Solar Sun Rings - any good?

[Jimbo]

Somebody locally is selling a quantity of these rings - new idea on me. Anybody here using them - useful product or a gimmick?

More here: http://www.h2ofun.co.uk/solar_sun_rings.asp

Jim

[e-richard]

I have no idea how efficient they are (probably very mildly so), but here's the catch:

To work, they need to be on the pool during the day when the sun is shining. Isn't that when people want to be swimming in the pool?

[Marks]

Neighbours had these a couple of summers ago, gave up after 2 weeks.

[Jimbo]

Thanks Richard and Marks for your comments. Also wondered how it would be possible to know if these devices were actually working, unless you had a spare pool to use as a control. Liked the idea at 6am - but I'm rapidly going off the boil!

Jim

[janny]

A friend with a villa in Florida has used these but has now changed back to a solar blanket mainly because of the storage problem-they are not supposed to be stacked on top of each other so in theory need a lot of space when not in use but what generally happens is that once removed they are just thrown in a heap at the side of the pool making the pool area very untidy.They were quite efficient they say but just did not work for them.They don't have to be on during the day -they used them overnight during the winter time to keep the heat built up during the day with the heater -in.

[tree-peony]

we tried these and they do make a noticable difference to the water temp BUT

they don't stay on the pool! they either blow off totally, or clump together at one end. waste of time.

[Jimbo]

... they don't stay on the pool! they either blow off totally ...

Thanks all for helping me to make up my mind. TP's vision of the entire solar fleet, after one of our occasional wind squalls, flying over our grounds like the alien invasion in 'Independence Day', did for me in the end!

Jim

[fincafern]

I saw a large quantity of these rings for sale ( very cheap ) in our local flea market last week - obviously someone else didn't think much of them either.
We use a daisy cover on the heated pool and it has been great for holding the temperature in over night - we are really pleased with it. I can highly recommend them, so does our son, who worked in pool shop for a while.

[FretaF]

I'm sure they work about as efficiently as a solar blanket for swimming pools. Although it would seem that there are spaces between the rings for the heat to escape. I think if your rental is always busy, then these would be useless as well as the solar blankets because people would always be using the pool. I think the solar heaters would be a better option to warm a pool that is always in use.

[helene]

We have these rings and after some usage I would suggest they would be good for a smallish above ground pool as they are effective (even with the gap) although not as effective as a thermal blanket at night especially in Brittany. But you cannot roll them up and if your pool is a reasonable size (ours is 10 x 5 metres) then you have to fish them out individually. I did not find they were affected by the wind as the magnets are amazing and have used these for other jobs.

As to what we currently use then we have now bitten the bullet and bought a telescopic all weather cover (Abrideal) which I can recommend especially in Brittany at the moment. It means all weather swimming and it certainly retains the heat.
helene