am here in NJ. My electric heater seems to add 1/2 degree per hour on a good day. Thoughts/recommendations?

Also, I was wondering if anyone has created a DIY manual reel (or 3) say by attaching straps to a PVC pipe and adding a crank at the end to make removing section of cover and storing them easier? Thanks!
 
The solar covers to not really add additional heat, they just retain the heat from the sun.
They all seem to only last a couple seasons, so best to buy the cheapest, thinnest one you can find so it is managable.
And yes there are members who have just attached PVC pipe onto sections of the cover and then roll them up and take them off in pieces.
Was that you @Richard320?
 
jblizzle said:
The solar covers to not really add additional heat, they just retain the heat from the sun.
They all seem to only last a couple seasons, so best to buy the cheapest, thinnest one you can find so it is managable.
And yes there are members who have just attached PVC pipe onto sections of the cover and then roll them up and take them off in pieces.
Was that you @Richard320?
Click to expand...
No. When I had mine I just dragged it off one end and sort of accordion folded it in a big heap. .
 
It was mark @mas985 here is the thread I was thinking of, but alas the pictures are AWOL

DIY Solar Cover Roller

Someone in another thread had asked about how I built my own solar cover roller. So here it is. Initially, I had purchased a SolarRoller and it worked pretty well for about three years after which the aluminum pipe corroded through. So I looked at several alternatives and came up with the...
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
 
I would like to know about the rules for the removal of the solar cover.
When you have the solar cover, is it OK to let it on the pool during the day and removing it to swim only at the end of the day? Is it OK to let it on 1 or 2 days in full if you don't swim?
Is it causing issues with the chemistry? Does it impact the pool negatively?

Thanks
 
It is fine to leave the cover on for the most part.
The only chemical impact would be lower FC consumption and the bad CC might build up a bit due to lack of exposure to the sun. You would just notice a little more "chlorine" smell possibly when you take the cover off.
 
They definitely help retain heat and prevent evaporation.

As to heating the pool, I know a lot of folks will say they don't, but my experience has to agree to disagree.

When my pool is covered during the day as it is the 5 workdays a week, near the late afternoon, on a hot sunny day, the top 1 to 2 feet
of water is WAY warmer than below it if I don't have the pump running. That's the cover heating the water.

Now due to overnight heat loss when it gets really cold at night, the day heating I just talked about has a tendency to
keep the pool around 82-83 degrees, so in that sense, I suppose yes. It doesn't necessarily raise the temp, as much as it maintains it.

For most summers I don't have to use the heater in July & August. The cover helps maintain the temp.
 

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borjis said:
When my pool is covered during the day as it is the 5 workdays a week, near the late afternoon, on a hot sunny day, the top 1 to 2 feet
of water is WAY warmer than below it if I don't have the pump running. That's the cover heating the water.
Click to expand...
No. That is the sun heating the cover via radiation and then the cover heating the top layer of the pool via conduction. Without the cover, the sun would still be putting as much heat into the pool via radiation, but it would be better distributed through the depth.

Of course there is still evaporation during the day, so without the cover there is some heat loss to that.

So with the cover, the water might be a little warmer, not because the cover is adding more heat, but because it is preventing heat loss.
 
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