Guest Post by Andrea Davis
Pool maintenance doesn’t have to be an expensive annual chore. Rather than spending up to $700 on pool maintenance, you can cut costs by doing a lot of the work yourself. You don’t want the pool to fall into such poor shape that you have to spend thousands of dollars on repairs. Here are some steps to keep pool maintenance costs down to nearly nonexistent this summer:
#1 Use your pool cover.
Pool covers significantly reduce energy costs over time because they slow how much water evaporates. With a pool cover, your pool heater doesn’t have to work overtime to keep the water cool. And it prevents debris build-up on windy days too, so you don’t have to clean the pool as often.
#2 Run your filter at night.
Running the pool filter at night helps to cut down on energy costs while still keeping your pool clean. Some people opt to run their pool filter 24 hours a day, but this is a waste of energy and over-cleans the pool, which can cause more problems. See if there’s an optimum time to run the pool filter at night and save on your electricity bill.
#3 Clean the pool filter.
Sweet and simple: cleaning your pool filter keeps your swimming pool clear and prevents you from spending more money on other, more costly pool repairs. So just do it.
#4 Invest in an energy-efficient pool pump.
If you have a normal pool pump, it only pumps at one speed — and it wastes energy on filtration, among other tasks. If you invest in an energy-efficient, variable-speed pump, you could save more than a thousand dollars over the life of the pump. You may also qualify for an energy rebate.
#5 Keep the temperature low.
You pay more money for every degree you raise the temperature in the pool. Consider keeping the water as cool as possible while remaining comfortable. You should also turn the heater off in the off season, when you’re not using the pool.
#6 Maintain the pH balance.
You must pay attention to the chemical balance of the water — not only to keep the water safe, but to keep your costs down as well. If the alkalinity of the water is thrown off for any reason, you’re usually better off getting a swimming pool professional involved. Pool chemicals are expensive — and if you don’t get the measurements right, you’re throwing money away as you pour the chemicals into the water.
#7 Balance stabilizer levels.
While all pool owners are aware of how important it is to maintain chlorine levels, not all may realize how stabilizer (cyanuric acid) plays into the process. Stabilizer aids the chlorine in its effectiveness. Too much or too little stabilizer will result in chlorine losing its effectiveness. Pool owners need to check their stabilizer levels and decrease or increase the amount of chlorine needed in the water to keep the pool safe.
Additional Pool Maintenance Costs:
These are quick and efficient steps to keeping your pool in shape this summer. However, there are some costs you need to keep in mind for the future too:
- Closing the pool in the fall: $75 – $200
- Running an automatic pool cleaner: $700 – $2,000
- Vacuuming the pool: $50 – $100
- Using chemicals: $20 – $100/month
If this seems like too much work for you, you can hire a swimming pool maintenance service. It will cost more, but they can do a lot of the work as part of a package, which could cost less in the long-term. Packages generally include:
- Brushing the pool
- Skimming debris
- Adjusting chemical levels
- Cleaning the pool filter
- Vacuuming
For more information on the costs of maintaining a swimming pool, check out this piece from ImproveNet.
Andrea Davis is the editor at HomeAdvisor, which connects homeowners with home improvement professionals in their area for free.
It is nice to know today that there are device that could help pool owner monitor the ph level and chemicals inside the pool. This is good categorize tips information.
Cleaning the pool filter is very overlooked in my opinion. More people should pay attention to it!
Good informative. Thanks.
I can agree that you should turn your heater off in the off season because there’s no need to keep water warm when no one is going to be in it. I also thought it was good to keep the temperature low, but still comfortable. Plus, on a hot summers day, it’ll be nicer to be in a cooler pool. For me, that’s like the main purpose of a pool. Thanks for the info!
Anybody knows, is it possible to use a salt water pool for decreasing costs for maintenance?
Luckily more and more people are starting to get pool covers. It is really helpful to have these because it prevents so much stuff from getting in the pool while you aren’t using it. Things like leaves will clog up filters quickly.
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I had no idea that you could do so many different things to cut down on the cost of maintaining your pool. While I knew that it is smart to use a pool cover and filter, I had no idea that you would also need to be aware of stabilizer levels. In fact, I have no idea if mine has any stabilizer in it at the moment. It might be a good idea for me to talk to a pool contractor, and see if they can fix that for me. After all, I don’t want to mess up when it comes to putting chemicals in the water!
Great tips! very helpful and timely because it’s summer. Would like to know, will changing chemicals be another way to cut costs? or do they costs just the same.
Very Informative Article, Good Job!
Good information here! Staying on top of the needs of your pool throughout the season is much better than panicking and having to call in the big guns when you wake up one morning and it’s completely green 🙂
Wow! really impressive and informative post.
Thanks for sharing these awesome tips.
You have clearly outlined the points. Enjoyed reading it.
🙂
Another way to cut the costs take is to get a robotic pool cleaner .. some models are very cheap under $500 .. take a peek on RoboticPoolCleaner.Reviews to see the best models…
Nice article, Lindsay. Cutting costs of maintaining pools is a good idea in the current economy.
Great advice on getting an energy rebate for installing a variable speed pump! Even without the rebate it makes sense.
Here are some great advices how to cut down pool maintenance costs.
It’s a good article and I might do something similar on my blog and mention you as a source.
Nice!
I like that you said to run your filter during the night and to clean the filter often. I bet that it’s also smart to see if you need to repair your filter or replace it when you call in a pool care service. I’m looking at building a pool, and I want to make sure I know what I’m getting into.
Thank you very much for these useful tips.Great.
I really appreciate the insight here in this post and confident it’s going to be helpful to me and many others.I’m wondering if you or anyone else has additional sources for me to read further and to be able to dig a little deeper?”Thanks
Those tips are really killing ideas to cut down pool maintenance budget, it seems, we need to work more if we really keep our pool clean during vacation. thanks
Keeping your pool clean and operational can be a daunting task. Thanks for these great tips! We use a robotic pool cleaner in addition to our permanent filtration system and we rarely have any issues.
My neighbor recently put in a pool in his yard, but I don’t think he knew just how much work it was going to take to keep it clean and running in top shape. The article mentions that if all the DIY methods are just too much, you can hire a swimming pool maintenance service which could potentially cost less in the long-run. I think someone like him could definitely benefit from a pool services company to help maintain his pool since he has neither the time or patience to do it himself.
There’s nothing more refreshing than a dip in the pool during a scorching summer day. You have to regularly maintain your swimming pool to keep it safe and enjoyable. Upkeep can be time-consuming, but it’s worth the time to keep your investment in good shape. Keep reading for tips on how to clean your pool as well as other important swimming pool maintenance tasks, both in- and off-season.
Thank you for the post. Very helpful indeed. You are helping me cut down a bunch of pool maintenance costs this summer. Keep it up on sharing
This is some really good information about pool maintenance. I liked that you talked about keeping the temperature of what water low. I didn’t realize that could cause things to grow in the pool. That does seem like a good thing to be aware of when you are building it so you can put it in a none sunny area.
Wow, That’s some amazing tips from you. We are surely going to apply this to save some money. Great post! – John.
Great article and very well explained. really appreciate the insight here in this post and wanted to say thank you for answering the questions on my mind.
This is great information for pool owner. i can apply your tips for save money.
Keep it up!
These are good tips for any pool owner. It is best to keep up with these maintenance things rather than having a bigger and more costly bill and the end of the day. Thanks for sharing.
I never thought I could save on my pool maintenance. Thank you very much for this article.
It is really helpful to have these because it prevents so much stuff from getting in the pool while you aren’t using it.Thanks for these great tips!
Amazing article! very well written. I am also a pool owner and am sure, it will help me a lot. Thanks for the tips.
Keeping the pool clean with the recommended methods, will help reduce the amount of bacteria in the water, we can delve into it.
ImproveNet is a great source. They also have a swimming pool maintenance page but this article is more thorough. They do have a great page that goes over hidden costs – that is something to check out.
Overall buying new or replacing old equipment with energy-efficient is your best bet for cutting costs. Technology these days really do a great job. Couple this with running on non-peak hours (night) and you are heading in the right direction for a big expense cut.
Thanks for sharing your knowledge regarding maintenance pool temperature.Jerry