What are the benefits of using a solar cover?
Climate change is becoming an increasing concern for pool owners looking to reduce their energy and resource consumption. The industry has responded with heat pumps to heat the pools more efficiently and salt-water chlorinators to reduce chemical consumption. A pool owner can even insulate the walls and floor of the pool. But many pool owners underestimate something as simple as the benefits of a quality pool cover and its positive impact on resource consumption. Evaporation caused by sun’s radiation is responsible for 70% of the heat loss from an outdoor pool.
Water resources are precious, and their preservation is becoming of increasing global concern as the human needs for clean and safe water are constantly increasing.
Water is an essential but strained resource globally and is something many of us take for granted. Owning and running a swimming pool will naturally increase a household’s water usage significantly due to things like back-washing, and water splashing out of the pool. A substantial percentage of your pool’s water consumption will also be due to evaporation.
There are many do’s and don’ts when it comes to owning a swimming pool but perhaps one of the most important things to remember, for an energy and resource efficient pool is that it should always be covered whenever it is not in use. During summer season in Cyprus the average uncovered pool will lose approximately 30.000 litres* of water to evaporation
* Based on an 8x4m pool (41,600 litres) in the pool season in Cyprus.
Our GeoBubble™ covers provide a barrier over the pool eliminating 98% of evaporation and preserving this vital resource. Without a cover, the potential energy wasted due to evaporation is huge.
For example, it would take 583 kCal to evaporate 1kg of water at 26°C equating to 12.7 million kCals for your average swimming pool over the season. This is a staggering 14750 kWhs, enough energy to power your TV 475 hours or 5 hours a day for 95 days (that is a lot of Netflix!).
With a solar heating pool cover you stop the energy from the Sun evaporating water and instead harness this energy to help heat your pool. So, by covering your pool with a GeoBubble™ cover, your pool heater does not have to work as hard, ultimately saving you money on your energy bill.
All GeoBubble™ covers will provide this essential Evaporation Control, as well as Heat Retention, Debris Control and Temperature Control for your pool, and GeoBubble’s unique bubble design means that the expected lifespan of your pool cover is increased by 25%.
Which cover type?
All types of pool covers will provide you with greater evaporation control when compared to an uncovered pool, but which cover type has the best performance?
A study carried out by the California State Polytechnic University investigated the evaporation reduction efficiencies of a range of pool covers, the results of which are shown in the table below:
| Cover type | Average Efficiency |
| Liquid Cover (isopropanol and ethanol) | 14.4% |
| Solid Track Cover | 93.9% |
| Foam Cover | 95.9% |
| Standard Bubble Cover | 94.9% |
| Solar Disks | 50.1% |
The study showed that liquid covers and solar disks provided substantially less effective evaporation control, with foam being the most effective, and a standard bubble cover showing around 95% efficiency.
However, from the GeoBubble™ manufacturer’s evaporation control testing the average efficiency was raised up to 98% evaporation reduction.
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