Best For Inground Pools: Pool Supply World Velox Silver Solar Cover
Size: 16 x 32 feet | Shape: Rectangle | Thickness: 16 mil | Material: UV Resistant | Weight: Not Listed
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Extra durability from 16 mil thickness
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Heavier to fold or roll
This silver solar cover is a great pick for inground pools. The UV-resistant silver-colored material allows the suns energy to pass through to the water below but also protects against some of the effects of UV exposure on pool chemicals. A thickness of 16 mil means extra durability, which is handy if you plan to use a pool cover reel to easily store your inground pool solar cover. Whether you plan to use your solar cover during the day or at night to prevent a steep drop in water temperatures, this Velox Silver Solar Cover has your pool covered. Its available in various sizes ranging from 12 x 20 feet to 25 x 50 feet.
What Is The Best Thickness For A Solar Pool Cover
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Do you want to get the most out of your pool and reduce chemical costs? Did you know that the type of pool cover you choose plays a big role in your pools upkeep? Just the thickness alone can make all the difference in the world. So, what is the best thickness?
To answer that, lets look at some facts about pool covers. Well also dive into some frequently asked questions to determine what kind of solar pool cover is best for your needs.
Solar Cover Thickness Does It Matter
Solar pool covers can be found in 8 mil, 12 mil or 16 mil. In terms of performance, a thinner blanket will allow more heat to pass through to the water, but a thicker blanket will absorb more heat. Thicker blankets are also more durable against UV rays and chemical levels, and punctures or tearing.
However, 16 mil solar blankets are heavier to move on and off the pool, and long blankets can make even stout solar reels sag in the middle, or roll-up too thickly to fit beneath the diving board. Most people purchase the 12 mil cover thickness, its the most popular.
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Is A Solar Pool Cover Worth It
Solar pool covers can be extremely cumbersome. Spreading them over your swimming pool as well as taking them off the pool is time-consuming and awkward exercises that often needs an extra pair of hands.
Additionally, you must clean the solar cover often as part of your pool cleaning routine. This can be an annoying task. So, is all this hustle worth it? If you love swimming in warm water but cant afford a heated pool then having a solar blanket is a worthy investment of time, money, and effort.
What Is The Best Color For A Pool Cover
People often consider clear solar pool covers as the best type of pool covers. However, while clear solar covers offer the best heating, they may not always be the best in all situations.
The best color for a pool cover may ultimately depend on your personal preferences and other factors unique to you. For one, if you prioritize rapid and efficient pool warming, then a clear solar pool cover will work best for you. If you also want more heat gain and a higher rise in temperature, you should get a clear solar cover.
However, if you want some visual appeal, you may opt for a colored pool cover. Some of the solar pool cover colors available include blue, black, or grey. You may also get one with two colors or tones. Of such solar pool covers with two colors is blue-black solar covers and blue-silver solar covers.
If you live in an area that does not get enough sunlight per day, you should prioritize heat retention. To this end, you should get solar pool covers with dark colors. It could be black, dark blue, or even dark grey. These types of solar covers will absorb and save some heat for your pool long after the sun is gone. This way, they make up for the short periods of light from the sun. However, you will need water circulation to distribute the heat within the pool.
Although some colors are better in some situations, clear pool covers will always be valuable in most situations. This may be why they are typically considered the best.
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How Do You Choose The Best Solar Pool Cover
A few factors come into play when choosing a solar pool cover.
- Does the pool cover fit my pool? Rather go for a size that is too big than one that is too small, as a smaller cover will not heat up your pool effectively. Additionally, most solar pool covers can be trimmed to fit your pools size and shape.
- What color do I want? While a darker cover may heat up a pool more quickly, lighter colors tend to keep in the heat for longer.
- Make sure your cover has bubbles. These bubbles allow sunlight to pass through and help with the heating
- The construction material of the pool cover does count. Pool covers made of reinforced UV-stabilized polyethylene are more durable and do not deteriorate quickly when exposed to the sun for long periods of time.
How Fast Does A Solar Pool Cover Heat A Pool
This obviously depends on many factors such as the weather , the air temperature, the wind, the cover thickness and color and even the depth of the pool. See the sections below.
Its ability to heat the pool up is as much a factor of retaining the heat overnight as it is heating the pool up during the day.
In good sunny weather you can see daily gains of as much as 1-2ºF.
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Choosing The Best Solar Cover For Your Pool
What Thickness Solar Cover Is Best?
Well, it depends largely on what you want. If your goal is to simply heat your pool as quickly as possible, youre better off investing in a thinner cover. This will allow for better heat penetration into your pool water. A solar blanket thats between 8 and 12 mil should serve you nicely, although the thinner the cover is, the faster your pool will warm up.
If youre trying to reduce your overall pool expenses, you should opt for a solar cover between 14 and 16 mil. Thicker solar blankets will have a greater effect in limiting evaporation and water usage, as well as your need for chemicals. The thicker the solar blanket is, the longer it will retain heat.
What Color Solar Pool Cover Heats the Best ?
For the best results in heating your swimming pool, you want to invest in a clear cover. For pools that are in shaded areas, clear is also the better option to ensure maximum heating potential. Clear solar pool covers are designed to allow for more sunlight to pass through and into the water.
You can also count on these covers to deliver the fastest heating. The downside to these solar covers is that they dont keep heat retained quite as long as their blue counterparts.
What Is the Best Color for a Pool Cover?
Mesh Vs Solid Pool Safety Cover
A mesh pool cover allows snow and rain water to seep through the cover and into the swimming pool. On the other hand, a solid pool safety cover uses a pump to remove the water from the cover.
- It is typically lighter compared to a solid pool cover.
- Easy to take on and remove from the pool.
- When it rains, you do not need to pump water from the pool cover because a mesh cover allows snow melt and rain water to seep through.
- The leaves dry out when the pool cover is dry. The wind will just blow them off. You do not need to sweep.
- When the snow melts or it rains, the dirty water from the leaves and debris will be in the pool.
- There will be lots of debris at the bottom of the pool. You will need extra effort and time to clean it up.
- Keeps the pool water clean by protecting it from snow melt, rain, and debris.
- If you close the pool correctly, you will have higher chances of opening up a clear pool.
- It is heavier to take on and off the pool than a mesh cover.
- You must drain the water from the cover.
How to Install Your Safety Cover
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Who Wins Clear Covers
As you can see, the clear solar pool cover is better than the blue one. This cover heats up your swimming pool more and does that more evenly.
With a blue cover, the heat that is transferred to the water leaves a layer of water just below the cover. But a clear cover ensures that the heat is evenly distributed.
A blue cover also absorbs less heat, so it doesnt have a lot of heat to take to the water. It allows the sun rays to pass into the water themselves, without causing heat loss through interfering.
Does The Color Really Matter
Just like the way the pool solar cover which side up matters, the color does matter when it comes to buying a pool cover. Actually, it makes all the difference.
Blue color means that less sunlight will pass via the cover into the water. And since the light finds it hard to pass it gets trapped into your solar blanket. So, as you might have guessed, a blue cover will absorb the most light, and a clear model will absorb the least.
But simply because the blue cover absorbs more light doesnt mean that it is better when it comes to heating your swimming pool. Its, in fact, the opposite and this is why.
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Blue Wave Ns110 8 Mil Pool Solar Blanket Cover
Our list of top solar blanket brands cannot be complete without this model. With its superior quality and variety of solar covers or blankets to choose from, this brand retains its popularity.
This amazing blanket covers the pool within its 8 Mil blue color technology. It can raise your pools temperature up to 15 degrees Fahrenheit.
It will prevent up to 95% of pool water and chemical evaporation with the use of a solar pool cover that reduces heat loss more than usual.
Its UV-protected polymer protects your solar cover from deterioration caused by chemical and UV radiation allowing it to be used for a long time.
The solar cover is designed with opaque technology so that your pool gets the full effect of the sunlight and can warm the pool water.
Highlighted features:
- Raises the pools temperature up to 15 degrees Fahrenheit
- Made of UV-protected polymer
What Are The Advantages Of Solar Pool Covers Blue Vs Clear Covers
If you want to spend more days by the pool, we recommend investing in a Solar Pool Cover.
Independent studies show that solar covers can raise water temperature by more than 30 percent. High quality covers also have the two-fold benefit of decreasing heat loss by evaporation and reducing expensive pool chemical decomposition.
Even with a standard cover, the problems of evaporation, humidity, and wind exposure can counteract the heating effects of the sun. Solar covers can help by trapping the full energy of the sun into your water, making it possible to swim comfortably earlier in the season.
In short, solar covers help you get more out of your pool. In general, opaque blue covers let less sunlight penetrate the water, causing heat to get trapped into the blanket itself.
By contrast, clear covers absorb less light, yet allow light to pass into the water. The cover itself is less hot while the water remains steamy below.
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What Is The Best Color To Choose When It Comes To A Solar Cover For Your Inground Pool
As covered above, Solar pool covers are available in several degrees of thickness. In general blue solar covers are lighter and less think than clear or non-colored solar pool covers, this makes them more durable and usually better at heating your inground swimming pool.
Blue solar covers often measure 4 mils and 8 mils . Clear solar covers can measure 12 mils and 16 mils .
Thicker pool covers can be more on the pricey end compared to their thinner blue counterparts. We recommend picking one of our top 3 options we tested and reviewed in detail above based on your budget and how long you want your solar pool cover to last.
Does A Solar Cover Stop The Pool Getting Dirty
Although some seem to suggest that solar covers do at least help in keeping the pool clean, in my experience, this is not one of their benefits. You always have a small gap between the pool sides and the cover so dirt and debris often gets blown towards the edges and then enters the pool.
Also, to keep the cover in good order it is good practice to hose any dirt off the cover before you roll it up so this ends up in the pool anyway while you are using the hose or when you roll it up.
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+ Solar Covers In Stock
We carry 3 unique solar cover styles that can help to maintain the temperature in your pool. Whether your pool is too cold to enjoy consistently throughout the Summer or you’re currently spending a fortune heating it, you’ll be able to extend your swimming season and save money with a new solar blanket. We are Canada’s source for swimming pool solar covers, with over 10,000+ cover shapes and sizes in stock and ready to ship!
In The Swim Premium 12 Mil: Best Round Solar Pool Cover
Reasons to avoid
The In The Swim Premium 12 Mil Solar Blanket is made of polyethylene and its thick material can raise the temperature of your pool by up to 15 degrees Fahrenheit. This can really help cut heating costs.
Raised air pockets on the surface of this thick blanket prevent your pool water from evaporating and protect it from things like falling tree branches or garbage – not to mention small, unwanted insect visitors. The air bubbles also trap heat and keep your pool warm. The thickness of this solar blanket means its pretty durable but the real winner is the impressive seven-year warranty to give you added peace of mind.
This solar pool cover also has UV-stabilized resin to prevent excess damage from the sun. If your pool isnt round, thats not an issue either as you can cut this pool cover to size.
While there arent many reviews for the In The Swim 12 Mil Solar Pool Blanket, it scores an average of 4.5 out of five stars on the companys website. Users state that it effectively warms the water.
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How Long Do Solar Pool Covers Last
Most solar covers last for up to three years, though many people replace them more frequently. Utilizing a solar cover and taking advantage of the return lines in your pool is another way of prevent evaporation as well as distributing the warm water throughout all your pool and quick more efficiently.
Are The Clear Bubble Solar Covers Any Good
I need to buy a solar cover and I’ve read some advertising claiming the clear covers are the best. I have a problem with this claim. How can a clear cover heat better than a black, or blue, or any color cover? I thought that pool covers heat by conduction. That is, the sun heats the cover, and the cover conducts heat to the water. The claims that a clear cover lets the suns rays penetrate deeper into the water, therefore heating it more and deeper, just doesn’t make sense to me. If that’s the case, don’t use any cover and let the sun have it’s own way with the water. As you know this doesn’t work. Just jump in a lake or the ocean in the northern latitudes in summer and the water is cold. Maybe I’m missing something so could someone please enlighten me. A black cover would seen to me to get the hottest, but wear out fastest. To me a good ol’ 12 mil. blue cover seems the best choice for me. Maybe the “clear” covers aren’t actually totally clear, and absorb heat somehow. That’s the only thing I can think of.
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Maintain Water Temperature For Free
Unlike other types of pool heaters, a solar cover helps to maintain heat in your pool for free. Other than the cost of the solar blanket, there are no associated costs to operate your blanket . Proper use of a solar blanket can retain up to 10 degrees of additional heat in your pool, depending on the amount of sun your pool gets throughout the day, and the duration it is exposed to the sunlight.
What Are The Advantages Of A Solar Pool Cover
Solar covers are particularly suitable for the summer months. They then not only protect the water from contamination by leaves, pollen, dirt, or weather influences. You can be rest assured of the thermal condition of the pool when it is not in use, including at night.
A solar cover prevents the water from giving off heat to the air via the water surface. That is, it prevents the pool water from evaporating, while during the day, it uses solar energy to naturally heat the pool water. This means that a solar cover is twice as effective and can help to save not only water but also energy costs.
In the case of small pools, a solar cover can be sufficient to heat the water to a comfortable temperature. For large pools, a solar cover can also be an optimal addition to pool heaters and solar systems.
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