I install Coverstar and have very good luck here in Tennessee...Yes the water will get hot under the cover So they will be times that you will have to vent the pool by opening the cover. I have have customers that have never turned there heater on. I would look at 7yrs or so for replacement and a yearly cost of $300 for maintenance. A water feature will help cool the water. Also if you looking at salt get a SWG that will let you set a very low percentage or automation controls that will let you set the SWG at a low percentage over a stand alone unit because with the cover you will over chlorine your pool very easily...

Ponz, Interesting quandary! We are going through the same decision right now. We are planning a pool house and pool. Our issue is not related to the budget, but the design limits of a pool fit for a cover. We absolutely want to have a slide (tacky as they may look) BTW - you should look at SR Smith - their turbo twister looks awesome. Lucky for us we can tuck the slide at the back of the yard close to the block wall where it won't be the focal point of the pool. Also, if we were limited to a rectangle shape, the pool would have to be about 25% smaller. With this in mind, we could sacrifice the Baja shelf and spa, but we want it all (of course). I have asked a lot of people about the cover. I have a sister plus several close friends that have the cover. All of the people with a cover are happy with the cover and try to talk me into putting one in, however, everyone who I've talked to that have a pool without a cover love their pool. I have also asked people who were going to put the cover on and decided not to if they regret not putting a cover on - the answer was no. What does this tell me - everybody loves their pool. Good news considering the size of investment. Some things I have considered: *The tile located under the cover (where it is rolled up when fully retracted) always seem to turn a lovely shade of slime. This has happened after a few years with each pool I've seen. What this says to me is - maintenance! It kind of grosses DH and I out - I know I would be under there with a kitchen brush on a regular basis. *After a year or two the cover ends up looking really bad. My sister's is 5 years old - which is probably the average life of a cover - and it is faded and stained where water puddles on it. Again, you can probably scrub the puddle stains off - but again - maintenance. *This may be a Las Vegas thing only, but when the pool cover is on in the summer, and you open up the pool, some spots in the pool are so hot that it is unbearable to get in. We have actually added cool water to the pool to make it swimable. *Replacement cost. It is a hard number to believe, but my sister keeps throwing out $5k as the replacement cost for her cover and says it will need to be replaced every 5-7 years. Now I know I am probably going to stir a little reaction with this post from the cover lovers. I am not totally against them; I just think there are positives and negatives. The main reason I considered the cover is for the safety issues. I have resisted getting a pool until now (my 4 children are 4-12 yrs) because drowning risk scares me to death. DH and I do not feel comfortable that a fence can prevent a drowning. We are now pretty sure we will get a pool safety net. There is a time commitment involved, but the 100% safety rating is the piece of mind I am looking for. We have absolutely decided that safety is non-negotiable, so the net will be on each day after swimming and during all breaks from swimming if a non-swimmer is in the vicinity. We made our final decision based on the feedback that we received from friends without an auto cover, personal observation, and input from kids. Nieces that are in teens wish they had a more exciting pool, always seem to be at other friends pools with slides, diving boards, spas, etc. Son practically begged us not to get a rectangle pool. On a different subject, how much do you think you will spend on the pool house? We need one as the closest bathroom in the house is through the kitchen and down the hall (all over wood floors). Also, hate the look of pool equipment in a tuff shed or scattered all over the deck. As mentioned before, land is at a premium, we can only eek out about 8'X11' for the pool house. I'm curious if you have received a price for yours and how large you are planning. Good luck with all your decisions! Kim

here http://www.aquapoolstore.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=ASPS&Product_Code=GW9500&Category_Code=STRAPC

Hello Barrysag, Our Hydramatic hydraulic automatic pool cover system has the longest most complete warranty on the market at 20 years, including the motors and controllers. Those items on other brands are usually only warrantied for 3 years. And those are your high cost components. Aquamatic is the oldest independent automatic cover manufacturer in the world, and we hold more patents and intellectual property than ALL other covers combined! Regarding salt, the same conditions apply to ALL cover manufacturers. When the water leaves the vessel, and said water evaporates, that leaves a pure salt residue. That is very corrosive (think rust belt in the northeast, what does salt do to road and cars). While we have many, many customers that have salt pools with our cover, and have no issue, there are many that do. The key is maintenance. Meaning you need to rinse the mechanism on a frequent basis, and also clean the cover surface more often. Salt leaves a white chalky residue on the cover surface which beyond not looking nice, will also prematurely dry out the plasticizers in the vinyl. The peripheral maintenance required with salt is not worth the perceived benefits. If you would like a more in depth discussion, I can be reached at 800.262.4044 x205 Good luck with your decision making process