Everyone knows that using solar covers for swimming pools can heat up your pool up to 10 degrees and above, but many people don’t consider using solar covers for pool to cut down their energy costs.
Almost all swimming pool heat, almost 95%, is lost through evaporation, convection, and radiation to the atmosphere. If you use a pool heater, by using a solar pool cover can reduce your pool heating energy by half .
When choosing solar covers for swimming pools, pay attention to color because it determines the amount of solar energy gained and lost. Also, consider the type of solar covers because they determine the convective and evaporative heat losses. Light colored translucent covers allow solar energy to penetrate the pool, and will also keep the heat in at night (more so than the transparent, dark colored ones that don't allow energy to penetrate to the pool). Also, don’t forget about your pool’s shape, which could be kidney shaped, rectangular, or custom made when searching for pool covers.
A cover should at minimum be made of sheet vinyl attached to a foam-insulating layer. The more expensive "bobble-studded" variety has air pockets in the material to reduce nighttime radiation losses while still capturing losses during the day. Another energy saving heating strategy is to lower the thermostat setting for the pool. For every degree Fahrenheit reduction, you can cut energy usage by nearly 5 to 10%!
Solar covers for swimming pools are a very cost effective way to heat up your pool. By not utilizing solar covers for pools you’re simply throwing away money in heating costs every day!
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