Safety Cover or Automatic Cover: How to Choose

Sooner or later every inground pool owner decides how the pool will be covered. The two choices we install are a safety cover and an automatic cover. They do overlapping jobs in different ways, and the right one depends on how you use your pool, your yard and your budget. Here is how we explain the difference to customers around Cranberry, Mars and Butler.

The safety cover

Our line on safety covers is that a swimming pool should be a place of relaxation, fun and family time, but safety always comes first. We also say that a properly installed safety cover is one of the most important investments you can make to protect your pool, your property and the people around it.

Safety covers are meant to support weight and prevent accidental entry into the pool. Mesh safety covers are the familiar style, stretched across the pool and held in place by anchors set into the deck. In general trade terms, a mesh cover lets rain and melting snow drain through while keeping leaves and larger debris on top. Installation is the part that matters. The cover only works as a barrier if it is fitted to your pool and anchored properly, which is why we say "properly installed."

The automatic cover

An automatic pool cover is a simple way to make your pool safer and more energy efficient. When closed, it creates a barrier while reducing heat loss and water evaporation. For the homeowner, that means lower energy and chemical use, less maintenance, and a pool that stays warmer and cleaner when it is not in use.

We put it this way: an automatic cover delivers big savings and safety, automatically. You open and close it with a control instead of dragging a cover across the pool and setting it by hand. One thing we are upfront about is that proper water chemistry and regular maintenance are required to ensure safe operation and to protect the pool, the cover system and the surrounding areas. An automatic cover is a mechanism, and mechanisms need care.

Side by side

• Daily use: a safety cover is typically put on for the season and taken off for the season. An automatic cover opens and closes as often as you want to swim, which suits families who use the pool a few minutes at a time.
• Barrier: both are built to keep people out of the water when the pool is not in use. We would not call one the only safe choice.
• Heat and evaporation: covers of any kind reduce evaporation, which is the largest source of energy loss for a pool. An automatic cover is easy enough to close that it tends to get used every day.
• Effort: a safety cover means taking it off and putting it on by hand. An automatic cover means a control and a system to maintain.
• Installation: both need professional installation to do their job.

On cost, we are not going to guess in a blog post. The two options are priced differently because they are different products, and the right number depends on the shape and size of your pool and the deck. Ask us for a quote.

Questions to ask yourself

These usually settle it:

• Will anyone realistically close the cover every night? If the answer is maybe, think about the automatic.
• Do you want the cover mainly for winter protection? A safety cover is the classic fit.
• Do you have small children or pets who visit the yard? Talk to us about the barrier you want when the pool is not in use.
• How much do you want to handle the cover yourself?
• Is your pool already built, or are you planning a new one? A cover is easier to plan for at the design stage.

We install safety covers and we also offer automatic covers, so we have no reason to push one over the other. The goal is the cover you will actually use, and the one that fits your pool.

Work with your pool

Whichever way you go, keep up with the basics. A cover is a barrier and a way to cut heat loss and chemical loss, but it is not a replacement for balanced water and a clean filter. If you want to look at the covers in person or talk through your pool, call 724-352-7549 or visit the store on North Pike Road.