Indoor Pool Recommendations

[da2434890]

I am living in NW Mexico where the climate is very similar to Phoenix. In fact we are at the southern end of the Sonoran desert and Phoenix is at the northern end. However, unlike Phoenix it never freezes even with an extreme cold spell. We are hoping to sell our house and build another one here. Our current outdoor pool is too cold to use from about mid Nov to the end of March. We do have a heat pump and a reversible cover but it is an infinity pool which faces the Sea of Cortez and thus the winter winds makes it impossible to keep the cover on the pool. If we build a new house it will face the water in the opposite direction so the winds will be low in the winter but high in the summer. Our humidity is low most of the year with the exception of Aug and part of Sept when rains and possibly hurricane occur. We would like to be able to use the pool every day from Oct thru July for 10 months since most of the Americans leave town during the rainy season.

The local pool builders do excellent concrete work but do not have a clue about how to properly install equipment. Thus, I need to purchase all of the equipment in the US and have it shipped down.

One of our friends has an indoor lap pool in its own building here in town with solar heat, an automated cover ($8000), a humidifier ($4000), and just a simple puck chlorinator. She never adds acid but everyone else in town does because the water is very hard. The CH of the water in town is between 400 and 600.

We are thinking that maybe an indoor pool that has an roof that opens, an end wall that opens, and a side wall that opens would be an ideal but expensive solution. In the winter the room would be kept closed. In the spring and fall the room would be open. In June, July, and Oct it would be nice to have the roof closed and providing shade to keep the pool cooler since the outdoor pools become too hot. Has anyone had any experience with an enclosure like this? Any other suggestions?

The pool would be concrete and the building could be either concrete or aluminum with glass. Fiberglass is also OK but between the termites and the salt air many materials are not practical. Don't forget that labor is inexpensive but materials other than concrete are expensive.

Other questions.
1..With the reduced loses of a pool with a cover is it a good idea to have a SWG? I currently like the reduced maintenance but I have to acid clean the SWG 4 times about once a month because of the calcium buildup.
2. I heard somewhere that a solar pool system could be run at night to cool the water. Is this true?
If we do a totally indoor pool are both the automated cover and the humidifier necessary?
3. Any other recommendations specifically aimed at having an indoor pool and/or solar heat in a relatively warm climate?

 

[JasonLion]

A SWG is fine. It requires much more attention to maintaining the correct FC level when used indoors, but otherwise is great.

Yes, solar panels can be used to cool the pool at night.

Indoor pools can be a real challenge, both to build and to maintain. They are significantly more work, though nothing unreasonable. Sunlight helps keep everything in balance, without it you need to pay more attention and do more work.

The largest issue with an indoor pool is the humidity in the building. You either maintain the humidity around 100%, which is rough on many different building materials, or you need to spend a large amount of money on a massive dehumidification system that returns water back to the pool and then heat the pool to make up for the evaporation (which cools the water). The 100% humidity approach is noticeably less expensive, but requires careful selection of building materials that are 100% waterproof.

You also need a significant amount of ventilation to the outside, even when the outside is not so nice out. That usually means a couple of large energy recovery ventilators, or leaving windows open even when it is too hot/cold outside.

 

[racket]

You really dont need massive dehumidifiers, when you use a cover on the pool. That $8000 quoted for the cover will seem like a real bargain if when it comes to saving you $15,000 on dehumidification equipment.

In a stand alone building that isn't subject to extreme winters, you don't need air to air exchangers, because the air is a consistent temperature most of the year. You just need to bring in dryer air than what is inside the equipment room.

There are some affordable air to air exchangers that will help recover any heated air during the short winters you have.

To answer op's questions directly.

1. I prefer not to have salt systems on pools with automatic covers.
2. a) You can use solar to cool a pool off at night, provided the night time air temperatures are colder than the pool. There are also some smallish cooling towers made for pools that should work as well.
b) Dehumidification may not be required in a temperate enviroment. Air to air exchange should be suitable.