What Are the Top 5 Reasons to Get An Automatic Pool Cover?

It’s no secret that automatic pool covers are often considered the best way to cover your backyard swimming pool. Whereas other types of covers may have a useful function or two, automatic pool covers go above and beyond, providing numerous reasons as to why they’re the best choice for safety, savings and peace of mind.

5. Aesthetics

Due to technological advances and thinking outside the box, swimming pool covers can now be designed to fit any shape pool and do it in a way that the automatic covers are virtually hidden from view when retracted off the pool. You have spent a lot of time designing your backyard retreat and you do not want an important safety feature such as your automatic cover to take away from your pool’s looks. Thankfully, even when deployed over the pool, the cover fabric comes in a variety of colors so you can choose one that helps it blend seamlessly into your backyard design.

For example, consider the Atom model by Coverstar – a low offset mechanism for automatic safety covers with reduced size. The smaller profile provides a more aesthetically pleasing finished appearance to your poolscape.

4. Durability and Warranty

Automatic pool covers are good examples of return on investment. They are made of high quality parts that include materials like high grade aluminum and stainless steel, state of the art electronics, high torque motors, long-lasting cover fabric, and many other extremely durable materials and parts. Most manufacturers are confident enough in an automatic pool cover’s durability that they will back it up with some of the most outstanding warranties you will ever see on a product.

3. Ease of Use

The trouble with most swimming pool covers is they are cumbersome and take a long time to put on and take off the pool. This makes some covers, like bubble or solar covers, inconvenient to use — you don’t get any benefits from an unused cover! An automatic pool cover is quite the opposite, it rolls on and off the pool automatically with the press of a button or turn of a key; it does not get any more convenient than that. It is this ease of use that makes automatic pool covers a standard for homeowners as they are used significantly more than any other type of pool cover.

2. Savings

Savings are another great benefit of swimming pool automatic cover ownership. Not only does an automatic pool cover provide an isolation barrier for safety, it can also save you expenses on water, chemicals, and heating your swimming pool.

When the cover is on your pool it actually saves you water. Evaporation is one of the leading causes of water loss in a swimming pool. An automatic pool cover not only minimizes the effects of evaporation, but it actually goes a long way towards stopping the process of evaporation from even beginning since there is no air gap between the surface of the water and the cover. Some studies show that solid pool covers stop 70% or more of the water loss from evaporation. This can be a source of significant savings each year on water usage.

Also, since the chemically treated and balanced water is not evaporated away, autocover use could save you significantly on the cost of chemicals for your swimming pool. Since the water is not replaced so often, new chemicals will also not need to be replaced as often.

If you heat your swimming pool, the effect of having an automatic pool cover can be very dramatic and traps a significant amount of heat that would normally be lost. This can save you a tremendous amount of energy when it comes to maintaining the desired temperature in your pool. Think of a deployed automatic safety cover like sleeping in cold room with a blanket covering your body versus without a blanket. You’re much warmer with a blanket on. A safety cover acts as a blanket over your pool, keeping the heat inside and the pool warm.

1. Safety

Safety is the first and foremost reason to purchase an automatic pool cover. A deployed automatic pool cover – one that is open, covering the water of your pool – is one of the safest ways to cover your swimming pool. It is considered safe because an automatic pool cover actually forms an ‘isolation barrier’ when it is closed over the swimming pool; it seals off all the sides of the pool and significantly aids in the prevention of accidental drowning by children, non-swimmers, and pets. When purchasing an automatic pool cover be sure that it is certified to the ASTM F1346-91(2010) or later. These requirements are the standard performance specifications and labeling requirements for all safety covers for swimming pools, spas and hot tubs.

See why the Wagner family chose to add an automatic safety cover to their pool project (min 1:57).

These top 5 reasons are only a few motives as to why homeowners across North America include automatic pool covers to their pool projects. No matter where you are in the pool planning process, a local independent dealer in your area can help determine which automatic safety cover is best for you and your family’s needs.

Editor’s note: Article originally published 12/2017. Updated for relevance and clarity.