Solar Pool Heaters

Solar pool heaters can use pumps, tubes and panels, for sure. But the simplest and cheapest solar pool heaters so far would have to be those plastic pool blankets.

A swimming pool blanket is actually a large plastic cover made out of bubble-wrap type material. This allows the pool blanket to float in your swimming pool, on top of the water, where it conserves heat and saves you water by reducing surface evaporation.

The swimming pool blanket is also an excellent insulator, because of the air that is trapped in each of the thousands of bubbles between the layers of the plastic sheeting.

When you want to swim in the pool, the thermal pool blanket is wound up onto a large roller, which stands at one end of the swimming pool. It is usually at one of the narrower sides, which allows the use of a smaller roller and therefore saves you some money.

When you are finished swimming for the day, all you need do is unroll the pool blanket once again so it covers the whole pool. Heat loss will be minimized, and when the sun comes out the next day the water will begin heating up at a faster rate than is possible without a blanket.

Pool blanket solar pool heaters are not expensive. Prices start at less than $100 USD for small paddling and swimming pools, and less than $100 USD for an 18-foot long solar blanket reel.

(Prices are were checked by doing a quick search of eBay in March 2009.)