Solar Pool Blankets

It surprises many that swimming pools in the tropics can get really cool in the winter months.

Certainly ours does. Of course, we're 7-9?F cooler in Jarabacoa that the valley, even cooler that StoDgo.

Our pool is now getting cool enough that I kinda gulp before jumping in. I'd pay heavily for 10? or more warmer pool water.

A solar or gas pool heating system is out of the question. So I'm considering a solar pool blanket, and possibly a reel system. The blankets are like heavy duty bubble wrap and reportedly stop 95% of evaporation, warm the water up to 20?F and reduce chemical consumption by around 50-60%. I figure the savings in chemicals (I use about 7g of chlorine a week to keep the water sparkling; the chloro guys comes around every Friday and I fill up 1.5g jugs for RD$40 a gallon, less than half of the store price) would pay for the blanket in 4 months or so.

Another big bonus is the pool will stay a LOT cleaner and algae won't grow as readily in a darker environment, saving labor & chemicals.

So I'm looking around and find that a decent 18 x 36 solar cover will cost around $200-225 MOLall-in ($150 for the cover, $50+ to ship 25lbs.), by the time it gets here. The reel, an option is more spendy (I'll prolly McGyver something with PVC pipes and pieces to make a reel; I'm guessing $30 or less.)

Then I'm thinking: I can't be alone. I'll bet I'm not the only one who might like this way to extend their swimming season fairly inexpensively.

But I'm cheap. Well, not cheap, but I don't like to just throw $$$ at something without looking for better ways. I've looked into volume purchased from Chinese manufacturers of pool equipment to see if a dealio can be struck on higher volumes, inquiring about minimum purchases and possible customization. I do know the minimum manufactured (non-McGyvered) reel is 5; don't know the price, but a reel is around US$200 in the states. Plus shipping, etc.

So I'm reaching out to see if any pool owners want to chat about joining me with a lower cost volume purchase.

Does anyone have experience with solar pool covers?

I have also read about liquid covers, but am very skeptical. Any experience with them?

retiree said:

We use a liquid solar blanket. Ours come in the form of a small plastic fish that sits on the bottom of the pool and we change it once a month. It forms a tiny layer on the top of the water. When you swim it is dispersed but otherwise sits on the top. We do not notice it.

It has brought up the temperature in our pool in the winter from a usual 75 - 76 degrees to around 80, unless we get a solid week of cloudy weather. It has made a big difference.

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Thanks.

I've researched those.

Seems the best environment is low humidity/low wind. Neither apply to the DR. Any wind that kicks up separates the molecules on the surface and you're where you started.

But I have given the liquid a lot of consideration.

chic said:

make your own....u can do it...

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That's the plan. Get some folks together and buy in bulk. Has to be much cheaper, and from what I have found, doing it yourself is a breeze.

I'm thinking clear 12mil stock. Clear raises the pool temp more, while colored raises it more quickly, but not as high.

pelaut said:

Retiree's soluntion sounds good unless future liability lawyers discover the chemical is somehow deliterious (like half the ads on TV — the other half are Big Pharma's drug ads that will be the subject of the first half's next year).

For an old fashioned solution: Our pool in Sweden (at 62? latitude on a high cliff over the Skategatt off the North Sea) was "warm" enough in winter to use it after a trip to the sauna. All our neighbors' pools were frozen over. We covered ours in multi-colored ping-pong balls which of course you could dive right through. Darkest colors are best to absorb solar heat.

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The ping pong balls act in a similar fashion to the bubbles on a solar blanket: insulation.