Swimming pool novice

[R & H]

Hi there - possibly buying place with a pool, as we've never had a pool before can anyone give us an idea of how much the running costs would be, we understand that it is salt water, and solar heated but need to budget for general maintenance etc. Thanks

[Guest Pstewart]

Pools aren't the cheapest things to run. However, the fact you have solar heating and a salt chlorinated pool is an excellent start!!

so that just leaves your chemicals and pump. Your chemicals won't break the bank at around $50 per month for a salt pool. Your biggest expense is running the pump for 8 hours a day in the summer. My pump is an older one and my electricity bills have almost doubled in summer compared to when I had no pool at all!! There's also the time cost as running a pool takes a little devotion every few days. I'm used to it now though and has become somewhat of an obsession for me. Clark rubber have excellent info and help with running a pool. You should go and talk to the staff at your closest Clark rubber.

[ian mc]

The biggest cost is running the pump they tell you to run it for 8hrs in summer and 4 in winter I run mines for about 4 hrs in summer and thats not every day sometimes only a couple of hours if its not being used. In winter I run it an hour a day every day and never had any problems. Once the pool is set up to the correct PH etc it cost nothing to run $20 a month and less in winter as its not being used.

[R & H]

Pools aren't the cheapest things to run. However, the fact you have solar heating and a salt chlorinated pool is an excellent start...

 

Thanks Pstewart, really useful information much appreciated.

 

R & H

[R & H]

Thanks Ian mc

 

Most helpful

 

R & H

[Guest Pstewart]

Forgot to also explain that a salt pool is cheaper because the salt is cheaper than chlorine plus needs less attention. I know someone with a salt pool that has a complete blackout pool cover.come the end of summer they just chuck in a bag of salt, put the cover on and don't even run the pump all winter. Come summer they take the cover off and it's almost perfect!! Lucky sods!! Lol

[Guest bigal]

The biggest cost is running the pump they tell you to run it for 8hrs in summer and 4 in winter I run mines for about 4 hrs in summer and thats not every day sometimes only a couple of hours if its not being used. In winter I run it an hour a day every day and never had any problems. Once the pool is set up to the correct PH etc it cost nothing to run $20 a month and less in winter as its not being used.

I agree with Ian what I did with my pool was cut the pump time down an hour at a time leave it for a week if it still looks clear maybe reduce the time by another hour if the water clarity changes then increase the time accordingly,once you got the water correctly balanced you shouldn't need much maintenance, don't neglect the chlorinator you need to treat it carefully, I used to put mine once a fortnight in a cut off 2 litre milk bottle fill it with 90% water 10% acid leave it for ten minutes and it would come up like new. Make sure there are not to many trees about dropping leaves and debris into the pool.

[R & H]

Thanks, great to receive good advice as usual on this forum.

[tina&steve]

have my pool, its a pain in the ass!!!!!

[jim and adel]

We have a pool and I don't understand most of the advice on this thread - I must go back and read the instructions, this has got me worried! We run our pump for probably longer than it needs, the pool has a cover which keeps debris out, and we occasionally (and that's a big occasionally) check the PH and chuck in some salt or acid. Obviously it costs to run the pump but we don't spend anything like $50 per month on chemicals. As for fiddling around with the chlorinator, I don't even know what it looks like!

 

Jim

[Guest bigal]

have my pool, its a pain in the ass!!!!!

I wanted to say similar but I didn't want to appear negative.Hee Hee

[stanley246]

Hi there - possibly buying place with a pool, as we've never had a pool before can anyone give us an idea of how much the running costs would be, we understand that it is salt water, and solar heated but need to budget for general maintenance etc. Thanks

 

That depends on type construction of the pool and size , usage and who uses it ..... we have a concrete/tiled 55'000 Ltrs. and controlling the PH is slightly more intensive than a plastic/glass enclosure due to the activity of the tile grout etc. but hey its no big deal maybe over the season I use an xtra 10 +/- ltrs of acid (over a plastic set up) acids cheap $15 for 5 LTRs.....Our filter/chlorinater pump runs 2 hrs am and 2hrs pm during summer months(with Chlorinator output @ 50%).....saying that our pool is aways covered while not in use as UV rays will deplete chlorine levels and water evaparation can be severe....kids in and out wearing sunblock, and mutts jumping in also have a major affect on chemical balance.....when we built we installed a pool shower which helps control pool balance.

During winter we have a Walco Winter cover and the pool basically becomes a rainwater tank as in no maintainance require while cover installed , solar pump and filter cycle for 5mins per day to avoid seizure during this time,

In summer the chlorinater is acidized once a month and over the season maybe 2 to 4 KG of buffer is added to protect chorine, now because we cover the pool when not in use and our bombing days are over (dam) we have very little water waste so usually no salt required (for the last 3years )....so for us cost in minimal to enjoyment ratio......Salt Water pool is the way to go

Rgs 246

[Guest Pstewart]

salt water pool is much better! unfortunately i have a chlorine pool which i inherited with the house. i also have a leak which is fun!!...not!

as for the chlorine, i got talking to the guy at Clark rubber to which he informed me that they have a chlorine with UV protection that is more expensive but we will use less of it. sure i thought, this guy is full o crap!!

however, he was right and i use a tenth of the chlorine i used before! what is the name of this chlorine i hear you ask?? i have no idea but i can find out off the wife as she remembers everything!!! be lost you without you love!! lol

[Guest daysdownunder]

As a rule a pool uses around 3000kW per year to run, at current electricity prices (30c per kW) that's round $900 a year. If you work out how much a gym membership or going to the local pool costs it's not bad.

We use the Adelaide Pool Mart on Magill Road, the staff there are excellent and have even fixed stuff for us for free in the past, I can't recommend them highly enough. We get a winter kit from them as soon as it is too cool to swim, it's a few chemicals that stop mould and blackspot in the pool, so once they are in we run our pool for 1 hour a day. Spring we go to about 4 - 6 hours then 8 through the summer.

Hope that helps.

[R & H]

Thanks Stanley, that's quite a comprehensive reply that we'll keep to refer to when we get there.