Every Florida pool owner knows just how great it is to have 24/7 access to your own private, backyard oasis. It’s a wonderful place to unwind, relax, and enjoy good times with family and friends.
But as we move into 2021, it’s important to refresh on a few things that make pool ownership way easier for everyone. A few tips that will ease your mind, reduce your workload, and save you lots of time and money.
If you want to start taking advantage of those tips now, then keep reading this post to discover 7 things every Florida pool owner should know in 2021.
7 Things Every Florida Pool Owner Should Know In 2021
1.) Your swimming pool is safe to use during the COVID-19 pandemic
According to the CDC:
“There is no evidence that the virus that causes COVID-19 can be spread to people through the water in pools, hot tubs, spas, or water play areas. Proper operation and maintenance (including disinfection with chlorine and bromine) of these facilities should inactivate the virus in the water.”
So as long as you’re keeping your pool clean (sanitizing & balancing water, brushing, and vacuuming), then it’s perfectly safe to use. And while we’re on this note, let’s answer a few other questions related to your pool and Coronavirus.
2.) Small maintenance helps you avoid big repairs later
“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” – Benjamin Franklin
There’s a reason that quote has survived the test of time. It rings true for just about anything you apply it to. And if you’re applying it to pool equipment, then it’s all the more valuable to remember.
Why?
Because your pool equipment is what keeps the whole show running.
Without a functioning pool pump, there’s no water flow, which also stops your filter system dead in its tracks. At the same time, the chlorine stops circulating. And when that happens, your water gets dirty and unsafe to swim in.
And it’s no different with your pool heater.
A poorly maintained pool heater can randomly break down or spring a big leak, which means you no longer have heated water. And depending on the time of year, and where you live, that can instantly mean the end of your pool season.
And you already know that the cost to replace your pool heater and pump isn’t a small one.
So instead of going through all of that, why not avoid the scenario altogether?
Just like the car you drive around in every day, your pool equipment needs regular maintenance to keep it working at peak performance. And when you consider the cost of something like a pool heater or pump, then you definitely want it to last as long as possible. So naturally, doing yearly maintenance on all of your essential pool equipment makes a lot of sense.
With regular maintenance, you can easily double the lifespan of your pool equipment, and at the same time, keep your equipment working at maximum efficiency each year, which keeps your swimming pool bills low.
And yes, while performing yearly maintenance is an added expense, it’s minor when compared to the cost of having to replace expensive equipment way ahead of schedule. So when you do pool equipment maintenance, you’re putting in an ounce of prevention to avoid a pound of pain later.
So if you want to double the lifespan of your pool equipment and keep it running like new year to year, then schedule yearly maintenance and save yourself the trouble.
3.) Lowering your heater’s temperature lowers your bills
This is an obvious one, right? The higher your temperature setting, the more your heater has to work to maintain that temperature. And naturally, the lower the temperature, the less energy your heater will use, which lowers your bills.
But have you ever considered just how much you save when you lower your pool heater’s temperature?
For every 2 degrees your lower your heater, you can shave up to $40 off of your heating bill. So if you’re currently running your heater at 86 degrees and lower it down to 82, then you’d be saving up to $80 in heating costs each month.
If you want to start lowering your swimming pool bills, this is a great place to start. But what if we told you there was something else that could save you even more each month?
4.) Covering your pool extends your swim season & saves money
Here comes one of our favorite analogies for pool heating:
Imagine you’re boiling two separate pots of water; one covered and the other uncovered. The water in each pot is at room temperature starting off.
You set the heat to high on both burners.
Which pot is going to heat up and boil first?
Yup, the covered one.
And which pot of water do you think will retain its heat longer once you turn off the burners?
Once again, the covered pot.
So with that analogy in mind, think of your covering your swimming pool like covering a pot of water — you’re putting a lid on it to retain heat and help it warm up faster.
There are a few more benefits to using a swimming pool cover:
- A covered swimming pool heats up 2x faster than an uncovered pool since less heat escapes from the surface
- Heating a covered pool requires less energy, which lowers your pool heating bill
- Keeping your pool locks in heat, which reduces your need to run the pool heater
5.) You can run your solar pool heater with a pool heat pump
Important Note: If you’re still using a gas heater to heat your pool, then you’re spending way too much each month. On average, the cost to heat a pool with gas is 3x higher than using a heat pump. But for now, we’re going to focus on solar heaters and pool heat pumps.
If you’re a Florida pool owner, there’s a decent chance you know about solar pool heaters, know someone who owns one, or use one yourself. And while solar pool heaters are great for providing low-cost pool heating, they’re also severely limited by the same thing that makes them affordable.
The sun.
Yes, solar heaters will keep your water warm as long as the sun is out and temperatures outside are generally warm.
But what happens when it’s a cloudy or rainy day, or when temperatures drop?
Solar pool heaters will struggle, and fail to give you the on-demand heat you need to keep your water warm. Thankfully, this is where pool heat pumps step in to save the day.
For Florida pool owners looking to keep pool heating costs low while still extending their pool season, a pool heat pump is a great solution.
Pool heat pumps like the Oasis Platinum Ultra Quiet can produce heat for your pool in external temperatures as low as 40 degrees, with or without the sun.
And if you already own a solar pool heater, then you can easily extend your pool season while still keeping your monthly costs low.
How?
Simple. On warmer sunny days, you let your solar pool heater do all of the heavy lifting. And on the cooler, cloudy days, your pool heat pump steps in to keep the heating going (which also reduces your heat loss greatly at the same time). And when you use two pool heaters together, you enjoy low-cost, eco-friendly heating year-round.
Plus, if you’re covering your pool, then you may soon notice that this powerful duo can lower your bills even more. Because the more heat you retain from your pool heaters, the less time you’ll need to spend running them.
6.) Using salt-water chlorinators can save you hundreds on pool chemicals
Keeping a pool clean and sanitized is something that every Florida pool owner is more than familiar with.
You buy the bucket of chlorine tablets and shock. Then you test the water and add what it needs. And then you do that again, and again, and again…
The point being, it’s a swimming pool expense that never quite goes away because you always need more. But what if there was a way to simplify the process of chlorinating your pool water, while also cutting your chemical costs by nearly 50%?
That’s where salt-water chlorinators come in. Using a saltwater chlorination system directly replaces the need for adding chlorine tablets to your pool. But that’s not all it does.
Saltwater chlorinators can:
- Actively monitor your chlorine levels for you, so you don’t have to (saving you a bunch of time and effort)
- Automatically generates and adds the exact amount of chlorine your pool needs around the clock (never wasteful, always efficient)
- Produces softer, less chemically harsh pool water (great for people with allergies to regular liquid chlorine)
To learn more about salt-water chlorine generators work, check out this post: 7 Huge Benefits of Salt Water Chlorine Generators
7.) Upgrading to a Fiberglass pool can reduce your long term maintenance costs by over 50%
Did you know that the material a swimming pool is made of has a direct effect on both chemical needs and long term maintenance costs?
For reference, it’s important to know that a concrete swimming pool, the traditional style, is the most expensive type of pool to own when compared to vinyl and fiberglass pools.
Here are a few things to consider about concrete pools as a Florida pool owner:
- Concrete pools passively soak up a lot of your water and chemicals. Because of this, you end up replacing and rebalancing the water more often, which increases your costs
- Concrete pools require replastering every couple of years and are the most susceptible to cracks and surface damage, another big expense
- Algae has a much easier time digging into the walls of a concrete pool, due to its porous nature
Those are just a few things that make concrete pools the most expensive to own. But let’s not focus on that. Let’s talk about the better alternatives for a Florida pool owner, like fiberglass pools.
Fiberglass pools directly address all of the shortcomings of concrete pools:
- They’re made of a non-porous multi-layer shell that requires little to no maintenance during their lifetime
- They don’t need replastering or vinyl replacement
- Non-porous: they don’t absorb water and pool chemicals, which keeps your costs down
- Algae has a tough time taking root in the surface of Fiberglass pools
