Pool covers in New Zealand: solar, thermal and safety
A pool cover is a sheet that sits on or over the water when nobody is swimming. A solar bubble cover keeps heat in and lets the sun warm the water, a thermal cover holds more heat, a winter or mesh cover keeps debris out, and a rigid safety cover is built to take weight. In New Zealand none of them replaces the pool fence: only a small heated pool, such as a spa, may use a cover as its barrier.
Updated 16 September 2026.
What should I look for in a pool cover?
Start with what you want the cover to do: hold heat, cut evaporation, keep leaves out or stop someone falling in. Then check it is cut to your pool's shape with a little overlap, that one person can get it on and off (usually with a roller), the material's thickness and UV rating, and the warranty. A cover nobody can be bothered taking off ends up on the lawn.
The most common cover on New Zealand home pools. It floats bubble-side down, lets sunlight through to warm the water, and stops the warm surface losing heat to the night air. It is the cheapest form of pool heating there is, and it makes every heater work less. Hydro-Québec, the Québec power utility, estimates a solar cover used 16 hours a day saves up to 45% of heat-pump heating costs over a Montréal summer, and says it also cuts evaporation and the chemicals needed. That is one utility's modelled example in a different climate, not a New Zealand figure, but the direction holds.
Thicker, insulating covers, often closed-cell foam, that hold more heat than a bubble cover but let less sunlight through. They suit pools heated by a heat pump or gas, and pools used in spring and autumn when nights are cold. They are heavier and stiffer, so plan on a roller.
Covers stretched over the pool and anchored at the edge to keep leaves and debris out over the off-season. Mesh lets rain through so water does not pond on top; a solid winter cover keeps more light out, which slows algae, but needs the water drained off it. Useful under trees and in autumn, but not a heat-saving cover.
Rigid or tensioned covers, often motorised, built to take a load so that someone who falls onto the cover is held up rather than pulled under. They cost far more than a floating cover, and they are the only kind worth calling a safety cover. Even so, on a swimming pool they do not replace the fence (see below).
A floating cover should be cut to the pool's shape and sit right to the edges, or heat and leaves get past it. A roller on a stand makes it a one-person job. Store a solar cover out of direct sun when it is off the pool, or rolled and covered, because UV breaks the plastic down and a cover cooked on the lawn fails quickly.
In New Zealand a residential pool needs a means of restricting access by young children, and for a swimming pool that means a barrier such as a fence and self-closing gate. Building Code F9.3.2(b) allows a cover instead only for a small heated pool (a spa of 5 m² or less), and only where the walls are at least 760 mm high all round and inhibit climbing. A floating solar cover is also a hazard in its own right: a child who goes in at the edge can end up under it. Take it fully off before anyone swims. Our spa pool rules page and the fence checker cover the details.
What we sell: nothing, yet
We have no supplier for pool covers yet, so there is nothing to buy here and no price. Tell us what size and type you need and we will email you once, when there is.
When a supplier is signed, this page will list real products at real prices and name who supplies them, who dispatches them and how long it takes. Until then there is no product grid and no price on this page, because there is nothing we could actually send you.
Questions
Do pool covers really keep the heat in?
Yes. Most of a pool's heat leaves through the surface at night, and a cover stops much of that. Hydro-Québec, the Québec power utility, estimates savings of up to 45% on heating costs from a solar cover used 16 hours a day, in its own modelled example. Results here depend on your climate, your heater and how often the cover is on.
Can a pool cover replace a pool fence in NZ?
Not on a swimming pool. Only a small heated pool, such as a spa of 5 m² or less with walls at least 760 mm high that inhibit climbing, can use a complying cover as its barrier (Building Code F9.3.2(b)). A swimming pool still needs a compliant fence or barrier.
Solar or thermal cover?
A solar bubble cover lets the sun warm the water and suits an unheated pool or one with solar heating. A thermal cover insulates better but lets less sun through, and suits a pool kept warm with a heat pump or gas.
Should I leave the cover on all the time?
Leave it on whenever nobody is swimming, and take it fully off before anyone gets in. Hydro-Québec also suggests taking it off every couple of days so the water gets air. In a heatwave a solar cover can push an unheated pool warmer than you want; leave it off on those days.
Do you sell pool covers?
Not yet. This page is a buying guide with no products on it. When we have a supplier we will list real covers at real prices, and say who supplies them.