Indoor Pool / Natorium help

[winxpdows]

Hi TFP,

Looking for any advice.. I don't know too much about indoor pools and my parents bought a house in Maryland with one. It also has an automatic pool cover.

From what I'm reading the dehumidifier/HVAC needs to keep the air temperature a few degrees above the pool water temp all the time. I get the basics of trying to keep to prevent evaporation/condensation.. If the air temp drops, then the pool water evaporates and the chemicals are damaging to the structure of the building. But this is pretty expensive to do year round, especially the winter.

In warmer weather (late spring, summer, early fall), is it turn off the HVAC, open the windows and doors for fresh air and leave the pool cover closed to save on the utility bills? I'm thinking that the fresh air keeps the evaporating chemicals from staying in the building and doing damage and the pool cover itself helps lower the amount of condensation. Or is this not "right"? I'm mainly looking for the conditions where I can turn off the heat to save money. =)

Thanks in advance for any advice!

 

[ajw22]

If the air temp drops, then the pool water evaporates and the chemicals are damaging to the structure of the building.

Welcome to TFP.

I don’t believe there is cause and effect between water evaporation and chemicals damaging the building. When water evaporates it does not have chemicals bound to it.

An indoor pool can be a high humidity environment and the HVAC system along with reducing evaporation needs to manage that. High humidity and moisture can cause rusting, condensation, mold, mildew and other damage to buildings. Evaporation is not a problem if you can get rid of the water vapor. That can be as simple as opening windows and doors and running fans.

What chemicals are used and where they are stored may be another issue. We need to know details about the pool to advise.

 

[AUSpool]

Geday and welcome to TFP,
I would be thinking that if the pool cover is on or closed than the evaporation should be minimal and you could turn the HVAC off and leave a few strategic windows open to maximise cross flow.