Solar Cover and Reel Doheny's & Vingli

[MJuric]

So I've been looking at covers and reels for a while. Looks to me like Doheny's has considerably better pricing than others on the solar covers. I saw a couple reviews for the one I was looking at Clear/16mil, that said they delaminated quickly etc. Anyone have experience with these covers, particularly the 16mil/3200 series?

I was not terribly impressed with Doheny's selection of reels but the ones from Vingli look better and appear to have better reviews.

I've never purchased from either of these companies so any comment would be appreciated.

Thank You

 

[ajw22]

From what I have read here, no solar cover lasts more then a few seasons at the most.

Buy something inexpensive and disposable. Consider the solar cover a consumeable that will be used up in a season or two and replaced.

 

[Newdude]

I am almost certain there are only a couple of manufacturers and the products are resold and labeled under the 50 brands. You'll never notice a difference in any of them and the thin bubbles are the same on all of them, which is the most common fail point. (Assuming you don't snag/rip it before then).

The thicker covers are beefier and more resilient, but they are also more cumbersome and likely to snag on something. And when the bubbles still pop in a year or three, you'll be upset you dealt with the extra weight for it to not matter as you throw out the more expensive cover.

All thickness covers perform the same to limit evaporation where 70% of your heat loss comes from. None of them 'produce heat' like the manufacturers claim. Retaining 5-7 degrees of yesterday's warmth is seen as a 'gain' today. It's a moot point when the weather doesn't cooperate and the pool is 66 when it should be 60 on a cool week.

White covers are hideous and no longer look like a pool. Blue will fool your eyes anytime the pool is in view and you aren't staring directly at it.

Go thin, cheap and blue.