Hidden Swimming Pool Costs
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It is no secret that owning a swimming pool is a luxury and you can plan to spend quite a bit of money buying, using and maintaining one. Included in this are all of the expected expenses like chlorine, probably some acid and other basic chemicals, and of course the routine maintenance items like the interior surface of the pool, or the pool equipment itself which has a finite service life. Each of these could potentially cost you a lot of money and truthfully you should be planning for this from day one as a pool owner. You should be saving constantly for the next major overhaul or repair that your pool will inevitably need.
So in addition to the known events and expected costs of pool ownership, how and where does the money go when pools cost you "an arm and a leg"? In short, it is the items listed above, which are definitely expensive enough, but even more than this it is the lesser known and more unexpected costs of pool ownership that can really add up on pool owners. Let's look at some of those hidden costs of pool ownership:
Water use - Water is not always a negligible cost and can even be an appreciable cost if you live in an area that pays a high rate for your water service or has water use restrictions during certain times of year. Even worse is a leaking swimming pool that you continue to operate and compensate for with extra water fills from your garden hose or automatic water level system. One inch of water lost in a 20x40' swimming pool is equal to 500 gallons! Water loss in a pool adds up quickly so when you account for leaks, splash out, pump out for things like filter backwashing, evaporation...well the amount of water costs can add up pretty quickly!
Heating costs - Heating swimming pool water is absolutely a luxury. In some areas it gets so hot that pool water needs to be cooled, or chilled more accurately, to keep it at a reasonable swimming temperature. For the rest of the world we struggle between swimming in water that makes all of your muscles seize up and takes your breath away when you get in, versus feeding $100 bills into the front of your pool heater every hour like a parking meter. It takes a ton of BTU's to heat something as large as a swimming pool, and unfortunately the design is terrible for efficiency. It is like heating your house, except there is no attic, insulation or roof at all on the house. As you can imagine that would take an awful lot of heat to keep warm. Such is the nature of swimming pools and why using a cover on the pool (especially at night) is the best way to reduce your pool water heating costs. In a worst case scenario of cold weather and very warm pool water you could be spending a few thousand dollars per month on gas costs for the heater.
Equipment failure - It is not uncommon for me to speak with pool owners who own a pool heater that is anywhere from three months to two years old...and it is completely dead and declared unserviceable by the installer. Worst of all you are being denied any warranty coverage to help cover the costs of replacement as they are saying it is your fault that the heater died. This is a shockingly common situation that I encounter with pool owners. Heaters are not as robust as they were 25 or 30 years ago. They have specific water care requirements and you should read your owners manual to learn what they are. Have your water tested weekly, and keep all water test reports indefinitely. Be sure to bond your heater, and protect it from chlorine feeders with a corrosion resistant check valve. With pool equipment you hope to get many years, perhaps decades of service life depending on the component in question, but that is not always the case and sometimes pool equipment does fail early.
additional chemicals - For the most part in swimming pools you will need chlorine, an acid like muriatic acid, and baking soda. These allow you to increase pH and alkalinity, reduce pH and alkalinity, and raise chlorine levels. For the average pool this will be the majority of what you need to add. However, when things start going bad and your water is not in balance, you can end up needing to purchase a bunch of reactionary chemicals that you might have avoided had you kept the basic pool water balance in check closer. Algicides and metal removers, stain and scale control and other less common chemicals can usually be avoided by using clean fill water for your pool, and never letting the chlorine level drop to zero. If you use poor water to fill your pool, or let bacteria and algae take root with no chemical sanitizer in the water, then you can end up spending more for extra chemical treatments.
House insurance premium increases - In some areas you may experience an increase in your home insurance policy or the necessity to take out a new insurance policy with extra coverage as a result of your swimming pool. If you are not planning for it and this applies to you it can be an unfortunate surprise.
Food, drinks and party supplies - What are you going to own a pool and never have a party? That sounds ridiculous! You are going to have parties for sure, and extra people over, and even your own family will just simply eat you out of house and home after a day swimming in the pool. These expenses are hardly a requirement of pool ownership and yet still very likely an unexpected additional expense as a result of owning a pool.
While the costs of owning and operating a pool are appreciable to be sure, hopefully this list of "hidden pool costs" helped to make you aware of where the money will end up going as a pool owner. Just be sure to plan ahead for regular repairs and maintenance items to avoid experiencing a swimming pool nightmare. If you are interested in more information about costs associated with swimming pools you can read this article about why pools are so expensive.
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Swimming Pool Steve is an award winning, second generation swimming pool specialist from Ontario Canada and one of the most trusted voices in the swimming pool industry. With over 20,000,000 views on the Swimming Pool Steve YouTube Channel, winner of the Pleatco Pool & Spa Industry Leadership award and author of hundreds of pool and spa articles both online and in print. Steve is committed to helping pool and spa owners as well as pool and spa industry workers learn more about the technical side of building, renovating, repairing and maintaining all types of swimming pools and spas. Follow Swimming Pool Steve on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
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