New Solar Cover owner questions

[smokeygrl]

Hi y'all,
Just cut the solar cover to fit - looks great and I'm hoping it will not only keep the heat in at night (SE PA) but also keep blowing leaves out.
Some questions though. I run our filter for 8 hours at night (when I put the bleach in). Does the water circulate with the cover on? Also, if I shock should I leave the cover off that night?
Biggest challenge right now is keeping the dogs off it - They think its the winter cover and think they can walk on it!
Thank you in advance for your responses.

[tenax]

i wouldn't put the cover on when shocking..it will help it deteriorate faster. a solar cover definitely works..it's not hype. last fall when it was down to 6C overnight, i only lost 1 to 2 degrees off of 26 swimming temp. the cover will keep most debris out, but some will still get in so don't count on it keeping all leaves out..but most will..when you go to roll it up, you're likely going to put some in the pool..some people before taking off spray any debris into the side skimmer with a hose . yes, the water circulates with the cover on

[lorettasweet]

I'm considering getting a solar cover for the first time. Summer temps here stay in the 80's - 90's, but cool off pretty good at nights so there's alot of time thru the summer it's a little cold to use the pool, especially for my young son.

After reading these posts, I always wondered if they really did that much good keeping the water warm. Does it also help "warm" the water if it's kept on during the day when the sun hits it?

Also, I have a 27' round pool, with a deck built on and drop in steps. Would I cut the cover to allow for the steps? Or just let it bunch up as close to the top of the steps as I can get it?

[JohnT]

Water circulates fine, but the skimmer doesn't do much to clear debris. Much of the debris still winds up in the water when you remove the cover. I'd be really careful with the dogs. They'll be goners if you aren't there to help them.

[tenax]

I'm considering getting a solar cover for the first time. Summer temps here stay in the 80's - 90's, but cool off pretty good at nights so there's alot of time thru the summer it's a little cold to use the pool, especially for my young son.

After reading these posts, I always wondered if they really did that much good keeping the water warm. Does it also help "warm" the water if it's kept on during the day when the sun hits it?

Also, I have a 27' round pool, with a deck built on and drop in steps. Would I cut the cover to allow for the steps? Or just let it bunch up as close to the top of the steps as I can get it?

i haven't noticed much in terms of adding warmth..i have a typical blue solar cover. i believe the more expensive clear ones can actually transfer the heat to the pool. but for either one, in terms of keeping water from evaporating which really is where you can lose a lot of heat, they are amazing..if i had to spend 90 bucks a year for a new cover for my pool, it would be worth it. in terms of the steps, i just cut mine so it has a "tongue" that comes folds out from the rest of the cover to allow for where the steps are. when i go to "reel it up", i just fold that piece in before i use the reel so it doesn't tear on me. the reel is the way to go by the way. i have an 18 x 33 kidney shape and i hear of people trying to manually take their cover off and put it aside when swimming..for the 89 bucks a reel cost me, it was well worth it. taking the cover off and putting it back on is a 3 minute operation for me.

[ePoolUser]

I'm covering my pool 24/7, except an hour while we swim most days. I am hardly using any chorine. I was starting to think the test kit is bad, so I checked my tap water (city), it was high, then checked the Brita water and it showed no chlorine. So I suppose the test kit is OK.

Is this normal to not lose much Chlorine when using a solar cover?

TIA,
Steve

[chem geek]

Yes. The use of a solar (or other) cover SIGNIFICANTLY slows down chlorine loss. UV rays from sunlight are cut down a lot so the chlorine only gets used up by combining with organics (and there's less of that because less junk gets into the pool). In my covered pool, the chlorine usage is about 0.5 ppm FC per day at a level of around 3 ppm FC and that's at 88F water temperature.

Richard

[tenax]

yep..between the lack of water evaporation and the shade from the sun, really does help a bunch. i would suggest when it's calm..say after a nice day of swimming in the early evening if it's calmer and sun is down but it's still fairly warm outside, leave the cover off for 2 or 3 hours a day instead of one. leaving it on for toooo long will make it like a greenhouse and promote algae growth..last year when i first got my cover and it was july and high 20s to low 30s, i left my cover on for 3 days and that's all it took for an algae bloom. chlorine was gobbled up at a much faster rate and it went from 5 to 0 in a couple of days and i figure by the morning of hot day 3, i had zero chlorine and one day of no chlorine and the heat was enough to make a mess..now, i'll add that was when i didn't have an swcg for steady output of chlorine and i can't remember if i was using cya to stabilize the chlorine or not at the time.

[NWMNMom]

I like to take the cover off during hot summer days for a couple of hours if possible, it warms the water nicely when there is no wind. Otherwise, our cover is on if we are not swimming. BTW, we cut slits in the cover where the rails for the drop in steps are set. Another thread shows the info on our homebuilt reel from plans Matt had.

[Steve #1]

Biggest challenge right now is keeping the dogs off it - They think its the winter cover and think they can walk on it!
Thank you in advance for your responses.

Solar cover + dogs = bad idea

If they get on top of it, it will sink and envelop the dog and they will not be able to get out.

If they end up under it, it's just as bad.