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How a Solar Blanket Can Save You Money

Heating a pool can add hundreds of dollars to your energy bill each season. A solar blanket can help you save money by cutting the amount of heat energy lost due to evaporation.

Evaporation is the cause of about 70 percent of energy losses from pools, according to the US Department of Energy, followed by radiation into the sky (20 percent), and radiation into the ground (10 percent).

How it works

All pool covers help save energy by creating a barrier against evaporation. A solar cover, also known as a solar blanket, goes one step further by efficiently trapping heat energy from the sun, helping keep your outdoor pool warm for less money.

The solar blanket is often compared to bubble wrap used for shipping fragile goods, but it's made of thicker plastic. This sheet allows sunshine to enter the water and then captures the heat energy in those bubbles at night, passing the energy back to the water.

A solar pool cover is lightweight, allowing you to place it easily on the surface of the water. Many pool owners also choose to install a reel to pull the blanket back, and for easy storage.

The more you keep your pool covered with a solar blanket between swims, the lower your heating bill will be. And like the lid on a saucepan, the cover reduces evaporation by up to 95 percent, which helps conserve water and chemicals.

Energy drain

It's great to have an outdoor pool, but weather conditions can be a major drain on heat. Evaporation increases with higher wind speed, lower humidity, and higher pool temperatures.