Prevent heat from escaping your pool: Retaining heat is especially important at night, when the air is cooler than the swimming pool. Directly convert solar radiation into usable heat: In an in-ground pool, a cover can increase the water temperature by 5 degrees F for each 12 hours of coverage.
Insulating the Pool Water from Heat Loss
Air bubbles in the pool cover act as an insulator in a similar way that your thermos would keep water warm. A pool cover will, therefore, keep your pool water warmer for longer.
For a pool that is completely covered by a solar blanket, and one that gets at least 6 hours of direct sunlight on the pool, a 10-15 degree F gain is not unusual. Solar Blankets will also reduce heat loss and evaporation by as much as 95%, depending on 1) amount of surface coverage and 2) average nightly temperature.
A pool that is uncovered can lose up to 5 degrees F overnight; a good cover can cut that loss by half. Used at night or whenever your pool is not in use, the pool cover can help save fuel costs by cutting heat loss regardless of the type of heating you utilize.
Keep Heat Inside the Pool
An automatic pool cover also performs the function of being a THERMAL BLANKET. When it covers the swimming pool it traps the heat in the pool much like a regular blanket does when you cover yourself on a cool night.
Even when a cover is tightly secured to the pool, the elements will put stress on the cover's seams. Not only is the cover prone to ripping, but it may become loose as a result. This, in turn, increases the risk of debris falling in the water. Even during rainy weather, it is recommended to keep pool covers off.
You should cover your pool every night for several reasons. First off, a pool cover saves energy and conserves water by decreasing the amount of make-up water. Also, it reduces the consumption of chemicals, and finally, it saves a lot of cleaning time since it keeps the debris out of the pool.
So while a solar cover won't actually 'turn your pool green', it will warm your water by up to 8 degrees, so if the other conditions are right, adding a solar cover can easily accelerate algae growth, very rapidly. You need to get the water balance in your pool right before putting the cover back on.
If your ambient temperature is decent and there is not much wind, leaving the pool cover off will heat the water faster (and not just heat the cover and the water near it).
The blue material is translucent, which allows UV rays to pass through the cover and into the pool and does well enough to block heat from escaping the pool.
Evaporation occurs year-round, but your pool loses water at a faster rate in summer due to the extra heat. A pool cover will block excess heat from reaching the water and also trap moisture, so it doesn't evaporate into the air. This can help reduce your water bill as you won't have to refill your pool as often.
You can leave your pool cover on any time you're not swimming. In fact, it's recommended. During daylight hours, the more you keep the pool cover on, the more efficiently it will heat your pool.
Pool covers reduce the amount of UV light coming into contact with the water. This is an important advantage as the pool chemical chlorine is degraded when exposed to UV light. This means you won't be required to add as much chlorine, which can save you time to refill and money purchasing the chemicals.
A pool cover reduces the amount of UV light coming into contact with the water. This is an important advantage as the pool chemical chlorine is degraded when exposed to UV light. This means you won't be required to add as much chlorine, which can save you time to refill and money purchasing the chemicals.
For this reason solar covers (unlike solar rings) will actually block sunlight and keep heat out of the pool during the day – not magnifying the sun like many people will assume. So for these reasons a solar cover should be put on in the evening and removed in the morning, for maximum benefit.
The cover is designed to touch the surface of the water. So your pool should always be filled when covered, and the water level should never go below 18 inches from the top of the pool. Check the water level of the pool and fill it up if it goes below 18 inches.
Is It Safe To Run The pool Pump With The Pool Cover On? It is safe to run the pool pump and filter with a swimming pool cover on. The pool cover doesn't in any way stop or hinder the pool pump from circulating the water or carrying out its function.
When preparing your pool for a storm, leave it uncovered. Installing any kind of cover across the pool will not do much to protect against dust and contaminants because storms often bring strong winds and heavy rain that can cause the cover to lift off your pool.
Always remove the cover during times of extreme heat.
Removing the cover frequently also allows sunlight to burn out unwanted chloramines from the water.
A swimming pool tarp, for example, that's black on both sides is like a giant solar panel. Because a black tarp on a swimming pool's water surface traps solar heat energy, it will eventually turn cool, refreshing pool water into a tepid, warm bath.
Dark Blue solar covers do the best job at keeping the heat in a pool, and although heat absorption and convection is higher with a darker colored solar blanket, the net heat gain during the day is less than with clear blankets.
How many degrees will a solar cover heat a pool? On average, a fully covered pool can gain between 10-15 degrees on a sunny day within about 6 hours.
Generally speaking, you should have the solar cover on the pool whenever the pool is not being used. During the day, having the cover on the pool helps to prevent water and chemical evaporation in the hot sun and also warms the pool.