Help! Cost of running outside pool?
Discussion
Morning all
I'm trying to get an idea of pool running costs. My wife and I have seen a house we love (typically at the very top of our budget) and it has a pool. The pool is quite old I'm told and has a sand filter (a big, blue ball type thing) in the garage. The house doesn't have mains gas so I assume the pool is oil or electric.
The current pool cover is just a mesh thing to keep leaves out I guess which can't help hear retention at all.
So my question is what should I budget for total annual cost including maintainence and heating?
Thanks in advance.
I'm trying to get an idea of pool running costs. My wife and I have seen a house we love (typically at the very top of our budget) and it has a pool. The pool is quite old I'm told and has a sand filter (a big, blue ball type thing) in the garage. The house doesn't have mains gas so I assume the pool is oil or electric.
The current pool cover is just a mesh thing to keep leaves out I guess which can't help hear retention at all.
So my question is what should I budget for total annual cost including maintainence and heating?
Thanks in advance.
I once rented a house with a kidney-shaped pool in the garden, one year the landlady requested that we heat it up for our joint New-Years party (they lived next door).
It took about 3 days to heat up to steaming hot, and cost about 300 quid. Nobody went in.
Definitely a thermal cover will help, but we found, being outdoors, it took more cash in chemicals and electricity to keep the pumps running than to keep the edge off with the gas.
It took about 3 days to heat up to steaming hot, and cost about 300 quid. Nobody went in.
Definitely a thermal cover will help, but we found, being outdoors, it took more cash in chemicals and electricity to keep the pumps running than to keep the edge off with the gas.
A friend has an indoor pool and jacuzzi, all run of a massive oil boiler, and separate 2500L oil tank.
He fills the tank roughly once a year.
Plus a bit in electricity and maintenance, plus all the chemicals etc.
Obviously outside will be a bit more, but your probably unlikely to use it all year round....
He fills the tank roughly once a year.
Plus a bit in electricity and maintenance, plus all the chemicals etc.
Obviously outside will be a bit more, but your probably unlikely to use it all year round....
I have a 75cu m pool in northern France with bubble cover and 10kW heat pump. It uses an electrolysed for Chlorine. I guess all-up it costs about £1500 to run during the summer months only.
FWIW it cannot function correctly during winter as the electrolysor cannot work below 14degC and the heat pump would be too inefficient.
FWIW it cannot function correctly during winter as the electrolysor cannot work below 14degC and the heat pump would be too inefficient.
It's years since we had an outside pool but running it cost a fortune. The novelty wore off fairly quickly and no one went in unless it was warm. A vicious circle.
I'd fill in an outside one or if I had plenty of money I'd put some sort of structure over it.
It also put a lot of buyers off when we came to sell.
I'd fill in an outside one or if I had plenty of money I'd put some sort of structure over it.
It also put a lot of buyers off when we came to sell.
We put a 12x5m pool in 6 years ago, 37kw heat pump, electric cover, auto dosing. I heat it from early April until Mid October and estimate it cost about 500 pounds a month. If we had our time over again we would never put a pool in, as others have said the novelty soon wears off and I estimate we only used ours half a dozen times this year.
WE had a solar heating system, home built that had black pipes on a black backround roofing sheet with greenhouse glass cover and a solar pump, we had it hidden from sight and it certainly helped heat the pool. Water came from the pool, was heated in the pipes then went to a huge single element black painted domestic radiator and then back to the pool. Most of the enjoyment was the tinkering with it rather than actualy using the pool.
Absolute waste of time in uk in my opinion / experience, indoor pool or not at all. If someone had an outdoor pool at a place I wanted to buy id see it as a negative to resolve.
Indoor pools I like because the humidity and warmth make it a nice area to go and hang out for a break, even if you don't use the pool that much.
Indoor pools I like because the humidity and warmth make it a nice area to go and hang out for a break, even if you don't use the pool that much.
We've got a 15m x 6m pool and have had loads of enjoyment out of it over the years especially when the kids were growing up.
The trick is to only heat it when you know it's going to be used. I open the thing from around May to September. Needs about 20mins per week for maintenance if you have a decent cover. It gets used for quick cooling off ducks when not heated and then we heat it up if the weather looks good for the weekend and we're having friends over for a barbe or the like.
I probably wouldn't of installed one but it was already there when we moved in and I'm still glad it was.
Cost's a lot less than a grand a year to run.
The trick is to only heat it when you know it's going to be used. I open the thing from around May to September. Needs about 20mins per week for maintenance if you have a decent cover. It gets used for quick cooling off ducks when not heated and then we heat it up if the weather looks good for the weekend and we're having friends over for a barbe or the like.
I probably wouldn't of installed one but it was already there when we moved in and I'm still glad it was.
Cost's a lot less than a grand a year to run.
I have an outdoor pool, my Brother has an indoor pool in UK.
The mesh cover is the winter cover, you would also need a solar cover, that's the heavy duty bubblewrap one.
This is the one that prevents overnight heat loss.
My pool probably costs me less than five hundred or so in electric, chemicals and maintenance a year. heavy use, plenty of parties.
I don't really keep track of the cost, I do keep track of the water temperature as that is the most important thing as without it you will not use it.
Small kids will however, hot day, water is wet, that's good enough for them
Indoor pool.
Running cost are high, my brother (not poor) says it costs a fortune, his set up is way more complicated than mine. He is currently not maintaining temperature.
He uses oil for heating.
I've had a pool for the majority of my life I cannot imagine not having one.
I'm not a 9 to 5 person, so it's great.
Example; wife says x,y & z are coming over at the weekend, is the pool good. Thursday I remove the solar cover throw in the pool robot, grab a beer watch robot
Assuming the overnight low temp will be 70F+ (usual in the Summer) I don't need to put solar cover back as the current water temp will be maintained, my water target min is 84F easy with daytime temps of 90F.
Water temp effect is relative to air temp, so if the air temp is 95F, 84 will seem initially cool, but good after a minute or two.
One of my friends has an outdoor pool in UK, water temp was 68F, no, I didn't swim. Water was also a tad cloudy.
Reality; a pool will stay much cleaner without the solar cover as any dust, pollen the odd leaf will get pulled into filtre, if the solar cover is on that stuff will lay on the cover and get into the pool as the cover is rolled off. In UK will you will not always/seldom have the advantage of leaving off the cover at night.
Water temp management as important as chem management and visual appearance.
The mesh cover is the winter cover, you would also need a solar cover, that's the heavy duty bubblewrap one.
This is the one that prevents overnight heat loss.
My pool probably costs me less than five hundred or so in electric, chemicals and maintenance a year. heavy use, plenty of parties.
I don't really keep track of the cost, I do keep track of the water temperature as that is the most important thing as without it you will not use it.
Small kids will however, hot day, water is wet, that's good enough for them
Indoor pool.
Running cost are high, my brother (not poor) says it costs a fortune, his set up is way more complicated than mine. He is currently not maintaining temperature.
He uses oil for heating.
I've had a pool for the majority of my life I cannot imagine not having one.
I'm not a 9 to 5 person, so it's great.
Example; wife says x,y & z are coming over at the weekend, is the pool good. Thursday I remove the solar cover throw in the pool robot, grab a beer watch robot
Assuming the overnight low temp will be 70F+ (usual in the Summer) I don't need to put solar cover back as the current water temp will be maintained, my water target min is 84F easy with daytime temps of 90F.
Water temp effect is relative to air temp, so if the air temp is 95F, 84 will seem initially cool, but good after a minute or two.
One of my friends has an outdoor pool in UK, water temp was 68F, no, I didn't swim. Water was also a tad cloudy.
Reality; a pool will stay much cleaner without the solar cover as any dust, pollen the odd leaf will get pulled into filtre, if the solar cover is on that stuff will lay on the cover and get into the pool as the cover is rolled off. In UK will you will not always/seldom have the advantage of leaving off the cover at night.
Water temp management as important as chem management and visual appearance.
Edited by jeff m2 on Monday 7th November 14:54
Depends how often you heat it, growing up we had one and Dad would only heat it if we were having a pool party the rest of the time we just used a solar cover which helped a bit - it was warm at the top but if you dived to the bottom it was freezing.
A mate recently bought an air source heat pump and said that it cost peanuts to run all summer - until the air temps went below 12 degrees then he turned it off as the cost jumped.
A mate recently bought an air source heat pump and said that it cost peanuts to run all summer - until the air temps went below 12 degrees then he turned it off as the cost jumped.
Thanks for the replies all.
Going for a second viewing tomorrow and may well make an offer!
Still unclear on what the pool would cost us, it's 10 meters if that helps? I think I'd only hear it if I knew we'd use it.
Some people are saying £500-£1000 a year and others £5k a year!? So I'm a little confused. Going to quiz the agent tomorrow.
Going for a second viewing tomorrow and may well make an offer!
Still unclear on what the pool would cost us, it's 10 meters if that helps? I think I'd only hear it if I knew we'd use it.
Some people are saying £500-£1000 a year and others £5k a year!? So I'm a little confused. Going to quiz the agent tomorrow.
rehab71 said:
Still unclear on what the pool would cost us, it's 10 meters if that helps? I think I'd only hear it if I knew we'd use it.
Some people are saying £500-£1000 a year and others £5k a year!
But it's a similar question to "how much to run a car" - it depends.Some people are saying £500-£1000 a year and others £5k a year!
You could work it out but as someone mentioned on a cold day to heat it up took £300 on a warm day it may only be £50 and it costs less, per day to keep it heated but at what temp 10 degrees, 20 degrees...
It's a money pit. Fine if you have the cash..
A friend of mine has a big oil heated indoor pool used 365 days a year, he prob spends at least £100 a week on it. Valves and expensive pumps go wrong pretty regularly.
Heating a huge volume of water and maintaining it at your desired temp is going to cost.
If building one new i would spec vacuum flask level insulation underneath and at sides. I should think you need a foot thick kingspan board bottom and sides to get somewhere near the insulation level required.
And a motorised cover with comparable insulating qualities..
That's tough as it has to be removable. Or a building so well insulated heat loss from the water into the room does not matter..
Expensive
A friend of mine has a big oil heated indoor pool used 365 days a year, he prob spends at least £100 a week on it. Valves and expensive pumps go wrong pretty regularly.
Heating a huge volume of water and maintaining it at your desired temp is going to cost.
If building one new i would spec vacuum flask level insulation underneath and at sides. I should think you need a foot thick kingspan board bottom and sides to get somewhere near the insulation level required.
And a motorised cover with comparable insulating qualities..
That's tough as it has to be removable. Or a building so well insulated heat loss from the water into the room does not matter..
Expensive
Have had both, started with an indoor pool - cost an absolute fortune. Mainly because with an indoor pool you are heating it 365 days of the year and associated chemicals etc. On top of that (and assume this applies to all indoor pools) we had to heat (air condition) the room to keep it 2 degrees higher than the pool temperature. With young kids only wanting to swim in a warm pool, it meant the room was very hot. It was a pretty old setup and probably not very efficient and I estimate that it cost £750 per month to run all in.
We then did some building works and filled in the pool only to then build an outdoor pool! We only ever ran it from end of May to beginning of September and I estimate it cost £300 per month to run - very much cheaper.
Personally I think outdoor pools are nice thing to have but need to accept you pay a bit for the pleasure. If it is old I would definitely pay to get it checked out before purchase as fixing problems can be expensive, particularly leaks....
We then did some building works and filled in the pool only to then build an outdoor pool! We only ever ran it from end of May to beginning of September and I estimate it cost £300 per month to run - very much cheaper.
Personally I think outdoor pools are nice thing to have but need to accept you pay a bit for the pleasure. If it is old I would definitely pay to get it checked out before purchase as fixing problems can be expensive, particularly leaks....
The actual cost of running an outdoor pool don't have to be that big.
Large potential costs come from how, and how much heating is done.
Minimum running of a circulating pump (with an electrical chlorinator) could be a couple of hundred a year.
Heating can be the killer - first things first, the cheapest heater is a thermal cover put over at night - let the sun do what it can.
An actual solar collector is next best, then a toss up (in the UK) between a heat pump and gas.
How much these cost depend how much they are used - a 50,000 litre pool needs around 55kW hrs of energy to raise the temperature by 1 degree. A heat pump would use say 12kW hrs to produce 55, hence cost is £1.50??
Want to maintain the pool at 28? - it's going to cost you.
Large potential costs come from how, and how much heating is done.
Minimum running of a circulating pump (with an electrical chlorinator) could be a couple of hundred a year.
Heating can be the killer - first things first, the cheapest heater is a thermal cover put over at night - let the sun do what it can.
An actual solar collector is next best, then a toss up (in the UK) between a heat pump and gas.
How much these cost depend how much they are used - a 50,000 litre pool needs around 55kW hrs of energy to raise the temperature by 1 degree. A heat pump would use say 12kW hrs to produce 55, hence cost is £1.50??
Want to maintain the pool at 28? - it's going to cost you.
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