" wrote in message
oups.com...
The wind is howling outside like a winter storm, but some day it's
going to warm up and I'll want to open my in-ground swimming pool. In
order to extend the season (I live in Maryland), I'm thinking about
either a solar blanket or a "pill". The former appear to be made out
of the same bubble wrap you see in packing, and require a reel to take
them off the pool. The latter is apparently a substance that slows
down evaporation, which presumably is the main form of head loss.

The pills are not supposed to be as efficient as the blankets (perhaps
the blankets have a slight insulating value, and at a guess they're
better at retarding evaporation); the ad claims 60% of a blanket's
efficiency. On the other hand, a blanket plus reel for my size pool
(22x44) costs a minimum of $700 and are warranted for 6-8 years, while
the "pills" cost maybe $30 for a four-pack and last "up to" 30 days
(I'd need two at a time for my size pool). So figure four to six per
season (a month or so at beginning and end of season). And the
blanket looks like a lot of hassle to put on and take off, and to
store when it gets hot out, and in the winter.

Presumably the chemical from pill doesn't feel oily when you're
swimming.

Thoughts? Given the difference, I'm leaning towards the pill, but I'm
skeptical about how well they work. And it's hard for me to do a
scientific comparison, since I only have one pool :-).

Mike Maxwell


i don't know about the pills... but i have a blanket and it's worth every
penny
to me.. the reduced evaporation and increase in temps make it worth the
hassle..
i have a solar heating array as well and the combination extends my swimming
season by at least 3 months

On Apr 18, 6:42 pm, "TheDoc" wrote:
" wrote in message

oups.com...



The wind is howling outside like a winter storm, but some day it's
going to warm up and I'll want to open my in-groundswimmingpool. In
order to extend the season (I live in Maryland), I'm thinking about
either a solar blanket or a "pill". The former appear to be made out
of the same bubble wrap you see in packing, and require a reel to take
them off thepool. The latter is apparently a substance that slows
down evaporation, which presumably is the main form of head loss.

The pills are not supposed to be as efficient as the blankets (perhaps
the blankets have a slight insulating value, and at a guess they're
better at retarding evaporation); the ad claims 60% of a blanket's
efficiency. On the other hand, a blanket plus reel for my sizepool
(22x44) costs a minimum of $700 and are warranted for 6-8 years, while
the "pills" cost maybe $30 for a four-pack and last "up to" 30 days
(I'd need two at a time for my sizepool). So figure four to six per
season (a month or so at beginning and end of season). And the
blanket looks like a lot of hassle to put on and take off, and to
store when it gets hot out, and in the winter.

Presumably the chemical from pill doesn't feel oily when you're
swimming.

Thoughts? Given the difference, I'm leaning towards the pill, but I'm
skeptical about how well they work. And it's hard for me to do a
scientific comparison, since I only have onepool:-).

Mike Maxwell

i don't know about the pills... but i have a blanket and it's worth every
penny
to me.. the reduced evaporation and increase in temps make it worth the
hassle..
i have a solar heating array as well and the combination extends myswimming
season by at least 3 months


I have a 27,000 gallon pool and I am using solar pills in addition to
heating with 24x12 feet of solar panels (about 40% of the area of the
pool surface, less than the 50% or more recommended) and without the I
feel that the solar panels heat about 8-10 degrees more than pools
around here without a heater, and with the pill it's another 3-5
degrees according to my very unscientific tests. I hope to do some
real accurate tests, as each day is a little different and I could
have been using the pill on a hotter day. Hmmmm, time for two buckets
of water, one with a cc of drops from the pill and one without. But I
can say that the pill is inexpensive ($10 or so retail at beginning of
season) and very convenient, no blank to mess with. I would strongly
recommend the solar heaters though. Check out my web site that I'm
creating (http://www.mypoolkit.com) for pictures of the solar panels,
they are well worth the money at about $1000 invested. If I have the
heat going to my spill-over spa only, it heats up to 105 degrees in no
time!

Kent

http://mypoolkit.com