If you are an outdoor pool, indoor pool, or ground pool owner who has ever considered getting a solar cover, you’ve probably asked the following questions: Do solar pool covers work in eliminating or reducing heat loss? Or, do solar blankets relieve energy costs?
This guide will go over how solar pool covers work, so keep reading!
What Are Solar Covers?
A solar cover is a sheet of plastic equipment, such as a solar blanket, that’s designed to trap heat in your pool. This sheet heats your pool water through solar rays and can keep the water temperature at a comfortable level throughout the cooler months of the year.
How Do Solar Pool Covers Work?
Solar blanket covers work by trapping and holding the heat of the sun in the water. The pool water is heated during the day and remains warm in the evening.
This ensures that if you intend to swim in the colder periods of the day, the system draws on the energy saved and provides heat transfer at night. This extends your swim season and makes it easier to do your part in energy saving.
Solar pool covers do not require any electricity to operate. They are solar-powered and do not need batteries or other power sources.
The water is heated during the day by reflecting sunlight off of the cover, which traps heat in one place instead of allowing it to escape into the air. At night, when there’s no sun, the cover provides insulation, keeping the heat inside.
The solar pool cover operates like a large greenhouse roof over your swimming pool, trapping solar rays all day long until you need them. It’s an easy way to keep your pool warm without paying for expensive heating systems.
Another option that provides the same benefit is the best liquid solar pool cover. With these, you do not have to think about putting solar cover bubbles up or down.
Do Solar Blankets Always Work for Heat Retention?
Solar blankets do have some limitations. For instance, the cover may not do a swimming pool owner much good if there is a solid cloud cover that lasts for several days, as it traps heat in and holds moisture.
Some covers have been known to be damaged by snow or ice buildup from winter weather. Also, it’s best to use your solar pool cover during those times of year when sun exposure is high, namely spring through fall, which are the especially hot months when most people want to swim anyway!
Benefits of Using Solar Pool Covers
A solar cover is one of the essential pool supplies you should have. The benefits of a solar pool cover include:
- It’s an efficient way to keep your pool water warm, helping you save money which you ordinarily would have spent on an electric pool heater or a traditional pool heater. Check our ultimate guide on how efficient are solar pool covers.
- In addition to maintaining a warm pool temperature, a solar cover helps prolong the effectiveness of the pool chemicals and prevents chemical loss.
- A solar blanket prevents water loss by ensuring that pool water evaporation is greatly reduced.
- A solar cover helps to keep your pool clean. It does this by keeping rain and debris out of an outdoor pool when it’s not in use
- A pool cover protects children and pets from drowning.
- It can be used even during the fall and winter months if there’s enough sunshine available throughout the day to achieve warm water temperature.
Conclusion
Solar pool covers do work and can save you a lot of money on heating costs. See how much do solar pool covers cost and compare. The only downside is that the solar blanket won’t do much good if there’s a solid cloud cover for several days or snow/ice build-up from winter weather.
If your area doesn’t get enough sun during those times, then this isn’t the best option to consider. However, most areas do have plenty of sunshine year round, and so, more often than not, a solar blanket remains a key utility for swimming pools owners.
