Pool covers and heat conservation

Irrespective of the pool heater type used to heat a swimming pool, the biggest single way to save energy, and ultimately fuel bills, is by using a swimming pool cover.

Pool covers also conserve water loss, save on chemicals and prevent debris from getting into the pool. They cost comparatively little, but pay for themselves very quickly.

Conserving heat with a pool cover

Amazingly, it is possible to conserve the heat within an outdoor swimming pool and to reduce a pool's heating bills by up to 80 percent, simply by using a swimming pool cover.

This requires you to use the right cover, in the right way, and at the right times.

How a swimming pool loses its heat

The surface area of any swimming pool represents a massive heat loss zone and heat loss means losing dollars, pounds Stirling, or whatever happens to be the currency of your native country.

Here is an indication of where that lost heat goes.

• Astonishingly to many, an outdoor swimming pool will lose up to 70 percent of its heat loss through evaporation. This figure is dependant upon wind levels, humidity and air temperature, and the presence of buildings or plant life that surround or shelter the pool.
• Something approaching 20 percent of an outdoor swimming pool's heat loss results from radiation to the sky, whilst heat loss through the pool's walls and floor make up the remaining 10 percent.

Why use a swimming pool cover

If you still need persuading, a swimming pool cover will help conserve the pools heat and reduce the extent to which the pool's heater needs to be used. Over the course of a year it will save a considerable amount of money in averted heating bills, a reduction in the use of chemicals and time saved in cleaning and debris removal.

What kind of pool cover is required

The main feature of a good pool cover is simply its ability to cover the surface area of a swimming pool and to prevent heat evaporation. To this extent, any plastic or polythene like material will suffice provided it extends to cover the entire area of the pool.

That said, it usually pays to buy a good quality pool cover which will offer a number of additional benefits. These benefits range from the durability and toughness of the cover material (which needs to be regularly rolled up or folded up over a number of years), to the addition of an insulation layer that adds further heat saving functionality.

Pool cover rollers can also be purchased that allow the cover to be quickly and easily extended over the pool, or rolled up and stored away tidily at the end of the pool when it is not in use. These devices can also be automated with remote control to make the process effortless.

How to make the best use of a pool cover

The easy way to use a pool cover to its optimum is to remember that every time that a swimming pool is uncovered it is losing heat. On cold days, when you see that mist of enticing warm vapour above a pool, that is simply money evaporating away.

Swimming pools need to be covered whenever they are not in use. The best way to use a cover is to take it off the pool immediately before use, and then to put it back on immediately afterwards. Doing so will save a lot of otherwise wasted energy and money.