for anyone questioning the impact of a solar cover

[Spensar]

A solar cover by itself won't give you much extra heat. The big benefit is if you heat the pool, therfore creating a big difference between the water and nighttime air temperature - lots of evaporation then! A cover really cuts down the heating cost vs. no cover.

[tenax]

i agree with spensar. without a heater, you'll slow down the loss of temp (my pool was still 77 today..enough heat during the day to keep it up to that i guess) but it was a hot day..over 80..but, no heater to maintain a bit higher warmth at night. as you've probably found out..2 or 3 degrees in the pool can make the difference between swimmable or not..swim until you can't take it anymore, i guess..but don't expect that the pool is going to gain 3 or 4 degrees in a moderate climate where it's cooling off to 50s -low 60s at night.

[Jerry Reeves]

There's no doubt, a solar cover does what it is supposed to do. We started using ours towards the end of the swim season and it does make a big difference - especially for keeping the heat in overnight or on cooler days. Finally closed up the pool and put the winter cover on yesterday. However, the few times we had to fool with the solar cover were frustrating events. IMHO, they're a pain in the neck. Yes, a reel would likely make it easier but we do not have a good place to locate a reel. We have a 12 X 28 AG pool with no deck to attach a reel to. Besides, to me, the reels can be unsightly. We finally got the solar cover dried, folded and put away for the winter but we both feel that we'd just rather pay the cost to heat the pool and the heck with the solar cover.