Solar Pool Covers

Using a solar pool cover or solar pool blanket will instantly save you a lot of money and cleaning costs. Investing in a solar pool cover will dramatically reduce the heat loss, water evaporation, and chemical usage of your pool. A solar cover will save you up to 60% on chemical costs, and you will conserve and retain up to 50% of normal water loss that takes place because of evaporation.  This means that you will not need to put in as many chemicals, you won’t need to continually refill your pool because of lost (evaporated) water, and you won’t have to clean it as often.

How it works

Pools lose heat energy primarily through evaporation. The evaporation of a water molecule requires a large amount of energy. It takes 1 Btu (British Thermal Unit) to raise the temperature of 1 pound of water by 1 degree. This may not sound like much; however, every pound of 80ºF water takes 1,048 Btu of heat out of the water when it evaporates. The rate at which the water evaporates out of your pool will vary depending on environmental conditions such as the pool’s temperature, the air temperature, humidity, and wind speed. The higher the pool temperature and surrounding wind speed the faster your pool will lose water and heat through evaporation. This can be reduced by planting trees, bushes, shrubs, a fence, or a wall around the pool area to reduce wind speed; however, if you place your barrier too far away from the pool, or if it’s not high enough, you could create an air turbulence flow that will only make matters worse. You also will want to ensure that your pool continues to receive direct sunlight.

Types of Covers

A pool solar cover is made of a special material consisting of UV-stabilized polyethylene, polypropylene, or vinyl.  Pool solar covers are by far the most practical and economical choice. They are made up of many plastic air bubbles (similar to bubble wrap) but they use a thicker grade of plastic that contains UV inhibitors. Vinyl pool covers are generally thicker and have a longer life span than that of solar pool covers but they are not as effective or efficient.

You can purchase manual, semi-automatic, or automatic pool covers. Manual covers of course require you to do all the work. A semi-automatic cover is attached to a rod and reel system. You still need to pull the cover to unravel it over the pool surface and manual guidance is needed. Automatic covers only require the push of a button. They run on a series of mounted reels that are mechanically operated. They are very convenient and very expensive, but they are also very strong and can hold the weight of a person when the pool is covered. They could be a great option if safety is a big concern for you.

For addition pool heating you can look into buying solar pool panels. You can even install DIY solar panels to achieve all of your heating needs.