Having a swimming pool in your backyard can be a great source of pride and great times, but the energy it uses can be a big drain on your budget. In fact, some local utility companies report that a backyard pool can consume enough energy over the course of the summer to power an entire home for the same time period. That’s a lot of electricity. At Gilbert pool repair, we have learned a few things over the years and we want to share the following tips with you to help you reduce the energy costs associated with operating your pool:
Keep it Clean
One of the simplest and most effective ways to reduce your pool operating cost is to perform regular maintenance on the cleaning system. Proper water circulation and good filtration go hand in hand to keep your pool water clean. However, the dirtier the filter is the harder the system has to work and the longer the pump has to run, increasing your energy bill. A pool filter working at optimal efficiency typically runs about six to 10 hours a day, depending on the size of your pool, through the peak summer months. Not only does a dirty filtration system keep your pump running longer, but it will also wear out components faster as well. The takeaway here is to clean your pool filter every two to three weeks.
Lighting
Switching to LED, or light-emitting diodes, lights can save you over 75 percent on the operating costs of the lights around you pool. Today this is so easy you don’t even need to install new fixtures as you can just swap out the old incandescent light bulbs for LED bulbs available at almost any hardware, department or big-box store.
Go Solar
If you are heating your pool, switching to some type of solar system as the main heating source can result in a huge energy-cost reduction. Solar options include, but are not limited to, high-efficiency pool heaters, solar-heated hot-water panels and new deep-heating systems that are designed to heat your pool from the bottom. Actually cost savings will vary based on your personal situation. Here things like the size of your pool, how much you pay per kilowatt-hour for electricity and how much sunshine your geographic region receives will all contribute to how much you will save. However, based on national averages, total energy savings can be over a whopping $4,000 a year, enough to pay for the upgrade to a solar heater in just a few years. After that, it is all the money in your pocket.
Reducing Evaporation
While pool owners typically do not consider water evaporation as a culprit that adds to energy consumption, every drop of water that has gone through the filtration process and is then lost to evaporation is money lost. Pool owners should understand that the rate of evaporation increases in direct proportion to the surface area, so the larger your pool the greater the rate of water loss. Evaporation also increases with a reduction in humidity as well as how hard the wind is blowing. While you can’t totally prevent the water in your pool from evaporating, Gilbert Poolman recommends two things you can do to slow down the water thief.
The first line of defense is installing a pool cover, as this will greatly reduce how much water escapes into the atmosphere. While there are some very elaborate and expensive designs, a pool cover doesn’t have to break the bank. Pool covers range from automatic state-of-the-art units that open and close by flipping a switch to very simple covers that are designed to just be pulled over the pool and float on the surface of the water.
A windbreak is the second part of the dynamic duo that will help keep evaporation from stealing your precious pool water. When the wind starts blowing the evaporation rate skyrockets, and wind blowing across the top of your pool can steal over an inch of water a day. Installing some sort of windbreak, especially in very windy areas, will dramatically reduce your water loss to evaporation. A windbreak can be as elaborate as erecting a tall fence or as simple and cost-effective as putting up some type of mesh cloth, similar to that used for privacy screening.
If you would like more information on reducing the operating costs of your pool, give us at Gilbert Poolman a call. We are more than happy to share our many years of professional experience with you and we can also see to all you pool cleaning needs.
