Sun2Solar solar cover review
Two series, two thicknesses, and one honest problem: Sun2Solar publishes no specification sheet we could retrieve. Here is what can be said anyway.
Quick picks
Both Sun2Solar series plus the closest alternative, ranked on published lifespan tier and handling weight.
| # | Product | Best for | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | No photo The one to buy Sun2Solar 1200 Series Crystal Clear Solar Cover 12-mil clear. Better cost per year for most people, and lighter to handle. | Most pools, most budgets — the default recommendation | |
| 2 | No photo The one to buy with a reel Sun2Solar 1600 Series Ultimate Blue Solar Cover 16 mil is the better long-run value if handling weight is not an issue. | An inground pool you cover most nights, every season | |
| 3 | No photo The alternative Blue Wave 12-Mil Solar Blanket Same thickness tier, often cheaper. Nothing published separates them. | Buying on price within the 12-mil tier |
#ad We earn a commission if you buy through this link, at no extra cost to you. It never changes the ranking. How this site is funded. Prices last checked September 2, 2026.
What Sun2Solar is
Sun2Solar is one of the most widely stocked solar cover brands in the US and it appears in essentially every roundup in this category, including the only one that states a hands-on method. Its covers are sold as numbered series, and the numbers correspond to thickness: the 1200 series is a 12-mil film and the 1600 series is 16 mil.
The sourcing problem, stated plainly
We tried to retrieve Sun2Solar’s published specifications on 2026-09-02 and could not. The company’s website serves its catalog as a JavaScript application that returns no product text to a plain request, and there is no downloadable datasheet.
That is not unusual in this category — the same was true of every cover manufacturer and major pool retailer we tried — but it is worth saying rather than papering over. Everything below is either from a third party that published it, or is our own arithmetic. There is no manufacturer specification in this review because we could not read one.
What is actually known
Bob Vila’s hands-on comparison included both the Sun2Solar 1200 Series Crystal Clear and the 1600 Series Ultimate Blue, alongside covers from Blue Wave, Intex and Doheny’s. The stated method was an hour on the water in mid-afternoon sun, and the reported result was that “each of the pool covers increased the temperature 4 to 5 degrees Fahrenheit in 2 pm sun on 89- to 92-degree Fahrenheit days.”
So: the 12-mil clear and the 16-mil blue performed the same, within a one-degree band, in the only test in this category with a published method. If you were hoping for a reason to prefer one on heating, there is not one in the published record.
(Before you plan around 4 to 5 degrees an hour, read our reconciliation of that figure — the physics says a full pool cannot gain that fast, and the likely explanation is stratification in the top layer of water. It changes how you should read the number, not whether the covers are good.)
1200 or 1600?
Since heating does not separate them, the decision is between service life and handling weight — and it is genuinely a decision rather than an obvious answer.
| 1200 Series | 1600 Series | |
|---|---|---|
| Thickness | 12 mil | 16 mil |
| Typical color | Clear | Blue |
| Published lifespan tier | 3-4 years | 5-10 years |
| Cost per year | Better than 8 mil, worse than 16 | Best in the category |
| Handling weight | Manageable solo on most pools | Two-person job without a reel |
| Measured heating | Same | Same |
Lifespan tiers are Swim University's published category figures, not Sun2Solar warranty terms. The measured-heating row is Bob Vila's finding across their whole group.
Buy the 1200 if you do not have a reel, your pool is large, or you would rather spend less and replace sooner.
Buy the 1600 if you have a reel, or your pool is small enough to handle a heavier cover alone. On cost per year it is the better buy, and the only thing standing against it is whether you will actually deploy it.
What we could not assess
This is the section every review in this category leaves out, so here it is in full. Without owning these covers across seasons we cannot tell you:
- Whether Sun2Solar’s film survives its published lifespan tier in practice, or falls short of it
- How the material handles being dragged over rough coping, which is what actually kills covers
- Whether the cut dimension is generous or tight against the stated size
- How the clear film clouds over multiple seasons of UV exposure
- Whether quality is consistent between production runs
Those are real gaps, and we would rather name them than fill them with confident-sounding sentences. What we can tell you is the arithmetic on what any cover is worth to your pool, which we do here.
Every pick, in detail
What each one publishes, what is good and bad about it, and — the section this category usually omits — what we could not judge without owning one.
Sun2Solar 1200 Series Crystal Clear Solar Cover
The value pick, and the one whose logic actually holds up. A clear cover transmits more sunlight into the body of the pool instead of absorbing it at the surface, and 12 mil is the point where lifespan stops being the limiting factor. Bob Vila measured this and the 16-mil blue at the same 4 to 5 degrees in an hour, so you are paying less for the same measured result and giving up some years of service life.
Best for Most pools, most budgets — the default recommendation
| Thickness | 12 milThe manufacturer publishes no retrievable specification sheet; figure is as listed at retail. | Retail listing |
|---|---|---|
| Color | Clear | Retail listing |
| Stated lifespan | 3 to 4 years for the 12-mil clear tierSwim University's published figure for 12-mil clear covers generally. | Retail listing |
| Bubble side | Bubbles face the water | Published standard |
4 to 5 degrees F in one hour
Claimed by Bob Vila, measured across all covers in their group. Conditions: One hour under 2pm sun on 89 to 92 degree F days. Source
- Clear transmits more light into the water instead of stopping it at the surface
- 12 mil is the sweet spot: real service life without 16-mil bulk
- Cheaper than the 16-mil tier with no measured heating penalty
- Shorter published lifespan tier than 16 mil
- A clear cover shows algae and debris more obviously, which some people dislike
- Whether clear genuinely outlasts or under-lasts blue in the same thickness
- Real-world tear resistance at a pool with rough edges
- How much the clear material clouds over a season of UV
These need a unit in hand across a season. We do not have one, so we do not have an opinion worth printing on them.
#ad We earn a commission if you buy through this link, at no extra cost to you. It never changes the ranking. How this site is funded. Prices last checked September 2, 2026.
Sun2Solar 1600 Series Ultimate Blue Solar Cover
The cover to buy if you intend to keep using it in five years. 16 mil is the thickest tier the category sells, and thickness on a solar cover buys durability rather than heat — Bob Vila measured every cover in its hands-on group at the same 4 to 5 degrees, from 12-mil clear to 16-mil blue. Pay the extra for the one that survives being dragged over the coping twice a day, not for a temperature difference that did not show up in the only published one-hour test in this category.
Best for An inground pool you cover most nights, every season
| Thickness | 16 milThe manufacturer publishes no retrievable specification sheet; figure is as listed at retail. | Retail listing |
|---|---|---|
| Color | Blue | Retail listing |
| Stated lifespan | 5 to 10 years for the 16-mil tierSwim University's published figure for 16-mil covers generally, not a Sun2Solar warranty statement. | Retail listing |
| Bubble side | Bubbles face the waterCategory-wide instruction, not brand-specific. The bubbles are the insulating layer and they have to touch the water. | Published standard |
4 to 5 degrees F in one hour
Claimed by Bob Vila, measured across all covers in their group. Conditions: One hour under 2pm sun on 89 to 92 degree F days. Source
Their figure was the same for every cover they put on the water. Read our reconciliation of what a one-hour reading actually measures before you plan around this number.
- Thickest tier sold, which is where the durability difference actually is
- Blue absorbs more of the incoming energy at the surface than clear does
- Cuts oversize to your pool shape with household scissors
- Heavy and awkward at 16 mil — a large inground cover is genuinely a two-person job without a reel
- Costs meaningfully more than the 12-mil version for no measured heating advantage
- Whether the seams hold up over five seasons of daily handling
- How the bubble layer survives repeated dragging over rough coping
- Whether the stated lifespan tier holds for this specific product line
These need a unit in hand across a season. We do not have one, so we do not have an opinion worth printing on them.
#ad We earn a commission if you buy through this link, at no extra cost to you. It never changes the ranking. How this site is funded. Prices last checked September 2, 2026.
Blue Wave 12-Mil Solar Blanket
A straightforward 12-mil blanket that competes on price and on the size range it comes in. The interesting thing about it is what it shares with everything else here: it was in the same hands-on group as the Sun2Solar covers and posted the same one-hour temperature change. If the price is better than the equivalent Sun2Solar on the day you look, there is nothing in the published evidence that says you are giving anything up.
Best for Buying on price within the 12-mil tier
| Thickness | 12 milThe manufacturer publishes no retrievable specification sheet; figure is as listed at retail. | Retail listing |
|---|---|---|
| Color | Blue | Retail listing |
| Shapes | Round and rectangular, wide size range | Retail listing |
| Bubble side | Bubbles face the water | Published standard |
4 to 5 degrees F in one hour
Claimed by Bob Vila, measured across all covers in their group. Conditions: One hour under 2pm sun on 89 to 92 degree F days. Source
- Often the cheapest way into the 12-mil tier
- Broad size range including the awkward rectangular dimensions
- Blue rather than clear, so more energy is absorbed at the surface
- No published specification sheet to compare against anything
- Whether the material is meaningfully different from other 12-mil blankets
- Seam and edge durability over multiple seasons
- Consistency between production runs
These need a unit in hand across a season. We do not have one, so we do not have an opinion worth printing on them.
#ad We earn a commission if you buy through this link, at no extra cost to you. It never changes the ranking. How this site is funded. Prices last checked September 2, 2026.
Questions people actually ask
Is Sun2Solar a good solar cover?
What is the difference between Sun2Solar 1200 and 1600?
Which Sun2Solar cover should I buy?
- U.S. Department of Energy pool-energy figures (evaporation share, BTU per pound evaporated, cover savings, recommended temperatures, wind effect)Recreonics, reproducing and attributing the U.S. Department of Energy · read 2026-09-02
- U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Saver: Swimming Pool Covers (archived — the live page now returns 404)U.S. Department of Energy via the Internet Archive · read 2026-09-02
- Hands-on solar cover comparison: 4 to 5°F measured in one hour of 2pm sun on 89–92°F days, with the method statedBob Vila · read 2026-09-02
- Solar cover guide: 0.7°F per hour under noontime sun, 10–15°F held, and published lifespan tiers by thicknessSwim University · read 2026-09-02
- Water density: 62.424 pounds per cubic foot at 39.2°FU.S. Geological Survey, Water Science School · read 2026-09-02
Every URL above was fetched and returned content on the date shown. Where a figure is ours rather than somebody else’s, the arithmetic is on the page and on the methodology page. If you find an error in it, we would genuinely like to know.
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