How often should you cover your pool? Every night? Or under specific weather circumstances? Let’s assume you’re using a bubble solar cover. – If a bubble solar cover is used, it is best to cover the pool anytime the pool is not in use. A liquid solar blanket can be used as an alternative, which is almost, but not quite as effective as a bubble cover and would be added to the water as a maintenance chemical once per week. The bubble cover will help to heat the water during the day when the sun is out, it will also help prevent evaporation by forming a physical barrier on top of the water. A liquid solar cover will not help to heat the water in a measurable amount beyond the sun heating up during the day, it is designed to help prevent evaporation by forming a one molecule layer of the product across the surface of the pool.
Is there a recommended temperature you should keep your pool at that will be warm, yet won’t consume too much energy? It takes a similar amount of energy to heat a pool up from a cool temperature as it does to maintain a steady temp. So our recommendation is to choose the temperature you enjoy using the pool, and set the heater to that temp, and let it maintain that temperature. This advice can vary however depending on the part of the country you are from, if you are in a northern climate and will only swim on the weekend, or when the air temperature is warm, then heating it up as needed may be the way to go – but it can take several days to go from a water temperature of 70 degrees to a very comfortable swimming temperature of 82 degrees.
Do you have any tips for when you should turn your heater on and off (like an hour before you go swimming or something)? See above, it’s best to keep the heater dialed into the temperature you like. In northern climates it can take several days to heat the pool up from an unheated temperature. The pool heater can remain on while swimmers are swimming – so leave it on as long as it takes to make the water comfortable to swim. For pool owners with heat pumps, because the heat pumps work differently than a natural gas or propane pool heater, the manufacturers recommend that they remain on all the time. 1 BTU is needed to raise the temp of 1 pound of water 1 degree F.
If you have a variable speed pump, how do you know when to run it higher or lower?
The industry standard for a swimming pool pump is to complete two complete turnovers in any 24 hour period. As a general rule we suggest that pool owners run their pool pump and filter at least 8-10 hours per day, which meets the minimum turnover requirement in most cases when the pool equipment was planned and installed properly. To use the energy savings of a variable speed pump, a calculator can be used to reduce the speed and run the pump longer amounts of time. Because the water will be flowing at a lower speed, the pump will need to run longer to push the same volume of water. It is best to follow manufacturer guidelines for the pump and equipment configuration of each individual pool.
Would you be able to elaborate on the downsides of backwashing chemical-treated water into your yard, from an environmental standpoint? Chemically treated and balanced water is typically very safe to backwash into a yard, since it is also safe to swim in. Chemically treated water means the water will be balanced for bather comfort, and shouldn’t create adverse affects on the environment. Many areas and building departments have eliminated filters that backwash as an option for various reasons including water conservation. Cartridge filters for example, don’t need to be backwashed like DE and sand filters would periodically, and will save water. Some areas would also have restrictions on backwashing pool water into city sewer lines due to overflow or handling that volume of water, so in that case a cartridge filter would also be a great choice. In areas with wide open spaces and plenty of lawn, such as what we have in Michigan, in most places it is safe to backwash pool water into the lawn. The exception would be a salt water pool, care would need to be taken not to discharge water where there would be plants sensitive to salt. This website has some nice resources: http://www.mesaaz.gov/residents/environmental/drain-or-backwash-your-pool
How much does it cost to switch from a regular chlorine pool to a saltwater pool? The reason to switch from a regular chlorine pool to a chlorine generating salt water pool isn’t necessarily to save money, it is for convenience.By adding a chlorine generator to your pool’s plumbing system, the generator works with salt added to the water to produce the active chlorine required to keep your pool water clean, so you don’t need to continually add chlorine and other chemicals. You don’t have to specifically do anything prior to the installation of a salt system, though keeping your water in balance is always recommended. The costs involved are the salt generator and power source, salt, and installation. This varies but average retail price to install in the midwest is in the $1500-$2200 range for conversion. From there the pool owner should continue to balance all chemicals as they normally would, and follow the salt system indicator for when the system calls for more salt. Typically during a pool season the pool owner will add an initial start up amount of salt, especially in areas where pools are lowered for winterizing, and 2-6 bags of salt throughout the season, based on the amount of water they lose due to splash out. The salt is not affected by evaporation, as water evaporates the salt will remain in the pool.
