Save Tons of Money on Your Pool Care: Ten Money Saving Tips
SAVE TONS OF MONEY ON
YOUR POOL CARE:
Feeling
like it would be better to drain the pool, fill it with dirt and lay
grass over the money pit? You are not alone. I hear it all the time,
"my pool pump is costing me a fortune in electricity!" or,
"I just spent $300 on chemicals at the pool store this month..."
Or, "Nobody told me owning a pool would be so expensive!" So at least you are not
alone. I've put together some tips that will save you a substantial
amount of money on both your electric cost
and your chemical costs.
Tip #1 & 2: RUN
YOUR POOL PUMP AS LITTLE AS POSSIBLE
I talk about running your
pool just one cycle per day. You will need to know your pool size so
here is a video on how to calculate it:
Calculate
your pool volume (how many gallons): http://youtu.be/LArc7puehAk
You will also need to know
your pump's flow rate. Here is a link to a cheat sheet listing most
pool pumps by brand and hp and flow rate:
You also need to factor in
Total Dynamic Head (TDH) - resistance to flow. Here is a good write
up on it: http://www.poolplaza.com/pump-head.shtml
Once you know your pool
size (gallons/liter of water), how many Gallons Per minute (GPM) your
pool pump pulls and the resistance to flow, you can get a pretty good
idea of how long to run your pool pump to achieve one cycle. Not
rocket science but it takes some calculating. You can shave off
$20-$100 a month on your electric bill by doing this.
Know Your Flow: Here is
the best flow meter on the market today. It is easy to install and
with this flow meter you will know the exact GPM going through your
pool which translates into money savings.
I also have videos on
installing the FlowVis in your pool and how to use the FlowVis to
calculate how long to run your pool pump.
Tip #3: GET A TEST KIT
AND TEST YOUR POOL WATER
Getting a good test kit
will eliminate your need to run to the pool store each week to have
it tested. If you go into a pool store you will buy something,
generally something you don't need. Keeping your water balanced is
essential to saving money on your pool.
Tip #4: USE THE BBB
METHOD OF POOL CARE:
Using the BBB Method is a
good way to save lots of money on chemical cost and to also avoid the
expensive shocks and products found at your local pool store. For
example a 1 lb bag of Cal-Hypo 73% shock is not any stronger than one
gallon of 8.75% Clorox Bleach. And it is at least $2.00 more in
price. You will also find Alkalinity Up (it is just Baking Soda in a
fancy bag) to be twice the price or more of just plain Baking Soda
Tip #5: CLEAN YOUR POOL
EVERY WEEK
Sounds like a no brainier
but you would be surprised. If you pool is full of dirt and leaves
the chlorine will be used up faster and that
will cost you money. Removing organic debris each week is essential
and this is often overlooked. Keeping your pump and skimmer basket
clean and free of debris will allow your pool to run more efficiently
thus increasing circulation.
Tip #6: INVEST IN A
GOOD AUTOMATIC CLEANER
Time is money. So if you
can save 20-30 minutes each week from cleaning your pool the initial
cost of an automatic cleaner and future parts and repairs will be
negligible. If you can spend that time working you can pay for that
cleaner quickly. It is important to chose the right cleaner for your
particular pool so I have put together a playlist featuring just
about every automatic cleaner that is good and on the market today.
Tip #7: INSTALL A
VARIABLE SPEED PUMP WHEN YOUR PUMP DIES
I don't recommend trashing
your existing working pump but when the motor dies the pump starts to
have issues, replacing it with a Variable speed pump makes sense.
Running at 1500 RPM will be about 200 Watts in electricity. For the
average pool running it at that speed for 8-10 hours will give your
pool one complete cycle. That is 2000 watts over that time period.
About one hour of a standard single speed pump. Wow. So there is
quite the savings on electricity cost for sure. The upfront cost is
high but the savings are of course substantial.
Tip #8: DON'T USE YOUR
POOL HEATER
Heating your pool for even
one day can be costly. Heating it for a week expensive. Heating it
for a month, insane. Since pool water temperature is always dropping,
especially over night, heating your pool is like throwing money away.
If your having a pool party and want to bring the temp up from 75 to
82 that is fine. But to heat your pool on a regular basis will cost
you big time. Try it for a week and you will see... in my case I like
to heat my pool maybe 5-6 days a month. My gas bill will go from $40
to $160 just for that small time period. It is pretty crazy.
Tip #9: MAINTAIN YOUR
POOL YOURSELF
Pool service is a luxury
and not a necessity. If you are on a tight budget than you can't hire
a pool guy, gardener or housekeeper. Bummer. No pool service means
you save $800-$1,200 a year, no gardener add another $800-$1,500 and
no house cleaner $2,500. Life will suck but you will save several
thousand dollars a year.
TIP #10: WATCH MY
YOUTUBE VIDEOS
I have over 700 videos and
counting so it is a great resource to do it yourself and save even
more money on your pool.
So if you follow these
tips you can feed the kids again, maybe go out to a nice movie and
dinner and drive by the pool store and shake your head in memory of
all the money you lost.
Save
Tons of Money & Still Have a Sparkling Clean Pool: 10 Money
Saving Tips - this article is from my eBook "Swimming Pool Care the Essential Guide."
To order my eBook: https://www.swimmingpoollearning.com/swimming-pool-care-ebook
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