Above ground pool help please

Question

im looking to buy a solar cover for a 16 x 24 oval above ground pool. which would heat it the best? a 8mil, 12mil or does it not matter? and by how much would it heat the pool

Answer 1

The thickness isn't really going to have an impact on heat transfer, just on the durability of the blanket.

Solar blankets aren't really a great method for heating a pool. What they do best is to keep in heat that the pool already has by slowing down evaporation and by association, heat loss to the air if it's cooler than the pool water. The top inch or so of the water surface will be warm but that's about it. You'll only get a few degrees of transfer from that layer and it will take some time to do, even in sunny climates. There simply isn't much water movement happening directly under that blanket to spread that inch of warmer water throughout the pool.