Manual and Motorized Pool Covers for Swimming Pools

Is your swimming pool covered? If it isn’t, then it is more prone to a host of problems, such as dirty water, reduced water level, and increased energy and water bills. An uncovered pool can also pose a drowning threat to young children and animals.

You can significantly reduce swimming pool maintenance costs by using a pool cover, which provides many benefits. It keeps your pool clean by preventing leaves, twigs, and other debris from entering the pool and clogging its filters. In addition, a pool cover keeps animals and playful children from falling into the pool.

The most significant benefit, however, is the savings since a pool cover can save you significant amounts of money by preventing water evaporation, reducing heat loss, and minimizing the consumption of sanitizing chemicals.

A pool cover keeps the water nice and clean. Doesn’t it feel great to look at a sparkling clean swimming pool every time you open it? There’s no need to rake in floating dead leaves or deal with algae clinging to the pool walls and floor.

Different types of pool covers

There are different types of pool covers for every use and budget. There are covers for in-ground and above-ground swimming pools, while some pools are classified by the method of use.

1) Manual pool covers

Manual pool covers, as the name implies, are traditional covers that you open and close by hand. These pool covers are budget-friendly and resistant to dirt and debris. These covers are also available in lightweight materials.

While friendly on the pocket, the only setback of manual covers is that they require physical labor, which can get tedious with time. Large pools need more than one person to roll in and out the cover. Because of this, manual pool covers are primarily used as winter covers when the pool is closed during the cold months.

There are only two manual pool cover types: the snap-down and the track manual.

Tie-down covers: These covers are stretched over the pool. The ends are tied to the anchors with springs and straps to hold the cover in place. Like many other types of pool covers, tie-down manual covers are usually made of sturdy vinyl or meshed fabric stretched tightly across the pool’s surface. The mesh fabric allows rainwater (or melted snow in colder areas) to pass through without debris. They also allow sunlight to warm the water. On the other hand, solid vinyl blocks rainwater, melted snow, debris, and sunlight.

The great thing about tie-down covers is that they can be custom-made according to the shape of your swimming pool. They need some decking around the pool to tie to the coping securely.

Manual track covers: A manual track cover is a hand-cranked pool cover that rolls along two straight pieces of track, one on each side of the pool. Compared to tie-down manual covers, manual track covers are easier to roll in and out to open and close the pool. They are primarily ideal for smaller pools.

2) Motorized or automatic pool covers – Motorized or automatic pool covers work with a motor that can be operated with a switch that helps roll the covers in and out. The controller can be activated by a button, a specially designed keypad, or a key-activated switch with a removable key.

There are semi-automatic or semi-motorized pool covers that, as the name implies, are partially run by motors but also require some manual operation to roll the cover in and out.

If you own a manual track cover, you can easily convert it into a semi-motorized or fully-motorized one by adding a motor mechanism that can run on the existing tracks. Because of the latest innovations, pool covers can be operated with wireless switches, so there’s no need to install wiring to the mechanism.

Motorized pool covers can also be recessed, either top track or under track. Recessed pool covers are designed for standard rectangular and free-form pools.

• Top track – This type of recessed pool cover consists of a low-profile track mounted outside the shape of the pool or along the sides of the pool. When retracted, the cover disappears into a housing recessed below the deck.
• Undertrack – Also known as a below-ground poor cover, an under-track recessed pool cover consists of a track that mounts under the pool’s coping, practically hiding it from view. The track is then covered with a lid, which can be made from standard aluminum, a metal walk-on lid, or a tray walk-on lid. The pool cover’s mechanism is installed underground at one end of the pool.

If you plan to install a swimming pool or you already have one in your backyard, it’s a good idea to consider safety pool covers. These covers keep the swimming pool, whether manual or motorized, safe during the changing seasons. Most pool owners make it a point to install them to save money on maintenance costs and add security.