I have an octagonal above-ground unheated salt-water pool, about 4.8m in ‘diameter’ (i.e. measurement between parallel sides).
My old summer cover (bâche à bulles) is past its best and I need to replace it this year. A quick Google has revealed dozens of companies all insisting that their cover is ‘le meilleur’ without any real justification at costs ranging from below 100€ to over €500. Variables include weight of material (200gm to 500gm seems to be the range), black ones that absorb heat, silver ones that reflect heat, blue ones that… look blue???
Any advice or recommendations gratefully accepted.
I bought a custom made one, in black and quite heavy duty. Cant remembered where from, but it was about €350 for about 32m2. Mind you, this was probably 7 years ago but its still in good nick, and it does heat the water up, especially if the pump is running . The “bulles” can easily fail in the cheaper ones.
Morning, without a doubt the Geo Bubble covers are the best. Why? The shape of the bubble, no sharp corners to the bubble shape so the plastic is not thinner and weaker in the corners like conventional covers and the proof is conventional covers fail producing 1000’s of little plastic cicles where they have failed at the corner edge of the bubble.
The shape also means any dirt is easier to clean because of no corners to get trapped in.
Whilst black gets hotter the water gets hotter but this is towards the surface. A clear blue cover allows the suns rays to penetrate deeper heating further down into the pool. The silver ones are for heat retention, reflecting the heat of the water back into the water for heated pools.
The grade matters for longevity thinner ones can get blown off in a strong wind 200 grade. 400 is thicker, 500, thicker still and I believe they have a 600 grade now.
Several mail order companies in France also Cash Piscine and others doing them now.