Solar blankets - not sure if this is the right area to ask about them

[JenniferMarie90]

Hi all. First time pool owner and builder, wish I would've found this forum before we signed our contract! Anyway, we are located in Las Vegas, NV. Our pool is 14x27 (starting to worry we went too small but thats another post for another day) and in south-facing sun all day. My husband and I are considering a solar blanket to help keep heat in the pool and help with evaporation in the summer to save some $$. My friend who has a pool here is weirded out by the blankets, saying they cause algae and the water gets weird but I'm still inclined to try one. Its just the two of us the pool, I'm thinking we can manage the chemistry with the blanket. I do worry about using a robot with the blanket though. Does anyone here use them and like them? Or is it not a great idea to get one? Is there a brand or thickness to consider?

Thank you!

 

[Rancho Cost-a-Lotta]

A solar cover will definitely reduce overnight heat loss in addition to reducing evaporation. Reduced evaporation will help reduce rising CH levels. It will stretch you swim season out a few weeks to a couple months. I've used several solar covers over the years. I usually get four to five seasons of moderate use out of them. I just retired my last cover after 5 years. I'm in the market for a new one.

As a general rule, go with a less expensive cover since they you won't get more than a few years out of them anyways. Most of the covers I've seen range from 8 mil to 16 mil. The lighter weight covers tend to blow around in the wind while the thicker covers get real heavy. I've always stayed middle of road, 10-12 mil. Color choices are generally blue or clear. I've always gone blue. I've seen a few comments saying that clear covers make the pool look dirty as they collect dust and dirt. When off the pool, keep the cover out of the sun.

Solar covers are a bit of pain to put on and remove. A solar cover reel is worth the investment if you can make it work with your pool layout.

Keeping a cover on the pool does make it difficult to keep an eye on what's going on underneath. It should be removed every few days to allow combined chloramines to burn off. In a well-balanced and well-maintained pool, a solar cover itself will not cause algae.

I use a suction cleaner under the cover without any issues. Not sure about robots.

 

[Newdude]

My friend who has a pool here is weirded out by the blankets, saying they cause algae and the water gets weird

* your friend who does not know the TFP method. Get him on board too.

I do worry about using a robot with the blanket though

Cord under the edge of the blanket and it will work fine.

Does anyone here use them

Many have them. Especially those who pay through the nose to heat their pools and want to save as many pennies of that heat as possible.

like them

This is a heated friendly debate. There is 100% agreement that they work to their capabilities of greatly reducing evaporation and therefore heat loss, especially at night. It is also almost greatly agreed that there is a certain amount of PITA that comes with them and *thats* where the friendly debate will rage on until the end of time. Some mind the struggle, others don’t. Nobody is wrong.

Is there a brand or thickness to consider

The thicker it is the heavier and more PITA to work with and thickness does not matter. Seran wrap will work just as well (imagine untangling THAT tho. Lol). Get a light cover for ease of use and the cheapest one you can find. Plan on replacing it every year or three. You won’t mind as much if it’s the cheap one.

And Welcome to TFP !!!

 

[mknauss]

A solar pool cover (bubble wrap) will be great to use in April and May, and again in late September into October. But for June, July, and August, you will not want to cover the pool. You will need the overnight evaporation to cool the pool water. Use softened water for fill water.

Also, you will have to run the robot when the cover is off the pool. The robot will get tangled up in the cover when it comes up to clean the water line.

 

[JenniferMarie90]

* your friend who does not know the TFP method. Get him on board too.

Cord under the edge of the blanket and it will work fine.

Many have them. Especially those who pay through the nose to heat their pools and want to save as many pennies of that heat as possible.


This is a heated friendly debate. There is 100% agreement that they work to their capabilities of greatly reducing evaporation and therefore heat loss, especially at night. It is also almost greatly agreed that there is a certain amount of PITA that comes with them and *thats* where the friendly debate will rage on until the end of time. Some mind the struggle, others don’t. Nobody is wrong.

The thicker it is the heavier and more PITA to work with and thickness does not matter. Seran wrap will work just as well (imagine untangling THAT tho. Lol). Get a light cover for ease of use and the cheapest one you can find. Plan on replacing it every year or three. You won’t mind as much if it’s the cheap one.

And Welcome to TFP !!!

Thank you so much! I'm so glad I found this forum, everyone has been so kind. I have never ever owned a pool so I'm really nervous about maintaining it but now that I have found this site? I'm not nearly as worried.

 

[JenniferMarie90]

A solar pool cover (bubble wrap) will be great to use in April and May, and again in late September into October. But for June, July, and August, you will not want to cover the pool. You will need the overnight evaporation to cool the pool water. Use softened water for fill water.

Also, you will have to run the robot when the cover is off the pool. The robot will get tangled up in the cover when it comes up to clean the water line.

Thank you! I did talk to my contractor and he said they don't hook the auto fill to the softener...for chemistry reasons? Should I press the issue?

 

[JenniferMarie90]

A solar cover will definitely reduce overnight heat loss in addition to reducing evaporation. Reduced evaporation will help reduce rising CH levels. It will stretch you swim season out a few weeks to a couple months. I've used several solar covers over the years. I usually get four to five seasons of moderate use out of them. I just retired my last cover after 5 years. I'm in the market for a new one.

As a general rule, go with a less expensive cover since they you won't get more than a few years out of them anyways. Most of the covers I've seen range from 8 mil to 16 mil. The lighter weight covers tend to blow around in the wind while the thicker covers get real heavy. I've always stayed middle of road, 10-12 mil. Color choices are generally blue or clear. I've always gone blue. I've seen a few comments saying that clear covers make the pool look dirty as they collect dust and dirt. When off the pool, keep the cover out of the sun.

Solar covers are a bit of pain to put on and remove. A solar cover reel is worth the investment if you can make it work with your pool layout.

Keeping a cover on the pool does make it difficult to keep an eye on what's going on underneath. It should be removed every few days to allow combined chloramines to burn off. In a well-balanced and well-maintained pool, a solar cover itself will not cause algae.

I use a suction cleaner under the cover without any issues. Not sure about robots.

I'm so glad I posted because I was about to invest in a thick one but its mainly me maintaining the pool and I'm not sure my 5'3 self could man handle a super heavy thick one. I'll check out the 10-12 mil and just bank on having to replace every 2 years. I was def planning on a reel. Is there one you recommend?

 

[mknauss]

Press the issue. You will have lots of issues with calcium scale, rising CH, draining the pool every other year, etc if you use the Colorado River water.

 

[Newdude]

I'm not nearly as worried.

We got you now. Step one is a reliable test kit. Like the tf-100 from tftestkits.net.

next up, peruseABCs of Pool Water Chemistry. It’s a lot of new terms at first and has boggled all of us when we were in your shoes. Read it. Take a break. Read it all again. We will guide you through any questions until it clicks and you can help too.

 

[mknauss]

10-12 mil

I buy the cheapest one, 8 mil. Cut into thirds. Just move them around or pull them out when we wish to use the pool. Then put them on when in the pool or jockey them around using the pool pole.

 

[JenniferMarie90]

Press the issue. You will have lots of issues with calcium scale, rising CH, draining the pool every other year, etc if you use the Colorado River water.

My contractor really seems to not want to do this. Is it possible to hook it up myself? My husband is a contractor, super handy.

 

[mknauss]

Depends on where the nearest source of softened water is.

I cannot understand what the pool contractors issue is. Unless it will be a lot of work to get a line to the equipment pad that has softened water.
Many of us here in the SW desert use softened water for make up water.

 

[JenniferMarie90]

Depends on where the nearest source of softened water is.

I cannot understand what the pool contractors issue is. Unless it will be a lot of work to get a line to the equipment pad that has softened water.
Many of us here in the SW desert use softened water for make up water.

Maybe thats what it is? My whole house softener is in the garage at the front of my house.

 

[mknauss]

Look for the nearest water line that is connected to the soft water system that is near your equipment pad. May be through a wall.

 

[Rancho Cost-a-Lotta]

I was def planning on a reel. Is there one you recommend?

The reel I had at my last house was junk. I can't use a reel with my current pool. Like Marty, I cut my current cover into three sections. It makes it much easier to manage without a reel. I would recommend a new thread for solar reel recommendations.

 

[geh]

I disagree on the thickness. I had a 10 or 12ml thickness and it fell apart fast. I now have a 16ml thick one and find it much better. it actually seems easier because it rolls up better. I have a reel, and the best technique is to unroll it about five revolutions, pull the cover across the pool, unroll another five cranks, pull it further, etc. It takes me less than 2 minutes to cover my 40 ft pool. It seems to behave much better and I expect more longevity from it. And by the way, they claim it raises the pool temp 10 degrees. My pool temp went up 10 degrees in a few days. Not sure how much the warmer weather that coincidentally arrived helped with that. Also, my robot seems to wor fine under it, although it probably doesn't' work as well at the tile level. My cover only goes on occasionally, and I use it particularly when my pool heater is running to get it up to temp faster, minimize heat loss and consume less gas.

 

[geh]

I got this one:

reel

and this one(though not these dimensions)

cover

 

[JenniferMarie90]

I got this one:

reel

and this one(though not these dimensions)

cover

Thank you so so much! We are considering a natural gas heater, but I really don't know what to expect $$ wise if we run it. I wouldn't plan to run it when the water is say 70 degrees trying to bring it up to 80 degrees, but I would like the option to run it if the water is 80 and I want it to be 85. I just picture my gas bill that month being so ridiculous. Natural gas here is cheap, but again I just dont know. My pool is a bit smaller than yours at 14x27.

 

[mknauss]

1 BTU raises one pound of water one degree Fahrenheit. So from your pool volume, multiply that by 8.33 to get pounds. From your gas bill, see how much you pay per therm. It takes 10 therms to get 1 million BTU. Multiply the result by 1.25 and that is how much it will cost to raise your pool water by one degree Fahrenheit.

 

[geh]

Thank you so so much! We are considering a natural gas heater, but I really don't know what to expect $$ wise if we run it. I wouldn't plan to run it when the water is say 70 degrees trying to bring it up to 80 degrees, but I would like the option to run it if the water is 80 and I want it to be 85. I just picture my gas bill that month being so ridiculous. Natural gas here is cheap, but again I just dont know. My pool is a bit smaller than yours at 14x27.

The cover helps keep the heat in so you will be consuming significantly less natural gas to maintain a given temperature. Pentair has charts about this on their website. If you run a gas heater continuously you can expect a very high gas bill. If you turn it on here and there to enjoy a weekend of swimming here and there during colder weather, its a more practical and financially manageable use of the pool heater, or choose the first month of winter and the last month of winter to pay for two extra months of swimming, but be prepared, some people can pay $700/month in gas to keep a pool heated continuously. There are also charts on Pentair to guide you on pool size, heater size and time to raise temperature as Marty said. I have a Pentair Mastertemp 200 (that's 200,000 BTU I believe). My pool is 5,600 gallons, and it raises the temp approximately 1 degree per hour, so 20 hours to raise 20 degrees. I noticed it did it considerably faster this year wth my solar cover on, like maybe 4 or 5 hours faster. If I could double that time with double the heating power, I would more likely enjoy to flick it on for a day or two and turn it back off, maybe saving gas, since as it is now I tend to leave it on for a week or two at a time, given how long it takes to ramp it up to temperature. Note at a certain point, more BTU won't give you faster heating time. As I understand its not linear, and there is a plateau where more BTU won't give much more heating power.