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Do Solar Pool Covers Prevent Evaporation? A Comprehensive Guide

Solar pool covers have been a popular method of heat conservation for some time now. The heat from the sun is absorbed by the cover and then transferred to your water, which results in reduced heat loss and maintenance of a warm water temperature.

This has led many people to wonder if solar pool covers prevent evaporation as well. In this post, we will be answering several questions you might be asking about how solar pool covers prevent evaporation.

What Is Evaporation?

When the surface of your pool is exposed to air and wind, the water in it evaporates. The water molecules rise from the surface of the water and evaporate before escaping into the atmosphere.

solar pool cover

Evaporation also takes place on cold nights, when a heated pool loses its water volume due to moisture formation in cold air. Evaporation is responsible for up to 70% of the water loss in pools, as indicated by research conducted by the U.S Department of Energy.

Do Solar Pool Covers Reduce Evaporation?

It’s been scientifically proventhat pool covers do reduce pool evaporation. It’s actually the best way to conserve your water. Covers can dramatically slow down the speed of evaporation, especially on warm days and cool nights.

A study by Cal Poly researchers was performed on 12 test pools in 2016 to evaluate the evaporation control efficacy of solar blankets, solar rings, and liquid solar blankets. They focused on pool owners’ efforts to limit pool water evaporation, which is a major problem in drought-prone California.

According to the researchers’ findings, automatic covers, solar covers, and foam covers all offer comparable efficacy, with a 95 percent efficiency rating.

Pool covers offer other benefits too. Along with saving water, they retain more heat, reducing energy demands on your pool equipment. They also keep your pool cleaner, and keep it safer as well.

How Do Solar Pool Covers Prevent Evaporation?

It’s really easy. Pool covers form a non-porous barrier above the pool, trapping the evaporating water beneath the pool cover. Leaf covers are ineffective since they’re constructed of woven fabric and don’t seal the surface of the pool like solar blankets do.

How To Use a Solar Pool Cover?

During your swimming season, a solar cover is a necessity. Basically, solar covers are always placed with the bubble side down.  If you prefer swimming in your pool during the daytime, then make sure you remove the cover before diving in and replace it immediately after you’re done.

The efficiency of a solar pool cover is determined by whether or not the evaporation and other heat losses averted by the pool cover is more than the loss caused by it.

This balance may be affected not only by the type of cover, but also the climate. The pool water’s rate of evaporation may rise in dry and/or windy situations. Therefore, it would be better to use a bubble or clear cover during daylight.

clear solar pool cover

In warm or humid climates, the rate of evaporation is lessened. In this instance, it may be more helpful to leave the solar blanket off during the day.

Conclusion

The benefits afforded by solar covers are just too numerous to shrug off. Aside from preventing the evaporation of pool water, they also maintain pool chemical levels in the water, aid in heat retention, and can act as a safety cover (if they are designed as such and not solar rings).

As a swimming pool owner, you should take advantage of these benefits and get the right blanket for your pool today.