You can avoid pool accidents by installing an automatic pool cover. Automatic pool covers keep your pool safe and clean by providing a perfect, continuous barrier that prevents leaves, bugs, and dirt from entering the water.
They also reduce the amount of chemicals needed annually to maintain your swimming area. This is all thanks to an advanced watertight seal that automatically opens and closes within seconds.
These covers are great for families with children who love playing in the water! But they’re not just for kids; anyone can enjoy these safety features. Because they can be installed without expensive construction work, automatic pool covers are an affordable way to protect your family’s health.
In this article, we’ll take a look at some of the most important factors to consider when choosing an automatic pool cover for your pool. Remember, it’s a lot easier to decide which one is right for you when you have all the facts.
What Makes Automatic Pool Covers So Special?
Unlike traditional covers constructed with rings that need to pop into place over the pool, these products attach to the pool’s wall or floor with suction cups. It’s a unique design that allows the cover to expand up and over the walls for a tight fit. Thus, even if your pool isn’t perfectly level, this device will stay in place without any trouble.
Few Pros and Cons of an Automatic Pool Cover
Pros
Safety: An automatic pool cover offers security and convenience to your family. An automated pool cover, when combined with a code-compliant surrounding fence, provides maximum protection.
Once you close your pool using a key (or code), dipping into the pool is no longer possible. The covers have a reputation for being quite strong, capable of withholding up to 12 persons; however, we don’t advise trying that claim to test.
Helpful features: Many people like the automatic pool cover because it carries safety features such as an auto-engage feature and a safety cord that applies pressure to prevent your pool from crashing into the wall or the drain, respectively.
These covers also tend to be easy to use and install, which is something you’ll appreciate if you’re not the handiest at home and need help from professionals.
Keeps water evaporation low: If you live in an area that’s prone to outdoor cold spells, an automatic pool cover can help protect your investment—a sudden change in temperature results in a significant loss of heat and increased evaporation rate. An automated cover works as a passive solar blanket, retaining heat and decreasing evaporation.
Keeps contaminants at bay: Because all automated pool covers operate by a keyed switch (or code), no one can access the pool once you close the covers. There are no animals, grass, leaves, or even your neighbors that can enter your pool.
Cons
Installation can be expensive: The installation of automatic pool covers can add between 12,000USD and 25,000USD. The cover is a bit complex, with a recessed track installed between the tile and coping, a gunite cover box at the pool’s deep end, and a cover motor. Additionally, you have to maintain the covers once a year, costing 300USD and 600USD. According to industry standards, you have to change the pool cover every seven years.
When the pool is closed, it is necessary to have a pump with a garden hose hooked on top of the pool cover at all times: As rainfall accumulates on the non-permeable pool cover, you have to place a pump on top to drain the water and prevent the cover from becoming too heavy. Some people are put off by having to lift a pump on and off of a cover because of the difficulty.
Salt or chlorine and other chemicals get trapped in: Because the pool is closed most of the time, chemicals such as chlorine do not naturally disperse. As a result, if you have an automated cover, you should keep chemical levels at their lowest possible levels and check the chemical readings more frequently.
Are Automatic Pool Covers Safe?
The installation of automatic pool covers may be the safest pool cover solution now accessible in today’s rapidly expanding marketplace. Electric pool covers sometimes called “horizontal fences,” provide almost unrivaled protection for your swimming pool investment.
Furthermore, they are fast. A simple switch or button push will deploy a protective barrier over your swimming pool, ensuring that no children, pets, or overindulgent house guests will fall into the water. Additionally, with Wi-Fi-based remote options, you may receive a text message or email alert to notify you if your cover is activated or if it has been left open for an extended time.
“All pool safety covers must hold at least 485 pounds (the combined weight of two adults and a kid) per 5 square feet, according to the American Society for Testing and Materials safety regulation (ASTM).”
Matt Giovanisci, founder of Swim University®
Features to Look for Reliable and Robust Automatic Pool Covers
Sealed Motor
The hardened stainless steel shaft and oil-soaked gears of the motor eliminate motor issues. The motor should also be sealed against water by the manufacturer. So that even when flood submerges the motor or housing, the motor can still function well. Without added water protection, repairs can be more expensive.
Reliable Mechanism
The best automatic pool cover has a strong stainless steel bracket. This is necessary for an automatic pool cover to withstand a harsh pool environment.
Adjustable Torque Limiter
A mechanical torque limiter is a device that protects a motorized system from being overworked. Other automated covers frequently rely on an electronic torque limiter, which might malfunction in an extreme pool environment.
High Tech Powerflex Ropes
PowerFlex rope responds similarly to a shock absorber, allowing it to be more forgiving and self-adjusting while in use. This also resists distortion, which is a common characteristic of powerflex ropes. It also makes it simpler to install and operate, operating with fewer modifications.
Rope Pulleys
High-quality rope pulleys are essential to the overall operation of the pool cover system. We’ve included rope pulleys to look for features because this offers maximum reliability in any pool environment.
Conclusion
As with any significant decision regarding your swimming pool installation, there are advantages and disadvantages to consider. The decision to add an automated swimming pool cover will depend on your budget, desired level of safety, and numerous other determining criteria listed in this article.
We hope you find this article helpful in making a decision on your next pool cover. Also, below are a few pool articles that you will definitely find useful. Check them out! To view more, visit our website. Happy swimming!
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