2023 Bleach Prices

[Newdude]

Maybe a no-interest credit card will help spread out the costs?

With a full PB install, large systems are returning a 2:1 payback with 1st cell savings near $3k these days. So much so, you could pay a CC with interest, whatever you were spending monthly and still make out in the end.

If you can DIY the 1st cell, or future cells that anyone can DIY in 10 mins, the payback nears 4:1.

 

[Mdragger88]

I put in my monthly order with Walmart to get 12 gallons delivered and they sent me an email an hour later saying I was refunded. WM is completely out in our area too. The price was decent at just under $6 per gallon but the convenience of having 12 jugs dropped off on my front porch the next day was making me spoiled. I still have 7-8 gallons left which could possibly last me until we are done with the pool early October. The SWCG is looking more and more attractive when spring gets near.... Maybe trichlor will make a comeback???

I was spending about $75 per month from May-Sept on bleach jugs, which comes to $360 per year. I would use a lot less in April and Oct when the water is colder so let's round that up to $400. You can't use the SWCG in winter so those other 5 months don't matter. I'm going to say the cost of salt would be equivalent in value to the time/effort to buying bleach jugs and manually dosing so that's a wash. It would take me 3 years for the SWCG to pay for itself. Maybe a no-interest credit card will help spread out the costs?

Payback Depends on which swcg you choose-
You definitely want a 40k or preferably large swcg.
Do you have automation?
If not you could do the pureline 60k gal system for $1k & have plenty of fc.
They seem to be out of the 40k systems on their site- but maybe check amazon, make sure they are the seller. (Inyopools)
In the meantime- go to smith pools & get some bulk lc.
I don’t recommend anyone go into debt for any reason really except housing but that’s your personal decision to make.

 

[C3Cl3N3O3]

I see the SW conversion as being risky not knowing what bleach prices will be during that "payback" period. It's really an unsupported, bold claim without any supporting analysis of why bleach prices have more than doubled in just a few years.

 

[Mdragger88]

I see the SW conversion as being risky not knowing what bleach prices will be during that "payback" period. It's really an unsupported, bold claim without any supporting analysis of why bleach prices have more than doubled in just a few years.

It started out with Covid craziness, shortages/supply & demand and is now looking more like inflation with still a bit of gouging thrown in.
Inflation doesn’t go away overnight & historically prices of most goods rise more than they fall over time so it’s not that speculative. Swcg’s will go up in price too.
Either way the pool’s gotta eat unless you fill it in.
You can’t buy the next 5 years worth of lc realistically to lock in today’s price (you could if you had the storage but it would also be pretty useless after a year)
But you absolutely can do this with a swcg.
Even if the lc prices fall by 1/2 the break even is still quite lucrative over the life of the 1st cell.
In 2021 I calculated my break even point at 2.5 seasons when lc was $3.74/gal & the circupool universal 55 was $1400. It is currently $1100.

 

[plnewb]

Walmart appears to be permanently out of stock

Untrue. I just ordered 10 online (all stores around me are OOS, which is typical as it's now "off season" for Walmart) - they just come in stock and get bought out rapidly by people like me.

They ship from a warehouse in WA and takes 7 - 10 days to ship due to demand

If you keep an eye on it while logged into Walmart.com you will get them, or I am happy to order them for you when I place an order, you will have to send me your address. I have them delivered atleast once a month

Online it costs $6 + tax. For some reason they don't ship the cheaper ($11) 2x pak

 

[C3Cl3N3O3]

Walmart price just shot up to $11.40 / gallon today. It shows as being in stock at my location but isn't (again).

 

[an1vrsy]

The Walmart near by here in Las Vegas, sells 2 pack for $17.13. Lowes has a 2 pack for $14.98, which is outside in the garden section. A while ago, I created an account at Leslie's. Their in store price is higher than what they sell online and you pickup in store, $33.99 for 12.5% 4 pack.

In a couple of months when my pool water drops below 57 degrees and the SWG shutsdown, looks like I'll compare prices again and see if it still makes sense to buy from Leslie's. If only I had a business license then I could by from SCP, which is closer to wholesale price.

 

[C3Cl3N3O3]

Also, Walmart was completely out of unscented cleaning bleach.

 

[plnewb]

Walmart price just shot up to $11.40 / gallon today. It shows as being in stock at my location but isn't (again).

I'm curious, so please let me know if I am wrong

I think you're talking about the 2-Pack here:

Robot or human?

They don't ship this cheaper ($11) 2-Pack anyways

Just buy two of these instead:

Robot or human?

walmart sends them to you in a big resealable ziplock bag that you can reuse to store 4-5lb DE or CYA etc

It does go OOS often as people like me buy them out as soon as it comes into stock, so you have to actively keep your eye on it. I download the walmart app and it tells me when it comes into stock and then just hit "buy" and you're done.

 

[plnewb]

The Walmart near by here in Las Vegas, sells 2 pack for $17.13. Lowes has a 2 pack for $14.98, which is outside in the garden section. A while ago, I created an account at Leslie's. Their in store price is higher than what they sell online and you pickup in store, $33.99 for 12.5% 4 pack.

In a couple of months when my pool water drops below 57 degrees and the SWG shutsdown, looks like I'll compare prices again and see if it still makes sense to buy from Leslie's. If only I had a business license then I could by from SCP, which is closer to wholesale price.

Tough to be in NV. I would never have thought LC at Lowes would be cheaper than at Walmart. I would imagine HD is similarly priced.

The Leslie's price doesn't make sense when you can buy from Lowes or HD - and Lowes or HD have 10% off coupons and gift card sales often (you buy a $100 Lowes or HD gift card and pay $90 for it)

Why don't you buy them from Walmart.com for $6 each? I posted the link above

 

[C3Cl3N3O3]

I'm curious, so please let me know if I am wrong

I think you're talking about the 2-Pack here:

Robot or human?

That's what I thought at first, but I have a link saved to the one gallon and I double-checked it yesterday. It was definitely marked up but is back down to $5.67 today.

It is cheaper to just use cal-hypo right now.

 

[plnewb]

It is cheaper to just use cal-hypo right now.

Why do you say so?

 

[C3Cl3N3O3]

Why do you say so?

128 oz of 10% bleach is $8.98 in my area. That's a FC increase of 5 ppm in 20K gallons. The equivalent amount of 65% cal-hypo is 21 oz. At $0.34 / ounce that comes to $7.14. Actually, that's the price for 68% which skews it in favor of cal-hypo a bit more. The fact that LC weakens can skew it in favor of cal-hypo even more.

Amazon.com

 

[Mdragger88]

128 oz of 10% bleach is $8.98 in my area. That's a FC increase of 5 ppm in 20K gallons. The equivalent amount of 65% cal-hypo is 21 oz. At $0.34 / ounce that comes to $7.14. Actually, that's the price for 68% which skews it in favor of cal-hypo a bit more. The fact that LC weakens can skew it in favor of cal-hypo even more.

Amazon.com

If you can stand to add the calcium-unfortunately many cannot.

 

[C3Cl3N3O3]

If you can stand to add the calcium-unfortunately many cannot.

Fair point. It's funny, I used to buy that calcium hardness Crud by the bucketload back when I was getting pool store'd. I had to load up every year. Where does it go?? Then I discovered TFP and learned that I probably don't even need it at all and haven't looked back. So, I'm starting from a very low level.

If and when I do the SWG conversion, I'll retest for that. I'm going to close out this season with LC, cal-hypo, and maybe even trichlor *gasp*.

 

[Mdragger88]

Fair point. It's funny, I used to buy that calcium hardness Crud by the bucketload back when I was getting pool store'd. I had to load up every year. Where does it go?? Then I discovered TFP and learned that I probably don't even need it at all and haven't looked back. So, I'm starting from a very low level.

If and when I do the SWG conversion, I'll retest for that. I'm going to close out this season with LC, cal-hypo, and maybe even trichlor *gasp*.

So long as you know what you need & what each thing will do it’s no problem.
It’s the blind use that gets folks.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

Fair point. It's funny, I used to buy that calcium hardness Crud by the bucketload back when I was getting pool store'd. I had to load up every year. Where does it go?? Then I discovered TFP and learned that I probably don't even need it at all and haven't looked back. So, I'm starting from a very low level.

It would be helpful if you could specify your pool type in your signature line.

 

[plnewb]

I love numbers and numbers are being shared here so I personally, would love the party to keep going.

What I adore about the TFP method is it turns the pool into a lab. I can add LC or CYA etc to the pool and predict what the future state of the pool is going to be and that I can do, in part because, we understand what we are adding to the pool

This turns pool maintenance from reactive to proactive, which to me personally, is tremendous value.

I understand there's a slight pricing advantage in cal-hypo vs LC in certain markets (not in mine - 128 oz of 10% bleach is $6 in my area delivered to my door) and I would like to learn:

1. How does the FC get affected on adding X units of cal-hypo?
2. What else (like Ca) goes up and by how much, on adding X units of cal-hypo?

 

[YippeeSkippy]

I understand there's a slight pricing advantage in cal-hypo vs LC in certain markets (not in mine - 128 oz of 10% bleach is $6 in my area delivered to my door) and I would like to learn:

1. How does the FC get affected on adding X units of cal-hypo?
2. What else (like Ca) goes up and by how much, on adding X units of cal-hypo?

The amazing PoolMath app can tell you all that! Use the "Effects of Adding Chemicals" feature.

 

[plnewb]

The amazing PoolMath app can tell you all that! Use the "Effects of Adding Chemicals" feature.

Ok, do all cal-hypo essentially have the same chemical composition?

For example: The 68% Cal-Hypo linked, shows there's 22% "other ingredients" - and that's not water, it's other chemicals (which might be listed in the MSDS?)