Yes, your pool may be aqua now, the water calm and still and the atmosphere perfect and as close to paradise as you’re going to get in your backyard. You work hard to maintain the pool and keep it clean and it reflects your efforts. But then overnight, the winds pick up. The next morning, your pool is an unrecognizable pond full of leaves, twigs, and debris from last night’s winds. There goes your little piece of paradise. If you only had bought a pool cover instead of that inflatable floating bar. But hey, it’s never too late to cover your pool. Consider these 10 convincing reasons for finally getting a swimming pool cover.
1. Slows Down or Stops Evaporation
Remember learning about evaporation in an elementary school science class? It’s the process in which a liquid is changed into a vapor, and that’s what happens with your pool water every day it’s not covered.
2. Cuts Down on Chemical Use
Watery red eyes and sneezing are a dead giveaway: Pool chemicals can cause reactions ranging from irritation to allergies and asthma. Using a pool cover reduces a pool’s chemical consumption by 35 to 60 percent.
3. Helps the Swimming Pool Retain Heat
Covering a heated swimming pool at night will reduce heat loss. That means warmer water, which is what anyone who has ever gone swimming in a chilly pool can tell you is very important. For a swimming pool that relies on the sun for heat, covering it at night can still make it warm enough to swim in the next day, instead of losing all the heat overnight when the temperatures drop. You don’t have to buy the most expensive pool cover to notice a difference: lower-cost vinyl and solar covers will still keep the water warm.
4. Keeps Out Leaves, Twigs and Yard Debris
Visualize a pool without a cover. Stuff out of your control blows or falls into your pool: dog toys, dead insects, shedding shrubs and trees, etc. Next, you’ll be out there with a net attached to a telescoping pole, spending your afternoon fishing for random objects. Or, you could use a pool cover and not be chasing down every leaf that lands in your pool. Perhaps have more time to do something like, ummm, swim?
5. Less Maintenance
Do you enjoy vacuuming the swimming pool? Even if you do get an inexplicable thrill from this chore, wouldn’t it be nice to vacuum less often, and for a shorter amount of time? Pool covers make maintaining a pool a whole lot easier.
6. Saves Money
Do you know how certain things are worth the investment? This is one of those things. Buy a pool cover and experience the savings almost immediately. Heating bills will be lower, you won’t have to buy as many chemicals, use as much water, etc.
7. Cuts Down on Energy Costs
Besides saving money, pool covers can help save energy whether your pool is heated with gas, electricity or solar. Saving energy = saving money. Kind of a win-win situation.
8. Can Help With Safety
Swimming pool covers made of sturdy fiberglass mesh will prevent anyone from falling into the water, provided they are attached and installed properly. Some fiberglass mesh covers can hold up to 400 pounds per square foot. Not surprisingly, these covers are heavy and will need to be used with a manual or automatic track system. Other covers, like tarps and solar covers, do not provide any safety against falling through and into the water. Be wary of anyone who tries to sell you a tarp or solar cover as a safety cover.
9. Conserves Water
A covered pool conserves water by losing less due to evaporation. This means you won’t be filling up your pool as often as you did when you were cover-less. If you live in a drought area, using less water is the smart way to go.
10. Can Be Easy to Use
If you can afford an automatic track cover that can be operated with the press of a button or remote control, by all means, step up and save yourself the hassle of wrestling with cover removal. Kind of like something the Jetsons would have used on their boomerang-shaped swimming pool up there in space. Even if you don’t have the funds for an automatic track cover, the other covers are easy to use.
