One of the questions we received about our solar blanket series was “does a pool heat up faster with or without the solar blanket on”? The answer is clearly yes. If you live in a climate were you get a lot of sun the pool will heat very quickly and you will save lots of energy too! In fact if you have hot days and warm nights there is a good chance that you will not need to use your solar blanket all of the time. The pool will stay warm especially with warm summer nights without the solar blanket. There are other benefits as well to using a solar blanket. Here they are:
- Pool heats up faster
- Your pool water retains the heat during cool evenings and days
- Pool water evaporation is reduced
- Chemical depletion of chlorine is also reduced
- Protection of your liner from UV rays extends the life of your liner
Solar Blanket – Pool heats up faster
The pool definitely heats up faster with the solar blanket on than off. All you need to do to test this statement is leave the blanket on during the middle of the day and watch the temperature go up.
In fact we turn off the pool pump during the day to conserve electricity and the top foot of water in our pool actually gets hot. What a pleasant experience to get into a pool when the top foot of water is around 100 F and the rest of the pool is around 80 F! It is so great to float in the top foot of water and enjoy hot tub water without actually being in one. If you just float the water does not mix and just stays hot!
We will leave the solar blanket on the pool until around 1pm and then remove it to go swimming. Of course if the kids or family want to swim earlier we don’t stop them but if we are not using the pool the solar blanket stays on to gain those extra degrees.
Pool water retains the heat during cool evenings and days
If you get a cool day or your evenings are cool, the temperature of the water will drop quickly in your pool. Leave your blanket on the pool to keep the heat from escaping during these cool hours. Monitor the chlorine levels closely to avoid build up of algae and shock the pool every few days. You will also use less chlorine as well.
Pool water evaporation is reduced
With the solar blanket on the pool the amount of evaporation from the pool is much less. You will find that you will have to add much less water to the pool due to evaporation during dry summer periods and hot sunny days. We once had so much evaporation that I thought there was a leak somewhere. As soon as I placed the solar blanket on the pool, I noticed much less evaporation of the pool water.
Chemical depletion of chlorine is also reduced
The same thing applies to depletion of the chlorine in the pool. With the suns rays unable to penetrate the pool water, the chlorine in the water remains to continue to do its job of fighting bacteria in the water.
Solar Blanket Protection of your line from UV rays
Your pool liner like all vinyls is subject to deterioration over time due to UV rays from the sun. With the solar blanket on, there are less rays hitting your liner which will allow it to last much longer. Of course you will have to replace your solar blanket every 3 to 5 years. Since it will deteriorate due to the chemicals and the suns rays.
But this is a much lower cost than replacing the liner of a pool. Our liner is around 20 years old now. I maintain that it is solely due to the solar blanket. I have heard lots of people replacing the blanket after 10 years because the vinyl becomes brittle. It cracks from the constant sun. A new liner can cost five to ten thousand dollars depending on the size of the pool. A solar blanket will cost around $300, a big difference.
Solar blankets have a lot of advantages in addition to conserving electricity which is what this web site is all about. Your comments are welcome. for more solar related posts, click here.