Costs of running a pool?

Jump to latest Follow Reply
I

ijustwannaswim

0
Apr 12, 2014
3
Florida
Hello, I'm new to this forum so I hope I'm posting this in the correct place. I have been considering getting one of those Intex pools (the 20' x 12' x 48" Oval Frame Easy Set) and I was wondering about how expensive it would be to run a month? My house also has some electrical issues where if too much is running at one time switches will flip. Does anyone know if this is a very electrically demanding pool? My parents used to have metal wall swimming pool with a large pump and they were able to run it, but they couldn't run the washer/dryer at the same time.
I'd appreciate any input. Thank you.

edit: Some additional questions I have as far as costs are about how much should I expect to spend in chemicals monthly? I read through pool school and from what I understand the basic chemicals, to be used as needed, are bleach, liquid chlorine, borax, baking soda, cyanuric acid and muriatic acid. Are all of these necessary for a pool of this size/type? I am trying to put together a shopping list.
Also, for a pool this size, what test kit would you recommend?
 
Well, I can't answer any of your questions exactly but I know that if *I* was trying to moderate my energy usage, and really who isn't these days huh?, I would run the filter overnight when other appliances are less likely to be running. This alone might enough to make it workable for you.

As to costs <shrug> my house is kept air conditioned, three fridges, one freezer, my hot tub and pool are all running and maintained and yet my summer bill in the hottest time is rarely over $200 max (gas water heater and cooking). We just didn't notice much change in our electric bill when we put the pool in.
Skippy's beer bill... well, yeah, it did go up a bit :party:
 
Welcome to TFP!

We spend about $10/month on electricity, and we hire a service to open and close the pool ($700/year for both). It is easy to spend way way more, especially if you heat the pool, follow pool store directions (which tend to be expensive), or have large water features which you like to keep running. Of course we have reasonably low electrical rates, a small pump, a SWG that is long since paid for, and have lots of practice at keeping the pool balanced with minimal chemical additions. This also doesn't count the $20,000 renovation we did a few years ago, the $1000 pool cleaning robot, the $500 in pool toys the kids talked us into, and so on.

Pool pumps do draw a fair amount of electricity. With up to date wiring that is normally only a cost issue, but I can see needing to not run the pool pump and other major appliances at the same time in some homes with out of date wiring.
 
This is interesting. I know the cost of running my pool pump spiked our electrical usage by $50-$100 a month. This is with SWG too. I know this because there are only the pool equipment and the well pump (well being our water source) on that meter alone. We have a separate meter for our house and get both bills. I give the spread of $50-$100 because we keep our pump running all year here and don't "close" the pool, just run it much less in the winter unless the thermostat kicks it on when nearing freezing temperatures. I don't know how my actual rates compare to others. Maybe I just run it too much. I know there are dozens of variables of cost to "run" a pool.
 
AimeeH said:
This is interesting. I know the cost of running my pool pump spiked our electrical usage by $50-$100 a month. This is with SWG too. I know this because there are only the pool equipment and the well pump (well being our water source) on that meter alone. We have a separate meter for our house and get both bills. I give the spread of $50-$100 because we keep our pump running all year here and don't "close" the pool, just run it much less in the winter unless the thermostat kicks it on when nearing freezing temperatures. I don't know how my actual rates compare to others. Maybe I just run it too much. I know there are dozens of variables of cost to "run" a pool.
Click to expand...
I am guessing you do not have a 2-speed or VS pump ... might be something to consider.
 
You're correct Jblizzle. And I knew NOTHING about pools when I had the build done in 2011. Found this site and have learned lots. When it is time to replace/repair/upgrade, I'm sooooo much more educated now.
 
I apologize, but I assumed that when I posted and bumped the thread back to the first page that users could click the thread and read the original post as well as the edit. Would you like me to make a new thread?

- - - Updated - - -

jblizzle said:
You may not need all those chemicals. You have test to know what you need.

See Pool School for the recommended test kits.
Click to expand...

Thank you. I saw the list of test kits but I couldn't tell which would be best for this particular type of pool. Also, I realize I'll need to test to see which chemicals I need but I'd rather be prepared than not, so if at any time I could possibly need these chemicals I'd like to buy them ahead of time. That was my question.
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
When I found this site, I immediately went and bought bleach, baking soda, and borax. I'm fairly certain I never used the baking soda or borax. I think that's the point jblizzle was making. I've found that bleach and muriatic acid are really the only items I need to keep on hand. Since the upgrade to SWG, don't really need to keep bleach around either. Of the chemicals you listed, I'd initially buy bleach, CYA, and MA. Liquid chlorine is just a higher concentration of bleach. Keep reading pool school and you'll have it nailed in no time.
 
ijustwannaswim said:
Hello, I'm new to this forum so I hope I'm posting this in the correct place. I have been considering getting one of those Intex pools (the 20' x 12' x 48" Oval Frame Easy Set) and I was wondering about how expensive it would be to run a month? My house also has some electrical issues where if too much is running at one time switches will flip. Does anyone know if this is a very electrically demanding pool? My parents used to have metal wall swimming pool with a large pump and they were able to run it, but they couldn't run the washer/dryer at the same time.
I'd appreciate any input. Thank you.

edit: Some additional questions I have as far as costs are about how much should I expect to spend in chemicals monthly? I read through pool school and from what I understand the basic chemicals, to be used as needed, are bleach, liquid chlorine, borax, baking soda, cyanuric acid and muriatic acid. Are all of these necessary for a pool of this size/type? I am trying to put together a shopping list.
Also, for a pool this size, what test kit would you recommend?
Click to expand...

you are only ~1000 gallons more than me. my pool pump runs 4 hrs a day for a cost of around 30 bucks a month. currently, im using 20 oz of bleach a day, out of a 121 oz bottle, so just a tad over 4 bottles a month at 3 bucks a piece, roughly 15 bucks a month in bleach. I expect bleach usage to go to 30 oz a day once we start using our pool. (water temp is only 65 right now) last year I was using 30 oz a day, and bought 34 gallons of bleach for the whole season for a total of 102 bucks. (opposed to my father in law who spent over 400 dollars on pucks and shock for his 22 x 48 intex.... go BBB method... :D )

so in short, about 45-50 bucks a month, chems and electric. this does not include any shocking, as i found last year, if you stay on top of your pool, there is never a need to shock. i have yet to have to shock my pool, not even when I opened this year.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply