Money Saving Tips for Pool Owners
Having a swimming pool is one of the most exciting things you can have at home. After all, what else could allow you to create a backyard oasis that you can share with friends and family? But what would make all that poolside fun even better? How about saving some money?
Here are 10 money-saving tips that will help make your pool life that much better.
1. Retain the Heat
Whether you heat your pool with the hot afternoon sun or with a pool heater, you will save money if you can retain the heat. Throw a solar blanket (also known as a solar panel) over your pool to do just that. Solar blankets not only help keep the heat in your pool but also attract more heat from the sun. And by using the solar panel at night, you will wake up to a warm pool for your morning laps.
2. Winterize Your Pool Yourself
Once the pool season ends, you will have to take certain steps to ensure that your pool stays safe during the cold months. While some people hire professionals to close their pool, you can save money by doing it yourself.
3. Take Care of Your Pool Equipment
When you treat your pool equipment right, you can sometimes double its life. For instance, store your vacuum head upside down and out of the sun. This will prevent the brush from flattening. Also, be sure to keep it away from chlorine as you store it in the winter.
4. Use Chlorine Alternatives
Switching to an alternative sanitization method such as a salt, ozone, uv, or bromine can help you reduce chlorine consumption and lower pool maintenance costs greatly.
5. Don’t Let Water Sit on Your Pool Cover
Just because the colder months arrive and you can’t use your pool, that doesn’t mean you should forget about it until the next season. For example, if you allow standing water to sit on top of your pool cover, it will find its way into the water underneath it. That will create a swamp! Then, when you open your pool, you will have to shock it to clear the water.
Use a pool cover pump to drain the water from your pool cover after every rain or snowstorm. Then, once the cover dries, use a broom to sweep off the debris. This will increase the life of your pool cover and make opening your pool much easier. You’ll thank yourself next season!
6. Look for Sales
Instead of purchasing your pool chemicals as you need them, look for sales at the beginning of the season. Many stores will offer jump-start prices at the beginning of the season to get customers in the door. Also, look for end-of-the-year sales when pool companies try to unload their stock. Once you find a sale, stock up for the year and save some money!
7. Pump Those Savings
Did you know that many electric companies have peak hours—those hours where it costs you more to use electricity? Instead of running your pool pump during those hours (typically between 7 am and 7 pm), why not run it at night? It’s an easy way to save on swimming pool costs!
8. Let the Robot Do It
You have to keep your water filtered, and running the pump and filter is the obvious way to do it. But if you want to save on costs, you can use your robotic cleaner to do some of the dirty work. The little pool robots drive around the pool picking up debris along the way. And the good news is that these cleaners use up much less energy than your pump and filter. So, use the robot on occasion instead of the energy-heavy pump and filter.
9. Use Chlorine Stabilizers
You know you need chlorine to keep your pool water clean, but did you know that the sun has a nasty habit of deteriorating the chlorine to add to it? Save money by extending the life of the chlorine you add to your pool with a chlorine stabilizer.
10. Watch Water Waste
The average pool loses between 7,000 and 25,000 gallons a year due to evaporation, leaks, splash out, and filter backwashing. Read our article about how to prevent water waste in each of these areas.
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