Hello all.
I live near Boston and have an 18 x 36 inground and bought my first
solar blanket 2 years ago. I bought a clear transparent one as the web
site I bought from claimed a clear one would heat the water better.
It works okay. but I wonder if one of the traditional darker blue ones
would work better as dark colors absorb heat while mine may reflect it
back out almost like a mirror? Also, I do get some algae when I leave
it on for a couple of days. Does a blue one prevent algae as the
sunlight is not coming into the water?
Any feedback would be appreciated!
Solar Cover - Clear or Blue?
March 25th, 2006 · 2 Comments
Tags: pumps
2 responses so far ↓
1 Neva Marjory // Mar 26, 2006 at 3:16 pm
I switched from a translucent, ilght-blue to a dark
blue top, black bottom. This is my second season with
it and have noticed a steady 2ยบ increase in warmth.
I did research the clear solar covers as well and came
across similar findings as you did; I flipped a coin and
took the chance at the dark blue/black cover.
I know nothing of thermodynamics, so I can’t offer an
explanation as to why one is better than the other. BLEH…
Tom D
2 Cole Ione // Mar 29, 2006 at 6:20 pm
I’m going to agree with John on this one…we had a typical “swimming
pool blue” cover for 3-4 years…it was very effective in heating the
top 3-4 inches of water, but did little beyond that. This year we
bought a clear cover and have noticed it heats the entire pool (even
to the 8′ depth) to a much more consistent temp.
I was skeptical at first too, but now I’m convinced that the clear
cover is the way to go.
-mark-
Central Maryland
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