Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Thinking of putting in a swimming pool

I have one, 32 x 18, about 25,000 gallons worth........I’ll give it to you if want it. Never again!!!! It is nice to have the water for toilet flushing after a hurricane passes through 😉

I'm with you! Been there, done that, never again! One real estate lady told me that a pool added great value to a house, I told her that as far as I was concerned, it lowered the value of the house about $30,000.

You mentioned health and exercise reasons for installing on.

There’s cheaper, better ways for treating and effecting that end result, I’d offer.

Now if you just want a pool then go for it.

I am interested in your thoughts. Please expand.

You will get tired of taking care of it. It’s like a second wife.

Don't do it! Unless you're fabulously wealthy and can afford someone else to take care of it. They are nice but so much work.

A pool is expensive and a daily chore unless it's in a screened in enclosure. We went with propane heat because the kids wanted to swim year round. After living in a two story pool home for 20+ years we decided against either one when we moved. To be honest we do miss the pool a few days every year.

Ditto!!! And it was money well spent.

Jim

Swimming pool owners I've known either come to love or hate them. If not religiously maintained they can soon become like a smelly, unsightly stagnant backyard pond. Inground pools can't be removed without a bunch of work and expense.

I've had pools for the last twenty-five years or so in three homes. I've had both chlorine and salt water systems and can't really recommend one over the other. Gas heaters came with the last two pools when we bought the homes, but have not used them.

If you and/or family use and enjoy a pool, they're worth every dollar, and that will be a bunch of dollars. If I didn't use a pool daily, weather permitting, I wouldn't even consider having a pool; it would be a headache and a big waste of money.

A hole in which you pour money

I was talking to an appraiser one time and he said that they don't count it as an asset at all because it could actually hurt the value as much as help it. So they count it as $0.00 investment.

My experience has been a 8-12 degree rise in water temperature with a couple of different solar pre-heaters I have used.
They have to be sized correctly and of course ambient temps have a big effect.
Most often I'd just leave the pool heater off and let the solar heater do all the work, mid Florida winter I might turn on the gas heater on occasion to keep the pool temp from dropping too much...


https://www.energy.gov/energysaver/solar-swimming-pool-heaters

You can significantly reduce swimming pool heating costs by installing a solar pool heater. They're cost competitive with both gas and heat pump pool heaters, and they have very low annual operating costs. Actually, solar pool heating is the most cost-effective use of solar energy in many climates.

HOW THEY WORK
Most solar pool heating systems include the following:

A solar collector -- the device through which pool water is circulated to be heated by the sun
A filter -- removes debris before water is pumped through the collector
A pump -- circulates water through the filter and collector and back to the pool
A flow control valve -- automatic or manual device that diverts pool water through the solar collector.
Pool water is pumped through the filter and then through the solar collector(s), where it is heated before it is returned to the pool. In hot climates, the collector(s) can also be used to cool the pool during peak summer months by circulating the water through the collector(s) at night.

Some systems include sensors and an automatic or manual valve to divert water through the collector(s) when the collector temperature is sufficiently greater than the pool temperature. When the collector temperature is similar to the pool temperature, filtered water simply bypasses the collector(s) and is returned to the pool.

Solar pool collectors are made out of different materials. The type you'll need depends on your climate and how you intend to use the collector. If you'll only be using your pool when temperatures are above freezing, then you'll probably only need an unglazed collector system. Unglazed collectors don't include a glass covering (glazing). They are generally made of heavy-duty rubber or plastic treated with an ultraviolet (UV) light inhibitor to extend the life of the panels. Because of their inexpensive parts and simple design, unglazed collectors are usually less expensive than glazed collectors. These unglazed systems can even work for indoor pools in cold climates if the system is designed to drain back to the pool when not in use. Even if you have to shut the system down during cold weather, unglazed collectors may be more cost effective than installing a more expensive glazed collector system.

Example of how a solar collector works.

Glazed collector systems are generally made of copper tubing on an aluminum plate with an iron-tempered glass covering, which increases their cost. In colder weather, glazed collector systems—with heat exchangers and transfer fluids—capture solar heat more efficiently than unglazed systems.

Therefore, they can be used year-round in many climates. Glazed collectors also can be used to heat domestic hot water year-round.

Both glazed and unglazed collector systems should include freeze protection if they'll be used in colder conditions.

SELECTING A SOLAR POOL HEATER
A solar pool heating system usually costs between $3,000 and $4,000 to buy and install. This provides a payback of between 1.5 and 7 years, depending on your local fuel costs. They also typically last longer than gas and heat pump pool heaters. Your actual cost and payback depend on many factors. Therefore, before you purchase and install a solar pool heating system, you should do the following:

Evaluate your site's solar resource
Determine the correct system size
Determine the correct orientation and tilt for the collector
Determine the system's efficiency
Compare system costs
Investigate local codes, covenants, and regulations.
EVALUATING YOUR SITE'S SOLAR RESOURCE
Before you buy and install a solar pool heating system, you first need to consider your site's solar resource. The efficiency and design of a solar pool heater depends on how much of the sun's energy reaches your building site.

Solar pool heating systems use both direct and diffuse solar radiation. Therefore, even if you don't live in a climate that's warm and sunny most of the time -- like the southwestern United States -- your site still might have an adequate solar resource. Basically, if your building site has unshaded areas and generally faces south, it's a good candidate for a solar pool heating system.

Your local solar system supplier or installer can perform a solar site analysis.

SIZING A SOLAR POOL HEATER
Sizing a solar swimming pool heating system involves many factors:

Pool size
Length of swimming season
Average regional temperatures
Desired pool temperature
Site's solar resource
Collector orientation and tilt
Collector efficiency
Use of a pool cover.
Solar system contractors use worksheets and computer programs to help determine system requirements and collector sizing.

Basically, the surface area of your solar collector should equal 50%–100% of the surface area of your pool. In cooler and cloudier areas, you may need to increase the ratio between the collector area and the pool surface area. Adding collector square footage also lengthens the swimming season.

For example, a 15-by-30-foot outdoor swimming pool in Florida typically requires a collector that equals 100% of the pool's square footage to accommodate year-round use. This equals 450 square feet of collectors. In northern California, most people use outdoor pools 6–8 months per year, so they typically size their systems at 60%–70% of the pool's surface area.

In any climate, you can usually decrease the required collector area by using a pool cover.

You'll also want a properly sized pool pump for a solar system. If you're replacing a conventional pool heating system with a solar system, you may need a pump larger than your current one or a separate, smaller pump to move the pool's water to and through the collectors.

SITING A SOLAR POOL HEATING SYSTEM'S COLLECTOR
Collectors can be mounted on roofs or anywhere near the swimming pool that provides the proper exposure, orientation, and tilt toward the sun. Both the orientation and tilt of the collector will affect your solar pool heating system's performance. Your contractor should consider them while evaluating your site's solar resource and sizing your system.

Collector Orientation
Solar pool heater collectors should be oriented geographically to maximize the amount of daily and seasonal solar energy that they receive. In general, the optimum orientation for a solar collector in the northern hemisphere is true south. However, recent studies have shown that, depending on your location and collector tilt, your collector can face up to 45º east or west of true south without significantly decreasing its performance. You'll also want to consider factors such as roof orientation (if you plan to mount the collector on your roof), local landscape features that shade the collector daily or seasonally, and local weather conditions (foggy mornings or cloudy afternoons), as these factors may affect your collector's optimal orientation.

Collector Tilt
The angle at which a collector should be tilted varies based on your latitude and the length of your swimming season (summer or year-round). Ideally, collectors for summer-only heating should be tilted at an angle equal to your latitude minus 10º–15º. Collectors for year-round heating should be tilted at an angle equal to your latitude. However, studies have shown that not having a collector tilted at the optimum angle will not significantly reduce system performance. Therefore, you can usually mount collectors flat on your roof, which might not be at the optimum angle but more aesthetically pleasing. You will, however, want to take roof angle into account when sizing your system.

DETERMINING THE EFFICIENCY OF SOLAR SWIMMING POOL HEATING SYSTEM
You can determine the efficiency of a solar swimming pool heating system based on the collector's thermal performance rating if available.

A solar collector's thermal performance rating is measured by Btu (British thermal unit) per square foot per day: Btu/(ft2day)

Or, the rating can be measured by megajoules (MJ) per square meter per day: MJ/(M2day)

It can also be measured by Btu per day, which is simply the rating in Btu/(ft2day) multiplied by the area in ft2. Also used is MJ per day, which is the rating in MJ/(M2day) multiplied by the area in M2.

The higher the number, the greater the solar energy collection efficiency. However, because weather conditions, instrumentation accuracies, and other test condition constraints can vary, the thermal performance of any two collectors should be considered approximately the same if their ratings are within 25 Btu/(ft2day) of each other.

High efficiency solar collectors not only will reduce your annual operating costs, but may also require fewer square feet of collector area to heat the pool.

COMPARING SOLAR SWIMMING POOL HEATING SYSTEM COSTS
Before purchasing a solar pool heating system, you can estimate and compare the costs of using different solar collector models. This will help you determine the potential cost savings of investing in a more efficient type of collector, which may require fewer panels for the collector area needed to heat your pool.

To estimate and compare costs, you need to know the following:

A collector's thermal performance rating(Btu/day)
Total number of collector panels or piping for the area needed to heat your pool
Total installed cost of system.
You can then calculate a collector's energy output per dollar spent or invested using this formula:

(Btu/day X # of collector panels/piping modules) ÷ total installed cost of system = Btu/$ per dollar spent

Example:

(27,900 X 4) Btu ÷ $3,000 = 37.20 Btu/day per dollar spent

If you just know the prices and thermal performance ratings (Btu/day) of collectors, you can use the following formula to calculate the energy output for each dollar spent or invested for different collectors:

Btu/day ÷ collector price = Btu/day per dollar spent

Example:

21,000 Btu ÷ $387 = 54.26 Btu/day per dollar spent

Don't choose a solar pool heating system or collector based solely on its estimated costs. When selecting a solar pool heater, it's also important to consider all of the factors involved in the system's sizing and quality of the design and installation.

BUILDING CODES AND COVENANTS
As with a solar water heating system, it is important to consider local building codes and regulations for solar water heating.

Around here the building code is a 5' fence around a swimming pool.

I’ve had a 20,000 gal chlorine pool and spa for going on six years. Built my house in ‘01 so the pool was an addition. $60k.
I’m in North Texas and can use the pool @ 6 months/ year without heating it. Spa can be used anytime.
Put it in cause I have 2 daughters that love to swim and I’d like my place to be “The Place” for the kids to hang out so I can keep an eye on them and whatever boys may come calling as they get older, if you know what I mean.
Had I not had kids, I would not have put in the pool.

Some basic tips to keep a pool maintenance free-ish:

Keep the water balanced with a saturation index of +/- .03. It’s not hard or rocket science. I check mine once a week, most of the time. Check sanitizer, pH and Alk weekly and the rest of the stuff every 2 -3 weeks.
Don’t plant deciduous trees or foliage anywhere near it unless you love a dip net.
Clean/ backwash your filter as flow begins to degrade. Poor flow will cause water quality issues faster than almost anything else.
I also deep clean my DE filter annually, right after the pollen falls in March/April.


It’s helps that I held a CPO license in another life years ago, but it really isn’t that hard to keep a well designed pool in fine shape.

This is our 30 year old pool at California home. 16 X 45
I highly recommend an electric pool cover. It will cut you chemical use at least in 1/2 keep laves and dirt out.Helps keep heat in.
Also good for insurance discount depending you company. Child Safe.

I'd use a blade-style putter as opposed to a mallet for less resistance.

When I was growing up, my best friend's parents decided to build a pool. It was the greatest thing since sliced bread when we were kids. Up until we were in our early 20's, it got used a lot. Then it went dormant after my generation got married until we started having kids of our own. But even then, it was only used on the weekends some. After that generation grew up, it's very rarely used. Now his parents are in their 90's and they pay someone to take care of it.

When we did our backyard, we got a hot tub. If I ever get tired of it, I'll just get rid of it.

I bought a house with one because my wife wanted it. Fast forward three years and whole lot of money later I had it removed. Filled in and put a concrete patio over it.

They are expensive and a royal PIA to maintain. If you have an in-ground and it develops problems - and they all will eventually- be prepared to shell out big bucks to fix it.

The worst part is that it was my wife who wanted it, but you could count on both hands - maybe one - the number of times she actually used it. It developed a leak near the return drain at the head and I was losing tons of water a week. When faced with the decision to either fix or remove I removed and it has been the best decision I’ve ever made. An expensive one, but not nearly as expensive as keeping the damn thing.

#NEVER AGAIN!

My experience has been different, they have proved to be a "push". No money gained, no money lost.
For those looking for swimming pool homes they mean a lot....

Home appraisals are funny, especially the way lending institutions figure things.

My 3000 sq ft home on a half acre lot with zero view appraises exactly the same as your 3000 sq ft home on a half acre a mile away with a vast mountain/lake view.

Means nothing to the bank on paper but everything to some home seekers....

From Home Appraisals.Com
Installation of a pool may cost the home-owner around $20,000 but a real estate appraisal may put the pool’s added value to the home at $10,000, $20,000 or $40,000.

Why do appraisers give a pool less, equal or more value than it’s cost? An appraiser’s job is too interpret what the market says. The real estate appraiser looks at closed sale prices of homes and determines if homes with pools sell for more or less than homes without pools. Every neighborhood is different.