Ok, you guys are starting to making me feel all warm and fuzzy......so is it true about the cell having to be replaced every 3 years and can it be cleaned by me or would that have to be done by a pro?
Here's some more warm and fuzzy's for you that weren't already mentioned. I converted my pool to SWG in 2005 and I am on my second cell and I am not looking back! It's been great.
-I had heard about the quality of the water with a salt system being better and that is true. My daughter has very sensitive skin. She cannot swim in most public pools. The SWG helps breakdown the sanitation byproducts that are irritating to the skin as well. Its made a huge difference. All the kids in the neighborhood prefer swimming in our pool for that.
-Less time fussing with chemistry. Before the SWG I spent a lot of time tweaking the chem.. add Chlorine, that changes ph, etc. then gotta test and update the other parameters. (granted that was before I discovered TFP, but still) The SWG creates chlorine slowly and continuously. I found it created a more stable chemical environment that is easier to maintain.
-I have not had any issues with corrosion. on the deck, equipment, furniture, etc. Anything that has corroded is because it would not have withstood the chlorine and water anyway.
-The only added cost besides the additional electricity to run the cell is the salt. I add one or two bags of salt ($15 bux) to offset the dilution from the winter rains when I open at the beginning of the season.
-I have read the break even point of paying for a SWG and what you would have to pay in Cl costs is about 5 years. But that doesn't include the time I have saved fussing with pool chem. I think it paid for itself in the first year when I include that.
-downside: you can't run it year round. When the water temp drops in the winter the generators do not produce. I have to revert to good ole fashioned liquid Cl.. but no biggie there is not as much usage and algae anyway. I've discovered the hard way the conditions for algae growth happen before my pool is warm enough to use the SWG. So I have to remember to watch the pool chem in early April.
Enjoy!
