Category Archives: Pool and Spa Equipment

Environmentally Friendly Ideas, Innovative Solutions, Pool and Spa Equipment

How to Make 2012 the Year of the Energy Efficient Pool — Part 3 of 4

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Sometimes, the most simple of devices can increase energy-efficiency.  Replace your incandescent light bulbs with CFL bulbs, for example, and the energy savings happen automatically.  When it comes to swimming pools, one simple and inexpensive device that can decrease the amount of energy used and dollars wasted is the pool filter timer, the 3rd recommendation in my series of four on how to make your swimming pool more energy-efficient in 2012.

3. Pool Filter Timer

A third way to save energy is to use a Pool Filter Timer. Automating a pool’s filter operation pays for itself in energy savings within the first couple of months. Except during times of heavy use, most swimming pools only need to filter 12 hours per day. Pool filter timers can save you money on electricity and chemicals. Look for a pool filter timer that is weather proof, durable, and has multiple settings to give you ultimate control.

It’s the simple solutions, like this one, that can be the easiest ones to adopt first.  On your journey to greater energy-efficiency and money savings, the pool filter timer is a good place to start.  Once you start seeing your energy bills decrease, you can take on one or more of the other three recommendations in this series — Solar Pool Covers, Solar Pool Heaters, or the subject of my next post…coming soon.

Pool Filter Timers

Environmentally Friendly Ideas, Innovative Solutions, Pool and Spa Equipment

How to Make 2012 the Year of the Energy Efficient Pool — Part 2 of 4

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Solar Pool Heaters

Making your backyard swimming pool more energy-efficient isn’t just about being more environmentally friendly — although, that’s a pretty good reason in itself.  Energy-efficiency is also about saving money.  I don’t know many people who wouldn’t like to keep a little more green in their pockets, especially considering our current economic challenges. 

The first post in this series of 4 posts recommended Solar Pool Covers as one way to increase your pool’s efficiency.  In this second post, the subject is Solar Pool Heaters.

2. Solar Pool Heater

A second way to create an energy-efficient pool is to use a Solar Pool Heater. Solar heaters provide another way of taking advantage of the sun’s free energy. Solar Heaters are tremendously efficient, cheap to operate, and are the ultimate in environmental friendliness. When combined with a solar pool cover, a Solar Pool Heater will maintain a comfortable water temperature well into the cooler months.

Most solar pool heating systems include the following elements:

  • A solar collector — Pool water is circulated through this device so that it can be heated by the sun;
  • A filter — Debris is removed in the filter before water is pumped through the collector;
  • A pump — Pool water is circulated through the filter and collector and back to the pool thanks to the pump;
  • A flow control valve — Pool water is diverted through the solar collector through this automatic or manual device.

Solar Pool Heaters are much more affordable than you might expect, too.  Of course, whatever money is spent on purchasing new equipment initially is quickly returned in energy savings. 

Solar Pool Heater

Environmentally Friendly Ideas, Pool and Spa Equipment

How to Make 2012 the Year of the Energy Efficient Pool — Part 1 of 4

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Go Green and Save Green

Now is the best time to start thinking about how to improve the energy-efficiency of your backyard swimming pool.  Operating and maintaining a pool using older, less efficient equipment sucks up energy and money, leaving your pockets empty at the end of each season.

Making your pool more energy-efficient really only requires a few changes to your existing set up.  You can choose to implement all of suggestions offered here at one time, or you may find that changes are easier to swallow by taking them one at a time.  Either way, this series of 4 posts will offer some helpful suggestions for how to make your pool more energy-efficient in 2012 and beyond:

1. Solar Pool Covers

First, use Solar Covers, also known as solar blankets, to cover your pool. Solar Pool Covers or Blankets resemble enormous sheets of bubble wrap. The bubbles trap heat from the sun and convey the heat to the pool, keeping the water temperature warm and comfortable. The solar cover also helps to trap the water’s heat and prevents heat loss in the cooler air at night or on cooler days.

Solar covers float freely on top of a pool without the need for tie-downs or anchors to hold them in place. Solar covers are usually folded and stored or rolled up in a large roll and wheeled out of the way. Solar Blankets are perfect for use in sunny climates because the more heat they can trap, the longer they can extend the swim season. Solar pool covers can increase water temperatures by as much as 10-15 degrees.

Besides offering energy savings, pool covers also do the following:

  • Save water by decreasing the amount of make-up water needed by 30%-50%;
  • Reduce the pool’s consumption of chemicals by 35%-60%;
  • Reduce cleaning time by preventing dirt and other debris from entering the pool.

Pool Covers and Solar Covers

In my next post, I’ll offer a second suggestion for how to make your pool more energy-efficient in 2012.  Remember, choosing to be more energy-efficient is not just about taking steps to reduce our negative environmental impact, it’s about saving money, too.  Being green means saving green!

Holidays and Gift Ideas, Pool and Spa Chemicals, Pool and Spa Equipment, Pool and Spa Maintenance, Pool and Spa Safety, Pool Opening

New Year’s Resolutions for Pools

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Now that 2011 is coming to a close, have you started thinking about what your New Year’s resolutions will be?  If you own a backyard swimming pool, will any of those resolutions include a plan to open up your pool sooner in 2012 rather than waiting until the swimming season has long begun?

Part of what makes this kind of resolution successful is to start planning early for opening the pool.  Take the time now to check your existing stock of pool chemicals, and keep an eye out for off-season sales so you can nab these necessities at the best prices.

Take a look, too, at your pool equipment to evaluate whether it may be time to replace or upgrade items like the pool pump, pool heater, or pool covers.  Test your pool alarm while you’re at it to be sure that it is still in good working order.

New Year’s resolutions like these can be accomplished easily and with little stress involved, especially if you enlist the help of family members.  Make a short list of tasks you’d like to accomplish in order to get your pool opened in a timely fashion, and stick to it.  Before you know it, the warm weather will return, and you’ll be ready to relax by the poolside instead of scrambling to complete pool-opening tasks.

Relax by the Pool

Pool and Spa Equipment, Pool Opening

The Price Is Right on Above Ground Pools

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Above Ground Pool

The popularity of above ground pools has grown in recent years, and many homeowners who may have never before considered owning one are now taking a second look. The reasons for this turn around are numerous, but cost is most certainly a major contributor to the rise in popularity of above ground pools.

Even before the onset of current economic problems, in ground pools were cost prohibitive for many homeowners. In fact, “sales of new [in ground] pools have fallen nearly 75% from their 2004 peak,” according to research conducted by P.K. Data, Inc. Comparing the cost of purchasing and installing an in ground pool with the cost of purchasing and installing an above ground pool reveals a significant difference. Above ground pools, in most cases, cost thousands of dollars less, making them a much more affordable option for homeowners, even in today’s tough economic climate.

To save even more money on a new above ground swimming pool, start looking during the off season when prices are at their lowest.  Pool manufacturers and distributors are more likely to offer better deals when business is slow.