Quote:
Originally Posted by jmarietta
Hello,
We are being offered this option for $4000 for our new T&D pool in the villages. Any comments or opinions? I'm not sure the option is worth it. Thanks
Joe
cleardecksystems*com
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Bubble wrap-type heating blankets don’t really heat your pool enough to matter, but they definitely keep a pool from LOSING HEAT, and we’re talking many degrees every night. You should definitely have one. However, they have two problems. First, as mentioned UV light makes them decay in about two years, so expect to replace them. Second, rolling them up is a bit of a pain, especially if the roller isn’t bolted down, and at my house, it wasn’t. Rolling up the cover was really a two person job, and I lived alone. The result was that it was hard to roll it up in a straight line, and it would double over or roll toward the right or the left.
The Clear Deck system is just a place to store your cover underground so it doesn’t show. It looks much nicer. But it is still a big roll of bubble wrap, and if it doesn’t roll in exactly right, it will jam, and that’s harder to deal with below ground than above ground. It’s more likely to jam with a curved pool than with a rectangular pool. You don’t actually need the bubble wrap during the hottest months unless you like your pool at blood temperature. It might give you an extra month or two of warm enough on each side, especially combined with an on-the-roof solar heating system. December through March, those won’t provide enough heat unless you are okay with a pool that is only 75°. Like swimming in the Pacific. Brrr. A dedicated heat pump for your pool will take care of that, but mine cost $6,000 installed. They cost much less to run than regular pool heaters, whether gas or electric, but even so, I learned to turn it on only a few hours before people wanted to swim. If you want to swim daily, it will probably double your electricity use in the winter. But you’ll be able to have your pool at 90° all winter if you want to. IF you use solar heating on your roof and a pool cover.