Solar cover and reel questions

[ndakotaninja]

I've done research, I've read lots of posts here, I've looked around for covers and reels, so I figured I'd pose my questions here and see what thoughts everyone has. Again, I know the basics that are on just about every other post, so not looking for a rehash of how the covers work. Main heating for the pool would be through my NG heater, so just trying to determine some way to make it more swimmable more often.

I've got a rectangularish pool--shallow end steps and deep-end love seat stick out from the rectangle, and corners are angled, and I have a diving board at the deep end. it's 17' x 40', not including the steps/love seat. Picture is attached.

So the questions:
1. because I have the diving board, i was looking for 'low profile' reels that would fit under it. But are there alternatives? I'd prefer something that i could wheel away during parties or small gatherings, not something that's essentially always in the way. Most of what I saw didn't have enough pictures/reviews to make me feel comfortable spending the $300-500 on them.
2. Does full coverage of the pool matter? if i just got a 17'x40' cover and left the love seat/steps uncovered, is that a problem? Or do i have to cover the entire surface of the water to be effective?
3. Second part to #2, assuming the answer is "no problem", any reason I couldn't get a 17'x30' cover instead? or even a 20'x17' and cover the pool width-wise instead of lengthwise? if so, it would open my options up further for what I could buy.

I'm just trying to determine if i have any alternatives

 

[ndakotaninja]

Follow-up questions:
1. The cover prevents water from evaporating out, but what about when it rains? Does it sit on top of the cover, or will it drain to the edge and into the pool? or will it sink it in places?
2. It's been asked before but I didn't see anything definitive. If I have a polaris automated vacuum, will the hose moving around with the unit cause the cover to move/bunch as it moves around?

 

[pooldv]

Here's a pretty good solar roller option, DIY Solar Cover Roller

Covering most of the pool is fine and will help a lot.

The more coverage the better. The goal is to stop evaporative heat loss and the water just be covered to stop it.

Rain doesn't sink a solar cover.

I don't have any trouble with the cord for my robot. I don't know about a suction hose.

 

[Perpetual summer]

I have a low profile reel, the problem is the cover takes up a lot of space, so if you have a long run on the real it will drag on ground or hit diving board and prevent it from reeling up all the way.
the rain will just go to the lowest point on the cover, then into the pool. Very little sinkage if any.
i am not an expert but full coverage would be tremendously better than partial coverage. Solar covers make a huge difference in less evaporation and heat loss at night plus adds to increase in temps in even partial sun. You could get one reel for one long section and hand remove the remainder. Or two reels and use the steps portion as the smaller cover. They are lite enough to pickup and move or get casters to wheel out of way.

 

[ndakotaninja]

Or two reels and use the steps portion as the smaller cover. They are lite enough to pickup and move or get casters to wheel out of way.

After I went to bed last night, I started thinking about it, and thought instead of doing 1 log one that doesn't quite cover everything, I could do 2 covers width-wise instead, one for the deep end (including the love seat) and one for the shallow end (including the steps). That would mean I'd have 2 smaller and more manageable/lighter sections to remove instead of one giant section.

Thanks for the thoughts.