Question:
We cover our pool with black EPE sheets of 20mm thickness to prevent heat loss and save energy. During the day, is it better to leave the pool covered during the day (preventing heat loss by evaporation) or to uncover the pool to allow max passive heating by solar radiation? In other words, is the heat gain by passive solar radiation on a sunny day enough to compensate for the heat loss by evaporation?
Replies:
Chris
That sounds like an interesting experiment. And all you would need would be
a thermometer.
If your pool cover is black, my guess is that it would be best to keep the
pool covered because the black cover will absorb all of the light energy
that falls on it. However, there are so many variables in the experiment,
like color of the cover, size of the pool, air temperature, etc. that it
would probably be best if you run the little experiment yourself.
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