Howdy everyone! I just discovered this awesome site and will be reading through it like a textbook!
We're considering a 13x28 freeform 7500ish gallon fiberglass pool in Houston, Tx (vs a gunite pool) partially due to the lower maintenance cost, but my questions is how do I go about actually saving money there? All of the local pool maintenance companies (I plan on eventually doing all the chemicals/chemistry/cleaning myself if not sooner than later) charge the same flat rate regardless. Is the savings in doing it yourself?
We like the idea of a SWG for the purpose of having more gentle water (if that makes sense), I've been reading a bit about the pros and cons and I believe the pros out weight the cons for us. We also are considering a natural gas water heater (with maybe 200-300 hours of usage throughout the year). Natural gas is about 50cents a therm here and electricity is about .11cents/kwh avg (total) so pretty similar cost to run I think. We would be stretching our budget and I think natural gas heater is about half the upfront cost of an electric one (plus electricty rates down here have been steadily rising for the past 3ish years).
Anyways, what I'm asking is, is a Fiberglass pool + SWG + Water heater a fine combination?
The pool vendor/installer we're considering only uses Hayward equipment. From what I've read, many people don't like the Hayward SWG systems. Should I wait to do the SWG + Water heard afterwards with a different company and brand and have a mix of Hayward + other brands for SWG/Water heater? Or just go with all Hayward with the original vendor/installer? Perhaps that would be better for warranty/repair purposes?
What kind of options/upgrades would y'all recommend, specifically ones I can't easily add after the pool installation? I thought about in-floor cleaning system mainly for the purpose of improving the flow of water around the pool but was told to save my money by the vendor.
Does anyone have experience with those in-floor cleaning systems? (Viking pools - X-tream Klean)
Thanks!
We're considering a 13x28 freeform 7500ish gallon fiberglass pool in Houston, Tx (vs a gunite pool) partially due to the lower maintenance cost, but my questions is how do I go about actually saving money there? All of the local pool maintenance companies (I plan on eventually doing all the chemicals/chemistry/cleaning myself if not sooner than later) charge the same flat rate regardless. Is the savings in doing it yourself?
We like the idea of a SWG for the purpose of having more gentle water (if that makes sense), I've been reading a bit about the pros and cons and I believe the pros out weight the cons for us. We also are considering a natural gas water heater (with maybe 200-300 hours of usage throughout the year). Natural gas is about 50cents a therm here and electricity is about .11cents/kwh avg (total) so pretty similar cost to run I think. We would be stretching our budget and I think natural gas heater is about half the upfront cost of an electric one (plus electricty rates down here have been steadily rising for the past 3ish years).
Anyways, what I'm asking is, is a Fiberglass pool + SWG + Water heater a fine combination?
The pool vendor/installer we're considering only uses Hayward equipment. From what I've read, many people don't like the Hayward SWG systems. Should I wait to do the SWG + Water heard afterwards with a different company and brand and have a mix of Hayward + other brands for SWG/Water heater? Or just go with all Hayward with the original vendor/installer? Perhaps that would be better for warranty/repair purposes?
What kind of options/upgrades would y'all recommend, specifically ones I can't easily add after the pool installation? I thought about in-floor cleaning system mainly for the purpose of improving the flow of water around the pool but was told to save my money by the vendor.
Does anyone have experience with those in-floor cleaning systems? (Viking pools - X-tream Klean)
Thanks!