Solar Blankets....really worth the trouble ????

[CarlD]

I take the different POV. I'm in North Central NJ and in the spring and late summer early fall the solar cover is VERY helpful. Having tried the opaque blue-on-top/black under, the transparent blue, and the transparent heavy-weight clear, I like the last best. I find it insulates when you are looking at days of rain, or cool nights. When you are not using it on sunny days, it really helps warm the water--very useful when you open the pool.

However, they collect a lot of junk in the spring, that you either have to wash off all the time, or falls in the pool--but it least you can skim it quickly.

For a small pool, like an 18' round, I see a reel as pointless--one person can remove or replace the cover, but it's far easier with two. On a larger pool, like my 40'x16', without the reel the cover would be impossible to manage.

[Watermom]

I have a 24 ft AG and a solar cover. It is amazing the difference in the water temp when the cover is used. I had one a few years ago that got destroyed thanks to my two dogs. (The edge of it was hanging off the deck and they managed to get a hold of an edge, pull it into the yard, and have a party.) It didn't take too many days after I no longer had it on the pool to realize how much heat we were losing at night. Yes, they are somewhat of a pain to take on and off. I am still thinking about the easiest thing to do for my pool, but in the meantime, I just drag it off my pool and put it on my deck. I can pull it off easily myself - takes about a minute. (Granted, I am not folding it and covering, etc. like I should. I just pull it off the pool and drag it under a large umbrella to shade it during the day.) In the evening, I usually put it on right before I get out of the pool. Again, not hard to drag back on the pool - 2-3 minutes to get it all spread out. If I'm not in the pool, it it easier to have somebody on the opposite side of the pool to help me put it on.

A little bit of a pain, but definitely worth the couple of minutes. My water is currently about 86 degrees. Without the cover, I struggled to keep it at 78-80 - and that is even with my solar heater. Like I said, still trying to find a good way to roll it up and remove it from my pool. Don't really want to pay $150 to buy one of the reels, but ultimately may have to if I can't figure something else out. Anyone with a large round AG with a good idea, please share and show pics.

(Carl noted that the cover collects a lot of stuff in the spring. That is true, but without it, the stuff would be dropping in the water anyway.)

[Poconos]

Something I just thought of after reading about the rings. How about a plain round cover, then you cut it in 3 sections. Jump in the pool, roll the center one up, then the end pieces. Each would be 8' long and the center one 24' long. That would be the heaviest but should be relatively easy to handle. Better than trying to roll up or drag a single piece.
Just a crazy thought.
Al

[kevincad]

Something I just thought of after reading about the rings. How about a plain round cover, then you cut it in 3 sections. Jump in the pool, roll the center one up, then the end pieces. Each would be 8' long and the center one 24' long. That would be the heaviest but should be relatively easy to handle. Better than trying to roll up or drag a single piece.
Just a crazy thought.
Al

I tried that. I actually cut mine (for a 24' round pool) into four pieces. STILL a pain, unless you get in every time you want to take it off, and put it on. The reel is the only way to go.

[steig]

The 30' round cover is impossible to take off with 1 person. Very hard with 2 people, and a pain in the Butt with 4 people. I would like a reel, but I have a pool fence around the pool. Even storing is a major problem.

[medvampire]

I guess I will have to eat the words I spewed in the beginning of this thread. Two weeks ago I installed solar heating panels. After a few days I dumped my cumbersome solar cover back on the pool. I have quickly learned that the solar cover in conjunction with the heating panels is putting my temps up in the 90s. The best I could get before the solar cover with the panels was the low to mid 80s. I was hitting the high 70s with nothing heating the pool. I have a 7 to 8 drop with out the cover.
I did find a way to make getting the solar cover on and off less painful. I took a 10 ft section of 3 inch of pvc pipe glued 3 to 2 inch reducers on each end and added about 3 foot of 2 inch pvc on each end of the 3 inch. Capped the 2 inch pipe and rolled the cover up. If I get in the pool I can roll the cover up set it across the back if the pool in just a 3 or 4 minutes. The whole pipe assembly is about 16 foot long and floats very well. I can put the cover on and off from the out side but it takes 2 people then.
So solar covers do work but you need a external heat source to make the most of them.
Steve

[Spensar]

If your heating, definately worth it. Good link in this post I put up.

http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php?t=5336

[matt4x4]

I have a 30 foot, before I bought the reel, I would roll the cover up while getting into the pool myself, it was a bit of work since it's so cumbersome and big - a lot of side to side travel, then i would just toss it over the edge on the far end where I mounted about 6 large hooks on the uprights on which it would sit, to get it back on, from inside the pool I would reach over, starting on one end, get it back up on top and unroll it.
With the reel, my life has become really easy managing this mamoth plastic sheet.
I would have to say that an 18 foot cover would be REALLY easy to roll up and unroll since it would only weigh about 1/3 of mine, judging from how mine rolled up, I would have to say that side to side travel while rolling it up would be very minimal on an 18 foot.
I would NOT live without it, it raises the temperature enough to get about 2-3 weeks extra out of a season. It keeps enough heat in over night so the pool is nice and swimmable early in the morning. It pretty much stops evaporation which is a REALLY important aspect for me, being on a well.
We don't have any trees nearby, so dirt collecting on top is a non issue.
For some reason, it also really cuts down on the birds using my pool as a toilet.

[tenax]

got mine about 3 weeks ago for 18 x 28 IG pool and i'm a big fan. with the reel, it's a 5 minute job to take off, 5 minutes to put back on with one person..honestly...and the water evaporation saving is visible along with the heat retained. i'm still burning through the chlorine pretty quick when it's off, but not using stabilizer (i get that today)

short story- i wish i had spent the $400 canadian for reel, cover and casters when i got the pool 3 years ago.

[JimSentry]

Those Solar Rings seemed like a good idea until I read about having to inflate/deflate, then where to store them when its taken off.

I think I'd prefer the liquid fish.

I also have an automatic cover but it looks like crap after just a few seasons. Worst 6K investment I've made.