Swimming pool Money Saving Tips
Aussies love a swimming pool. It’s a great place to relax, beat the heat and have some fun with the kids. Unfortunately, taking care of your pool can come with a serious price tag.
On average, Australians spend between $1,000 and $1,400 a year on pool maintenance. And that doesn’t include the cost of pool heating, which can add an additional few hundred dollars a year (for solar pool heating) to as much as $1,500 per year for gas heating.
These costs can quickly add up, turning your swimming pool into a money pit. But there are some simple steps you can take to reduce the amount of money you’re pouring into your pool each year.
- Use a pool cover
Sometimes the simplest solution is the best. A pool cover can reduce water evaporation by over 90%. Less evaporation means less money spent on pool chemicals and topping up the pool water. There’s an added environmental bonus here since you’re using less water, which is always a good thing in Australia!
Additionally, a pool cover will reduce heat loss from the water, so you require less energy to keep your pool at the desired temperature.
Ultimately, a high-quality swimming pool cover can reduce your swimming pool running costs by up to 50%. Also, to know about the Pros and cons of pool cover, Click Here
- Use solar heating
Heating represents one of the biggest costs when it comes to swimming pool maintenance. Electric and gas pool heating can cost upwards of $1,000 per year. Solar pool heating, on the other hand, can cost as little as $100 to $200 per year. It may also surprise you to know that solar pool heaters will often cost less to buy and install than gas or electric heaters. You can’t lose!
- Carry out regular pool maintenance
Following a regular pool maintenance schedule will help to keep your pool clean and ensure your pool equipment doesn’t have to work harder than it should. Regularly skimming the water and cleaning out the strainers and baskets reduces the load on pumps and filters. This helps them to run more efficiently and reduces the chance of overloading or breakdown. Pool pumps and filters are some of the most expensive pool components to fix and replace, so making sure they don’t have to work harder than necessary will save you money in the long run.
You should also regularly check all pumps and filters, as well as accessories like hoses, brushes and cleaner heads. Any wear and tear or damage to equipment or accessories can increase the chance of breakdown.
It’s also vital that you carefully monitor your pool’s chemical balance. This can take a little work, but it will prevent algae and cloudy water from developing, which can be very expensive to fix, especially if algae gets out of hand.
- Minimise pump and filter use
Besides pool heating, pumps and filters are the most expensive pieces of pool equipment to run. In summer, a pump can cost more than $100 per month to run.
It’s important to be smart about how you use your pump. Pumps only need to be run at full capacity when you’re cleaning the pool. Using a variable speed pump means that you can run your pump at lower speeds when not cleaning the pool, which will use less power and save you money.
It’s also worth thinking about when you’re using your pump. You can set your pump to run during off-peak periods, which can also save you money on your power bills.
- Be smart with chemicals
Chemicals are one of the major ongoing cost inputs for your swimming pool. But if you’re smart about how you buy your chemicals you can save some serious money over time. Bulk buying chemicals like chlorine will save you money over the long term. Just make sure you store the chemicals properly so they don’t degrade.
You should also look to buy the premium quality chemical brands. While cheaper pool chemicals may be tempting, these tend to have more impurities and so you need to use more to get the same result. And this can end up costing you more in the long run.
You can also make the most of chlorine by adding it at night. Chlorine breaks down in sunlight so you actually have to use more if you add it to the pool during the day. Don’t forget to use pool stabilisers as well.
While a pool can be a luxury, it doesn’t have to cost a fortune to run. You just need to be smart about how you maintain your pool and pool equipment.