Winter is coming and that means freezing temperatures and cold, stong winds. In your plans to close down your pool for the winter, a careful decision about the type of pool cover you’d prefer is essential. Throughout Burlington, Hamilton, Niagara, Cambridge, and Kitchener- Waterloo, pool covers are a requirement for protecting your pool from the elements, preventing unsightly debris from piling up, and providing an important safeguard for children and pets…but which cover is right for you?
A typical “standard” winter pool cover for your on-ground pool is made of pool liner material and is designed to keep out dead leaves, debris, and sunlight during the months you’re not using your pool. Theses covers are affordable, readily available for on-ground pools and easy to install. The lock-in winter cover for Smart Pools on-ground pools is made of heavy gauge pool liner material and simply locks in to the same existing coping that your on-ground pool uses to hold your liner in place. These covers are designed to stay firmly in place and generally are a high performing option for your on-ground pool.
Of course there is a much sturdier and secure option in pool covers, called safety covers which offer a number of added benefits over the lock-in winter cover. Lock-in winter covers will keep out debris and sunlight, but they typically can’t hold substantial amounts of weight. Safety covers, on the other hand, are purposely built to be extra strong and are able to keep unattended kids and small animals out of the water. Most are made of varying density mesh which will protect your pool and keep out debris like leaves and tree branches. They’re impressively strong and are held in place by a network of heavy-duty straps and bolts drilled in to the pool surround which means they stay firmly anchored in place all winter long and can easily support thousands of pounds. And, although mesh safety covers won’t block out all sunlight, most of them offer some degree of sun protection to help inhibit algae growth. In addition, because water can pass through the mesh easily, there’s no pool cover pump required.
Swimming pool safety covers will cost a bit more than standard winter swimming pool covers, and installation is slightly more labor-intensive. However, many swimming pool owners find that the extra cost and work is worth it. If properly maintained and stored, safety covers last longer than standard covers, and they’re strong enough to keep children and small animals safely out of your pool, leaving you with fewer worries all winter long.
