How much work is a pool?

[Slew Foot]

Pools are like boats. It's better to have a friend that has one than own one yourself.

THis, a total waste of money to get one yourself

 

[onza]

as a former hot tub owner i can say that is bullshit.

Hey Outhouse - before calling bullshit, can you comment on what state you live in?

Out in MN - temps during the winter months get down to -20 to -10 F. I don't think my estimate on costs is unreasonable.

I could have worded it a little better by adding the average, and based on your area and other "adjectives" but I don't think my figure is inaccurate.

 

[TwiceOver]

In South Dakota here. We have one of the blue Intex above ground small pools 10' x 30". We set it up very early season (May I think). This gave it ample time to warm up. It basically sits idle at 76 degrees during a normal day and on a nice hot day will get upwards of 86f. Very little care really. Chlorine, PH balance, skim and that's it. Very relaxing and worth the minimal effort we put into it. We've probably only been able to use it 15 times this season. Last summer would have been nice to have.

If you buy one of these type small pools, get a cover that is 1 size larger. Look for filter sales and replace those every week, two at the most. Prepare to have a dead spot in your lawn the same size as your pool.

As for looks... My house looks great, I don't care about your opinion.

 

[Eug]

Yeah, above ground pools usually (but not always) look very ghetto.

In ground pools look much better, but around here require a fence around them so little kids don't wander into them, and you only get to use them a few months of the year.

So for places like Minnesota and Toronto I consider them a big liability for homes and of negative value. When I went looking for a home I said to the real estate agent that if the place had an inground pool, to automatically subtract $15000-20000 from the offer price, because that would be the cost to remove it and re-landscape it nicely.

Indeed, two of my neighbours had in-ground pools, and both have since filled them in (after their kids grew up).

 

[skimple]

Here's a couple of pictures of my "ghetto" above ground pool with Trex surround deck that I put in in the past year.

I live at about 43 latitude , so I think that qualifies as "north". We specifically chose to do a "ghetto" above ground, instead of an inground because:

We don't have to fence our whole yard.
We could afford to add a lot of options, such as a heater, SWG, patio furniture (on order), lighting and still come in well below the final price of an inground.

As far as maintenance- I open it, add some salt (if necessary), add shock, turn on the SWG, and leave it. Once a week I drop an aqua bug in it, which vacuums the whole pool for me. I take the solar cover off when we want to swim and put it back on when done.

Heater keeps the pool at 85 degrees. The kids can swim for hours and not get cold.

 

[Eug]

Well, that's why I said "usually (but not always)". You basically spent way, way more than what is usually spent on above ground pools. If you just left the pool as is with no deck or anything, then yeah, it'd probably look ghetto.

BTW, for in-ground, people shouldn't be heating with electricity. Gas is where it's at.

 

[OutHouse]

Hey Outhouse - before calling bullshit, can you comment on what state you live in?

Out in MN - temps during the winter months get down to -20 to -10 F. I don't think my estimate on costs is unreasonable.

I could have worded it a little better by adding the average, and based on your area and other "adjectives" but I don't think my figure is inaccurate.

first do you have ANY first hand knowledge about power consumption of hot tubs? or are you just guessing? im thinking you are just guessing.

Colorado and i spent many many many nights in my hot tub in sub zero temps. i also pay on the high side for power, 12 cents per kilowatt hour and my bill was maybe a extra 40 bucks in the winter months.

I really will never understand why people like guess at shit they have no clue about and call it fact and if you dare to call bullshit they get all upset.

 

[Eug]

I had also read elsewhere that it can cost upwards of $6 per DAY to heat a hot tub in the dead of winter in Canada. So, a claim of $100-200 per month doesn't see far off at all for Minnesota, if you keep it warm all the time.

In fact, I'm reading now a FAQ from a hot tub retailer that outright states it can cost more than $100 per month to heat a hot tub in the winter. They admit to this in order to advertise that they sell better insulated hot tubs that are cheaper to heat.

 

[onza]

Bigger the tub bigger the bill. But it costs 40.00 per month to heat HIS hottub, therefore mine will cost the same.

 

[Sluggo]

We have an in-ground pool, and it's not that much work. Maybe $300-400 a year for chemicals, vacuum it once a week and that's pretty much it. Ours has a large heater (48,000 BTU), and we only heat as needed, so thats not a huge cost. Our Summers are so hot that we only heat it in late spring and early Fall.

Once you get your water balanced, and check it regularly, it's not hard to keep good water quality. If you have a pool, get a good test kit.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...pf_rd_i=507846

 

[natto fire]

FYI: 12 cents a kW/h is still very affordable. Onza is definitely way off on the estimates. Plus a $100 spread is unacceptable when dealing with units that consist of cents per hour.

If you had a hot tub uncovered, and exposed to -20 weather for days at a time, then yeah I could see going through 1000 kW/h, but other than that I think your HVAC unit, lighting, and fridge are going to be competing for power sucker first place.

 

[Eug]

Bigger the tub bigger the bill. But it costs 40.00 per month to heat HIS hottub, therefore mine will cost the same.

I've been reading some of the forums some more about this and there is a big range. It seems for the northern climate though that it's common to have a monthly cost of $30-50 averaged over the year, which means that it's much more in the winter and less in the summer, with some posters saying their hot tubs cost more than $100 per month in the winter just for electricity (not counting chemicals, etc.).

I have not seen mention of $200 per month yet though.

So, I would say one should count on adding at least $40 per month for electricity unless you don't use it, but with the knowledge that it may be much, much more than that.

It would also depend of course if you have it heated 24/7 like some people do.