Pool Math........The App

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JoyfulNoise said:
I'd say the best it could do is calculate how much energy a gas or heat pump run would use but it would only give a very rough estimate of temperature rise because there are many other factors that dictate pool water temperature that would vary greatly between pool types and ambient atmospheric conditions. Might be ok to add the the "Effects" section. Later on, with addition of automation tracking, it could be added to the list of Log items
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Here in the desert, covering the pool or uncovering the pool would make a major difference when heating it up. Swamp cooler effect is major here. My solar cover is about toast after only two seasons, but I refuse to buy one until next year. I probably lost 2 weeks of swim time by only partially covering the pool. It's kinda crazy. I have no heater so it's over for 2021.. we are down to 72F now...

I don't know how you'd accurately would calculate that out without more inputs than you'd want to enter on a phone app.
 
Rattus Suffocatus said:
Here in the desert, covering the pool or uncovering the pool would make a major difference when heating it up. Swamp cooler effect is major here. My solar cover is about toast after only two seasons, but I refuse to buy one until next year. I probably lost 2 weeks of swim time by only partially covering the pool. It's kinda crazy. I have no heater so it's over for 2021.. we are down to 72F now...

I don't know how you'd accurately would calculate that out without more inputs than you'd want to enter on a phone app.
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2 years is the best you could hope for here. The sun absolutely destroys them. I don’t use solar covers anymore as they are a waste of money and nothing but fodder for the landfill. The only reasonable, non-carbon based heating is solar (giant infrared lasers are just too cumbersome to set up and the HOA gets grumpy about the low frequency humming noise they emit).

My neighbor paid about $5k 2 years ago to install solar heat for her pool. She absolutely wouldn’t swim if the water temp was any less than 90F and so she never used her pool. With solar she gets her “happy place” of 92F all season and they can swim Mar-Nov. But it does cost her in excess water. When the overnight temps dip into the 40’s and 50’s, she says her pool looks like a giant fog machine for hours. I told her that the City of Tucson water department really appreciates her on-time payments 😂
 
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JoyfulNoise said:
2 years is the best you could hope for here. The sun absolutely destroys them. I don’t use solar covers anymore as they are a waste of money and nothing but fodder for the landfill. The only reasonable, non-carbon based heating is solar (giant infrared lasers are just too cumbersome to set up and the HOA gets grumpy about the low frequency humming noise they emit).

My neighbor paid about $5k 2 years ago to install solar heat for her pool. She absolutely wouldn’t swim if the water temp was any less than 90F and so she never used her pool. With solar she gets her “happy place” of 92F all season and they can swim Mar-Nov. But it does cost her in excess water. When the overnight temps dip into the 40’s and 50’s, she says her pool looks like a giant fog machine for hours. I told her that the City of Tucson water department really appreciates her on-time payments 😂
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Yeah, I can believe it. I am debating buying another one, but they are way too pricey for what they are, agreed. I started to experiment with solar a bit with homemade coils early in the spring (using an external pump) and I think I actually measured a noticeable difference-- but I had to give it up when my mom came out here and subsequently passed away. I was in the pool once this season, and probably except for the Golden Retriever, the sum total use from the whole family was maybe 25 swims this year. I had a medical reason I couldn't swim or use the hot tub this year, but I am about ready to use the tub again, thankfully. The rest of the family had little excuse.

I am not a greenie by any stretch of the imagination, but I do like to use technologies that work that are considered "green". I had a ground source ("Geothermal") heat pump on the farm in Iowa, and I am currently driving a hybrid... they work and you make up the upfront money fast. I am on the fence about a full solar heater system as I am really starting to think I won't be here long enough to make up the $$$.

So probably I'll do a cover one more time. I agree they are a PITA... I wish I could invent or come up with something better...

The sad thing is that my family all agree with your neighbor. We use to go to public pools in the Upper Midwest that had 75F water temperatures and swim all day in it. Now no one will swim in 80F, and complain at 85F. And yeah we are down to the low 70's already which I swear is a lot earlier than the last two years. The temperature of the pool water dropped REALLY fast too this year.
 
JoyfulNoise said:
When the overnight temps dip into the 40’s and 50’s, she says her pool looks like a giant fog machine for hours.
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No joke. My whole acre looked like a horror movie every morning. It was funny until we got the first 2 month electric bill and then it was truly a horror movie. I bought a cover and reel that day.
 
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Rattus Suffocatus said:
Yeah, I can believe it. I am debating buying another one, but they are way too pricey for what they are, agreed. I started to experiment with solar a bit with homemade coils early in the spring (using an external pump) and I think I actually measured a noticeable difference-- but I had to give it up when my mom came out here and subsequently passed away. I was in the pool once this season, and probably except for the Golden Retriever, the sum total use from the whole family was maybe 25 swims this year. I had a medical reason I couldn't swim or use the hot tub this year, but I am about ready to use the tub again, thankfully. The rest of the family had little excuse.

I am not a greenie by any stretch of the imagination, but I do like to use technologies that work that are considered "green". I had a ground source ("Geothermal") heat pump on the farm in Iowa, and I am currently driving a hybrid... they work and you make up the upfront money fast. I am on the fence about a full solar heater system as I am really starting to think I won't be here long enough to make up the $$$.

So probably I'll do a cover one more time. I agree they are a PITA... I wish I could invent or come up with something better...

The sad thing is that my family all agree with your neighbor. We use to go to public pools in the Upper Midwest that had 75F water temperatures and swim all day in it. Now no one will swim in 80F, and complain at 85F. And yeah we are down to the low 70's already which I swear is a lot earlier than the last two years. The temperature of the pool water dropped REALLY fast too this year.
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I’m a little further north than you and slightly lower elevation. But even my water is in the high 60’s / low 70’s now. It has gotten colder sooner this year as last year we were still experiencing 90°F days in October. I just checked my PoolMath logs (love the Summary feature) and between Oct - Dec my lowest pool water temp was 70°F and highest was 76°F. This morning my pool water temp is 66°F. So we were A LOT warmer last year.
 
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JoyfulNoise said:
2 years is the best you could hope for here. The sun absolutely destroys them. I don’t use solar covers anymore as they are a waste of money and nothing but fodder for the landfill. The only reasonable, non-carbon based heating is solar (giant infrared lasers are just too cumbersome to set up and the HOA gets grumpy about the low frequency humming noise they emit).

My neighbor paid about $5k 2 years ago to install solar heat for her pool. She absolutely wouldn’t swim if the water temp was any less than 90F and so she never used her pool. With solar she gets her “happy place” of 92F all season and they can swim Mar-Nov. But it does cost her in excess water. When the overnight temps dip into the 40’s and 50’s, she says her pool looks like a giant fog machine for hours. I told her that the City of Tucson water department really appreciates her on-time payments 😂
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Yeah you guys with big pools pay for it in the long run. I buy a large solar cover and cut it into quarters. One quarter covers 95% of my pool. One quarter cover last me about 3 years so I get 12 years out of a cover that cost me $114 :cheers:
 
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Brentr said:
Yeah you guys with big pools pay for it in the long run. I buy a large solar cover and cut it into quarters. One quarter covers 95% of my pool. One quarter cover last me about 3 years so I get 12 years out of a cover that cost me $114 :cheers:
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What actually gets pools like mine is the kidney bean shape. You waster a lot of cover that way, unfortunately. I have about half of the original, so when I buy another one, I probably could then use the other piece and make a two piece cover for the third one.
 
I use my cover for a month in the spring, then store it in the shade. If I get a cloudy or cool stretch just before a party, I'll get the cover out for a few days. I've used it in autumn, but usually people are done with swimming by then. My cover is on its 6th season now, and by the looks of the bubbles this year will probably be its last, but then I thought the same last year! It's blue and the cheapest I could get. My solar heating is 60% of pool surface area. Probably depends what climate you're in.
 

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Probably time i start using the app. I see an import option, but no indication of the csv format? Where can I find this info? If i select a file, it just asks what pool to import.

I'm using a third party app which i can massage into the correct format if I know what it is.
 
mooseau said:
Probably time i start using the app. I see an import option, but no indication of the csv format? Where can I find this info? If i select a file, it just asks what pool to import.

I'm using a third party app which i can massage into the correct format if I know what it is.
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In the main menu there’s an “Import/Export” feature. The bottom of that panel has an “Import Test Logs (.csv)” button.

I don’t know the exact formatting but you could create a dummy pool with some fake data then export it to see how it formats the data.
 
How do I report a bug? Seems there is a time zone issue with Australia. If I enter a test in the evening, go to the pool overview, click the test, it says the last test was "8 hours from now". In the future!
@Leebo
 
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ghall6292 said:
Newdude, I think you're onto something here... He is south of the equator after all. It's GOTTA be easier than figuring out daylight savings time, right?
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I've programmed time zones in the past. Absolute nightmare. Try comparing two and then reporting in a 3rd.

Funny how right now it says my test was taken an hour ago. Which with daylight savings is pretty much off by the number of hours to GMT. I wonder if there are internal calculations that aren't taking into account that I'm from the future :)
 
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