Why no equipment shed for the westerners?

[uxbridgechris]

Its seems like the Europeans lean towards having equipment housed in a shed whereas us in North America lean towards leaving their stuff exposed to the elements.

Is the only disadvantage of housing equipment cost and extra work? Wondering why the majority of pool owners in NA keep their equipment exposed.

 

[Texas Splash]

I suppose the majority of those who leave equipment exposed is either because:
- The equipment is typically designed/expected to be outdoors in the elements, so why bother?
- Lack of space to construct a proper shed
- Lack of funds to build a shed
- Last but not least, and my personal favorite .... "I'll get to it next weekend." As I tell my wife repeatedly, if a husband says he will do something, he will do it. There's no need to remind me every six months. :grin:

In the end, there are a fair amount of cold climate owners who do enclose their equipment. I think freezing has more potential for damage than anything else.

 

[uxbridgechris]

I'm trying to talk myself into not doing the shed. My project is behind schedule and over budget. lol

Freezing is an issue up here whether you have a shed or not unless, you heat the thing. Problem is, you need lots of ventilation for heater so keeping that shed warm is expensive. I guess the residual heat from the heater flue would help some.

For me, it's not something I will do later. it's now or never. I am not mounting sub panel to house wall only to move down the road. Some type of canopy that doesn't look like garbage would be a half baked solution to at least keep rain off but I'm also worried about sunlight that wears away at plastics.

 

[Dirk]

I can think of a few more reasons:

- Working on anything on the pad would be significantly less comfortable unless the shed was quite a bit bigger. There's always something to fix, clean or adjust...

- There are several things to keep an eye on (depending on your equipment). Checking every day is prudent. Mine: filter pressure, flow rate, pump strainer, pump operation, leaks, valve actuator positions, check valve operation, SWG status, and a few others. All quite easy for me to check at a glance, every time I walk by. With a shed... out of sight, out of mind.

- You can protect your PVC with a coat of latex paint (easy and cheap).

- And I would hazard a guess: most, if not all, pool components (filter, heater, pump, SWG, etc) will reach their end-of-life for any number of reasons before sun exposure kills them off...

 

[riley00dog]

Good question. Here in Australia a lot of people have equipment sheds. We were hoping to have one, but the location we finally decided on meant that it would be difficult, but doable. The way the plumber installed the equipment means it’s now pretty much impossible. I’m not as disappointed as I thought I’d be. We will paint the exposed pvc. It’s actually a good point that it will make it easier to check, plus navigate the equipment. It’s on the most sheltered side of the house, with a 6 foot fence a metre away and a two storey house next door. It’s also the side of our house that sees the least sun as moss likes to grown down there.

 

[PoolGate]

When I lived in Germany it was extremely crowded with houses right up on each other. No land at all. Perhaps it is to create a better view for neighbors. In the US we have more open space between neighbors.

 

[uxbridgechris]

Thanks for contributing guys. I am not doing the shed. Already spent too much money, running out of time and there is very limited space anyway. I found some really neat looking polycarbonate awnings at a local distributor. I may put one overtop just to keep the majority of rain off.

 

[borjis]

Whenever I see a severely rusted pump motor or heater they tend to be exposed.

I too am puzzled over this.

Both homes with pools I've owned had / have sheltered equipment pads.

If it wasn't I would have built something. Just seems like the proper thing
to do so they last longer.

 

[riley00dog]

Thanks for contributing guys. I am not doing the shed. Already spent too much money, running out of time and there is very limited space anyway. I found some really neat looking polycarbonate awnings at a local distributor. I may put one overtop just to keep the majority of rain off.

Do you have a link? I’ve been thinking an awning might be a good compromise. We installing a heat pump and that cannot be covered, so an awning over just the equipment would probably be a good solution.

 

[uxbridgechris]

Polycarbonate awning _ Canofix North America

 

[pooldv]

Building something over the pool equipmemt has been on my to-do list since the pool was finished. In fact, my wife and I discussed it again last weekend. The pool was built in 2012. :-D

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Canada is quite a different environment than many of the sunnier/warmer parts of the US so I would say it somewhat depends. My equipment has no shed and it's placement was an after-thought somewhat to the PB. So it gets blasted with hot Arizona afternoon sun from midday to sundown. As such, my equipment is quite beat up from the sun. The equipment doesn't need a shed, per se, but an enclosed space (small privacy wall) and a little overhead coverage would make a huge difference. In a very cold climate, you also don't necessarily need a shed as you will be taking the pump, filter and vital components indoors. The best thing for that would be a good equipment pad with the ability to easily tarp the exposed pipes and cover any electrical boxes.

A large shed would be nice but is often not really feasible unless your bdavis466....

 

[rcy]

I'm up in Canada, and had the pool installed in 2007. No shed, and the pump, filter, heater, everything was left out all winter for four seasons with no problem. In 2011, I built a nice shed over the everything. Everything is still working perfectly as of this season (I replaced the Tristar pump with a VS Tristar last season, but the original pump was still working very well).

Compare this to a friend a few blocks away who had a pool installed in 2006. Same builder. His stuff has been left out all these years. He's had to replace his pump, his SWG and his gas heater. I think, despite being able to leave the equipment out all year uncovered, covering it will definitely increase the lifespan. No rain, no snow, (so no rust), no sun, no wind, no critters etc.

 

[riley00dog]

Thanks for the link. That looks exactly what I was picturing.

 

[Arizonarob]

It’s on my list of things to do. Seeing as my equipment is behind a 4 ft privacy wall in a corner of 6ft walls, I’m going to build a simple “Screen top” out of pvc pipe ,UV screen, and attach it to the back wall with conduit clamps. That way plenty of airflow, and I can just lift it up like a door when I need to service things.
Again.... it’s on da list!

 

[bmoreswim]

Building something over the pool equipmemt has been on my to-do list since the pool was finished. In fact, my wife and I discussed it again last weekend. The pool was built in 2012. :-D

Me too. We built in 2013 so I’m still good using your timeframe. Don’t rush.

 

[peirek]

I have a patio type cover over my equipment on the back side of my garage (East). It is exposed to the morning sun for a few hours. Rarely do we have rain from the East so it hasn't seen much direct rain fall.

Filter pump motor - 19 years w/ one rear cover replaced @ 10 years; Replaced last year
Booster pump - 19 years when volute finally gave in to UV; Replaced last year
Booster pump motor - 20 years; Replace last month
Filter housing - 19 years; Replaced last year
Filter pump housing still going 20+ years.

Based on many discussions on this forum, it seems to be at least 2x the normal time frame for these items.

 

[Dirk]

I have a patio type cover over my equipment on the back side of my garage (East). It is exposed to the morning sun for a few hours. Rarely do we have rain from the East so it hasn't seen much direct rain fall.

Filter pump motor - 19 years w/ one rear cover replaced @ 10 years; Replaced last year
Booster pump - 19 years when volute finally gave in to UV; Replaced last year
Booster pump motor - 20 years; Replace last month
Filter housing - 19 years; Replaced last year
Filter pump housing still going 20+ years.

Based on many discussions on this forum, it seems to be at least 2x the normal time frame for these items.

Those are good numbers. I was wondering about what they might be for the average pad.

So ten years on most pad items as normal? That's what I was figuring when I guessed most of this stuff would poop out before the sun got to them.

How much of your extra 10 years do you attribute to keeping the sun and rain off 'em? Any way to guess? Or were you just lucky?

 

[uxbridgechris]

I am reconsidering the shed and will pour the slab and position lines where they would be if I do end up framing walls and a roof.
In for a penny, in for a pound.

 

[Melnic]

If you had it in a shed, you better leave LOTS of room around the perimeter to work in. I at least 2' between my stuff and anything else except on the pool side of the equipment where there is a tall bush(es).
I viewed a house with the equipment that was enclosed, man, they built it CRAMPED! they also built it adjacent to the garage.
I have a tarp for the winter to keep the elements. off. One thing about the shed is we are talking water here. I have a DE filter so I may have to clear the air out and spray water. where will that go and how will it dry up.
Not in a shed means if water sprays anywhere or when doing plumbing work, the water will dry up. what is the shed made out of ? wood? metal? Either one has its pros and cons. Wood and it will get musty smelling in there. Metal? It will rust.
I guess plastic is a choice? Then your adding lighting. So much easier to see everything if its not enclosed. I was thinking about maybe putting a pavilion type roof overhead but right now, its so far down my home improvement list.