solar pool cover vs. bubble wrap

I need to make a winter shelter for an outside cat. I've heard that a solar pool cover can be used to warm the shelter and it can make it quite toasty in there. I've also heard people say that bubble wrap can be used instead. Does bubble wrap really work?

I thought about testing it out by making two little model shelters out of shoeboxes, using bubble wrap on one of them. Then stick both boxes in the sun with a thermometer in each box.

Originally Posted by lilblu

I need to make a winter shelter for an outside cat. I've heard that a solar pool cover can be used to warm the shelter and it can make it quite toasty in there. I've also heard people say that bubble wrap can be used instead. Does bubble wrap really work?

I thought about testing it out by making two little model shelters out of shoeboxes, using bubble wrap on one of them. Then stick both boxes in the sun with a thermometer in each box.

Click to expand...

I'd be interested to hear the results of that, I will be making up some shelters too. I was using mylar, I don't know how effective that was.

I don't know, but I would try just bubble wrap first..... Solar pool covers, at least the one we had, was basically just coloured bubblewrap IMO. (It disintigrated after ummm 2yrs of use)

Please do let us know if you do the experiment

We had the same experience with the solar pool cover. Ours disintegrated after a year of being in the garage during a cold winter. It did look just like bubble wrap.

I saw a suggestion somewhere...maybe it was here...to make winter shelters out of styrofoam coolers. You can tape them closed, then just cut an entrance hole. They're insulated, so they provide some relief from the cold.

devoted to winter shelters. Just google winter shelters for cats and you will get a lot of info. I'd give you the site, but we just switched from aol to time warner and I lost some of my stuff on the computer. There is info from I think NYC shelters on how to make warm shelters for feral cats. We made two and the ferals were very comfortable. Good luck.

I have a solar pool cover and it does look like a big sheet of bubble wrap - the bubbles keep it afloat in the pool. There is a coating on 1 side that amplifies the sun's rays. The problem is, there are warnings in the instructions that you should never leave it out in the sun without the non-coated side being in water. I would honestly think that bubble wrap wouldn't work, as it's not coated to absorb the heat from the sun. So unless you can find a solar cover that doesn't disintegrate in the sun outside of water, neither solution will work.

My outdoor shelter is a big wooden structure and I use old pool floaties (the styrofoam tubes) to insulate the corners. I have a heated bed and water bowl inside.

With extreme temps abounding, I wanted to bump this old thread since it shows up at top of google results.

YES, Solar pool covers DO work and are superior to bubble wrap.

I have tested this myself as I am amping up protection for ferals outside.