by liz
The benefits of a swimming pool solar cover are well-recognised, and indeed, we have discussed them extensively in the past here on the Pool Warehouse blog. Such covers help to keep your pool water warmer, reduce evaporation, save you money on chemicals and reduce the time you have to spend cleaning your pool.
However, even the best-made solar covers are not invincible, which is why you should be sure to follow certain procedures that will help to keep your cover useful for longer.
What lifespan can I expect from my solar cover?
This naturally depends on a wide range of factors, including the brand of cover that you have chosen, as well as its standard of manufacture and the technologies that are incorporated into the solar cover to help to maximise its longevity.
It’s unfortunately typical for many of the cheapest solar covers to only last for one season before seriously deteriorating. However, if you have opted for one of the more trusted and expensive brands, your cover may continue to serve you well for as long as seven years.
But how can pool cover lifespan vary so much?
You may have understandably imagined to yourself that there isn’t much that can conceivably go wrong with a swimming pool solar cover. You may therefore be confused as to how there can be such major differences in lifespan between different covers and brands.
However, it’s important to recognise that swimming pool solar covers are constantly subject to harsh treatment from their environment, including not only pool chemicals such as chlorine, but also Ultra Violet (UV) radiation from the sun.
Consequently, it shouldn’t be such a great surprise that solar covers can suffer in a variety of ways. They may gradually disintegrate – as all solar covers eventually do – or sustain rips and tears, which can look unsightly but don’t necessarily always greatly impact on performance.
Boost your cover’s longevity with a few small steps
It doesn’t necessarily require drastic moves to keep your swimming pool solar cover in good condition for a decent while longer than would otherwise be the case.
Nonetheless, there are definitely steps that you can take, including investing in a reel system – as you can do here at Pool Warehouse – that will make the handling of your solar cover easier, as well as helping to extend its useful life.
When your cover is off the pool, it is also vital to always store it in a shaded area away from direct sunlight. If the cover is left in direct sunlight when folded or wound onto a roller, this will significantly magnify the heat generated by the sun, causing the material to degrade.
As for when the cover is placed on your pool, you should ensure that the cover is never in contact with pool water in which the chlorine levels are extremely high – as will be the case when you are using shock chlorine. If you make this mistake, antioxidants in the cover material will be immediately and severely depleted, thereby speeding up the cover’s ageing process.
We are the place to purchase your next swimming pool solar cover
Of course, one of the biggest moves that you can make to maximise your pool cover’s lifespan is simply purchasing the best-quality swimming pool solar cover you can afford in the first place.
As the only solar pool cover manufacturers in the UK to sell direct to the public, here at Pool Warehouse, we can be trusted to provide the pool cover that will serve both your price and quality requirements.
Why not place your order now for one of our highly rated solar covers, available at often heavy discounts on the Recommended Retail Price (RRP)?
