Water temperature - how am I doing?

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mknmike
Swimming Pool Superstar
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Posts: 221
Joined: Fri 02 Jul, 2021 21:00

Water temperature - how am I doing?

Postby mknmike » Wed 31 May, 2023 08:02

I bought a solar cover and got the water temp up to 68-69 F as of yesterday. We are having highs near 80 and lows in the mid-to-upper 50’s, like 55-58. I try to make sure the cover is on before the air temp drops below the water temp every day/night. I don’t worry as much about taking the clear bubble cover off every day, only when the kids want to use it.

Yesterday I’d left it on thinking nobody would use it, but my daughter was providing a swim lesson to a neighborhood kid, and we had to pull the cover off. I was pleased to see the temp seemed to rise another degree from 68 to 69. It seems like the pool does warm with the clear cover on, maybe more than with it off. I’m guessing not having water on top of the cover helps eliminate evaporation too. So I guess a dry cover is better than a wet one. Air bubbles underneath probably aren’t bad either, even though they don’t look that good.

The looks of the bubble cover are a detraction. It sure looks better without it. I look forward to a time of year when we feel we don’t need it anymore.

Removing the cover is a real hassle. It’s easiest with two people. If we first fold the cover 3 times, the ~3-4 foot wide folded cover and be rolled up on a section of PVC pipe I rest on two chairs. It’s the heavyweight version of the cover. I can see how a more lightweight version might be nicer to fold up more easily. When I get to the end of the roll, rather than dumping the dirty (sometimes green) water that was captured on top of the cover into the pool, I pick up the flap and capture the water to dump on the ground instead of in the pool. It’s just that much more to the whole process.

Rolling out the cover and putting it back on the pool is far less of a hassle using the same PVC pipe and chair method. Sure, I’ve dumped the chair in the pool once, almost twice. But the system works. It’s just an effort. I can make an attempt to video it to get opinions if I’m doing it all wrong.

I’m guessing 69 F at Memorial Day in my area isn’t too bad without any heat source beside the bubble cover, but I wonder if I should be doing better. A family member with a hot tub says theirs is 80 F. I don’t think I will ever get there this year. Maybe that would make us want to stay in longer and not just use the pool for cooling off. I guess it’s all in how you want to use the pool. The kids will use it no matter what. I don’t have time to lay around in the pool all day and read books. My wife might like it that way though. She’s yet to get in the pool this year.


mknmike
Swimming Pool Superstar
Swimming Pool Superstar
Posts: 221
Joined: Fri 02 Jul, 2021 21:00

Re: Water temperature - how am I doing?

Postby mknmike » Thu 01 Jun, 2023 19:59

Temp went up with cover off from 69 F at 1 PM when I pulled the clear cover off, to 71 F around 5 pm. I ran the mini fountain sprinkler above the water and the robot until a neighbor got a swim lesson. So that is probably my fastest temp rise yet. It was nearly 90 F. So maybe a 20 degrees delta will get me half a degree an hour in peak sun with the cover off and sun shining.

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