This might belong in IMHO but I think there is a factual answer out there somwhere…
I recently bought a house with a built-in swimming pool that has an attached spa. The pool is not huge, only about 18,000 gallons, and since it’s been hot here in Northern California as of late it’s stayed at over 80 degrees with little or no heating. The pool (and spa) heater is a natural gas heater.
The spa is round do I got one of those inexpensive solar bubble covers for it… more to keep it clean than to keep it warm. But what are my options with regard to the pool itself? It’s a modified kidney shape so any cover I would get for it would have to be custom made (or cut out myself), and there’s really no place to put the thing when we are actually using the pool (I’ve seen those giant rollers that you can roll the cover up onto).
Is it worth getting a cover for the pool? I notice a lot of evaporation (about 2 inches a week) and of course when the temperature starts to cool off the heater will be running a lot more. I’m not adding lots of chemicals since it’s a salt water pool.
Would getting a solar pool heater make more sense financially in the long run? Should I really get both the solar hot water heater as well as a cover for the pool?
Buy a solar cover as close to size as you can, the stuff cuts real easy with scissors. For storage as I pull it off my pool onto the patio I fan fold it and double it over a few few times. They fold nice and small with practice and can be put aside when the pool is in use.
I think the rollers are a pain, but if you are alone or not as nimble they could be worth it.
I just wanted to be the first to point out that I am thrilled that you got your own pool and it is a saltwater one given your user name.
I’m curious; does the pool actually have salt water in it? Or are you using a SALT chlorination system? Either way does the water taste salty?
It’s a salt chlorination system. You need to keep about 3000 to 3200 ppm of NaCl in the pool and it generates all the chlorine it needs from from that.
Apparently most people can’t taste the salt until it reaches about 3500 ppm (by comparison the ocean is 35,000 ppm) although some of my friends have noticed a slight salty taste. The salt recycles itself so the NaCl level doesn’t go down until it rains or you have to refill the pool.
The nice thing is that I don’t have to add any chlorine… ever… and you don’t feel the least bit sticky when you get out of the pool. This system seems to work well… and yes, I used to train dolphins for a living at a marine park a long time ago (hence the moniker) and I enjoy swimming in truly salty water.
We had a kidney shaped pool when I grew up. We had a solar cover that was basically three pieces, a big long one on a roller that was essentially a rectangle that went the length of the pool, and two much smaller pieces for the bulbous parts. A bit of a hassle, but not much really. I don’t remember how it was made, I think we just bought a big cover and cut it ourselves to spec.