Author: Sara May

Pool and Spa Equipment, Pool Closing and Winterizing

The Importance of Cover Pumps for Winter

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Be sure to make the swimming pool cover pump a priority when you winterize your swimming pool this year. A swimming pool cover pump drains the water that collects on your winter pool cover over the off-season months. If accumulated water is not regularly removed by a cover pump, the weight of that excess water can damage your winter pool cover or pull the cover into the water below. Either way, you’ll be in for a messy clean up when spring rolls around again.

Cover pumps are available in manual models and automatic models. Manual cover pumps require that you monitor the pump’s progress and unplug it when the water is drained. Automatic cover pumps, often preferred by pool owners, sense and automatically start when water is detected on the cover.  They also turn off automatically once the water has been drained.

By simply adding a cover pump to your regular winterizing procedure, you can extend the life of your winter pool cover and save yourself money and effort at the same time.

Pool Closing and Winterizing

How Will You Secure Your Winter Pool Cover?

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Winter Pool Cover Accessories

Winter is coming, and pool season is at an end for a majority of the country.  Once you’ve winterized your above ground swimming pool, how do you plan to keep your winter pool cover in place for the duration of the off-season months?  If not secured well, a winter pool cover can be easily blown around on breezy days, exposing your pool to the elements and ruining the hard work you put into winterizing.  Three of the available options include pool cover wall bags, winter cover seal, and cover clips.

Pool cover wall bags are designed especially for above ground pools and are positioned around the inside perimeter of your pool, fastened to your pool cover’s cable. Wall bags should be filled only three quarters full with water to make room for the water to expand should it freeze.

Winter cover seal is another way to keep your pool cover in place, and while it looks very much like a large roll of plastic wrap, it’s really a tough poly blend film packed with UV inhibitors. Winter cover seal is wrapped around the covered pool several times to create a tight seal, which prevents wind as well as dirt from getting under the cover and causing damage and premature wear and tear.

Cover clips are a third option for securing your winter pool cover. Cover clips are exactly that — handy fasteners that hold your pool cover in place. They grip your top rail like a clothes pin and hold securely throughout the winter season.

However you choose to secure your winter pool cover, be sure to use something that will keep your cover in place through the entire winter season.  Doing so will protect your cover and your above ground pool from possible damage and exposure to the elements.

Pool Cover Wall Bags Winter Cover Seal Winter Pool Cover Clips

Hot Tubs and Saunas

Not a Fan of Public Saunas?

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In Home Infrared Saunas

You don’t need to join the local fitness club in order to enjoy the benefits of the sauna.  In-home infrared saunas are easy to own and operate, and they give you more freedom and privacy than you will ever find in a public facility.  Here are just a few of the health benefits associated with saunas:

  • Infrared saunas increase circulation in the body, which helps improve the body’s overall function.
  • The heat from a sauna provides soothing relief for aches, pains, and tensions without causing any harmful efffects to the skin.
  • Spending time in an infrared sauna can help relieve asthma, nervous tension, arthritis, high blood pressure, bronchitis, rheumatism, bruises and burns, sports injuries, the common cold, migraine headaches, muscle pain, and influenza.
  • Time spent in your sauna will help improve the look, feel, and overall health of your skin.
  • Spending just 30 minutes in an infrared sauna can burn up to 600 calories, which makes it an effective weight loss tool. The calories are burned through perspiration. The fluid lost can be replaced by drinking water, but the calories burned will not be replaced.

More and more homeowners are choosing to install personal sized infrared saunas in their homes.  The health benefits of saunas make them entirely appealing, but the element of privacy is often the guiding factor in the final decision.

Hot Tubs and Saunas, Pool and Spa Maintenance

3 Practical Reasons to Keep Your Hot Tub Covered

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Hot Tubs and Spas

Unwinding in a spa or hot tub after a tiring day is a small luxury to which many people look forward. What do you do, though, when you’re done with your toasty soak? Do you keep your hot tub covered? If not, here’s why you should:

  • Spa covers and hot tub covers prevent evaporation, saving you money on water and chemicals. Maintaining thechemical balance of your spa’s water is easier and less time consuming when a spa cover is used on a regular basis.Hot Tub Covers and Spa Covers
  • Spa covers also insulate the water and prevent much of the heat from escaping. Keeping the hot tub’s water warm when not in use makes heating the water faster the next time you want to take a soak. Not only do you save energy, but your spa heater lasts longer because you use it less often and for shorter amounts of time.
  • Spa covers keep debris and dirt out of your hot tub. Cleaning your hot tub takes less time and effort when there is less to clean up.

Covering a hot tub is a simple task, and doing so on a regular basis saves you time, effort, and money when it comes to maintenance chores.  Hot tub and spa covers are a smart solution that make owning a hot tub even more pleasurable than they already are.

Hot Tubs and Saunas, Pool Closing and Winterizing

Don’t Put Away Your Bathing Suit Yet

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Dips in the backyard swimming pool may be getting chillier by the day, but there’s no reason to stow away your bathing suit yet when you can still enjoy soaking in the luxurious warmth of a hot tub.  My preference is the portable variety.  Portable hot tubs and spas offer a number of advantages over more permanent hot tubs.  Here are just a few…

Two of the most significant advantages of portable hot tubs and spas are their size and easy set up. They are generally smaller than traditional spas and can fit into tighter spaces. There’s no need to clear a significant area in the yard or on the deck in order to house the structure. Because of their smaller size and clever construction, most set up in only a few minutes — some are inflatable and come equipped with their own inflating device, while others have insulated panels that connect together. Setting up and transporting portable spas is so easy that you can even take them along on vacations and even to the homes of friends and family.

One of my favorite advantages of the portable hot tub is also the most practical one.  Portable hot tubs and spas plug into a standard household outlet. Traditional varieties operate on hard wired, GFCI-protected 220-240 volt 50 amp circuits. These circuits need to be installed by a qualified electrician. Portable spas, on the other hand, have a GFCI built into the end of the cord, so they can plug directly into a standard 110-120 volt outlet.

Thanks to the humble portable hot tub, you can winterize your swimming pool without mourning the passage of another summer season.  Keep your bathing suit handy throughout the winter, and enjoy a bubbly soak whenever you wish.