How Much Does an Indoor Swimming Pool Cost to Maintain?
A swimming pool is a wonderful luxury to have and can greatly improve your quality of life by encouraging greater fitness and active social life. Having your own pool is a luxury many of us aspire to and it is a significant investment which should last you for many years to come.
Like all investments, there are some ongoing costs required to ensure your pool provides you and your family with pleasure for many years to come. In this post we’ll detail the importance of swimming pool maintenance as well as an idea of how much that can cost.
The Importance of Swimming Pool Maintenance
If you want your new swimming pool to stay clean, hygienic and structurally sound, you’ll need to invest in some routine maintenance.
Regularly maintaining a pool will ensure that it lasts for as long as possible and not doing so can pose a danger to anyone that uses it. For example, if the chemicals within the pool become unbalanced then the water may be unsafe to swim in.
Similarly, ensuring that your filter is kept clean will make sure that no unwanted debris makes its way into the water. If too much debris filters through, the damage caused could lead to some expensive repair work. Just like a car, a pool needs to be looked after properly to remain safe for your family.
Different Types of Maintenance
During the autumn and winter months, many owners of outdoor pools decide to close down their pools, but the water still needs to be treated in a process known as ‘winterisation’. You can buy your own DIY winterisation kits, however, if this process is not completed properly then the financial impact can be considerable. By hiring a professional team to perform this process, you’ll spend more money in the short-term, but you could be saving a substantial amount in the long term.
Pools should be serviced on either a weekly, fortnightly or monthly basis, either by yourself or with the help of a professional. Some of the more basic tasks - like netting and scrubbing - can be done by you at a low cost. Budget pool maintenance kits can be acquired, however, more comprehensive equipment, like vacuums and automatic cleaners, can cost hundreds or thousands of pounds.
By working with a professional maintenance company, you can set up a schedule that will ensure your pool stays in great condition all year round. They will also be able to be more thorough with other tasks like maintaining water balance and temperature as well as filter changes.
Running Costs
As well as the above areas of maintenance there will be ongoing costs to heat your pool and, for indoor pools, to maintain the environment of the room your pool is located in. As a rough cost we often say about £10 per day is a good estimate to budget for to run an indoor pool. Maintenance costs will be in addition to this.
Tips for Keeping Costs Down
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Potential Inefficiency - Heat. Everyone loves a warm pool but for each degree rise in temperature, the energy cost increases by 10%–30%
The Solution - If you're swimming for exercise then 26°C is ideal. If it's more for leisure and pleasure with the kids then you should start at around 28°C.
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Potential Inefficiency - Evaporation of warm water and the energy needed to replenish that heat is one of the biggest ongoing costs.
The Solution - A well insulated pool cover can preserve as much as 75% of the temperature!
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Potential Inefficiency - Lighting. Up to 16% of the total energy costs in an indoor pool hall is down to lighting.
The Solution - The largest energy saving gains with lighting are architectural considerations. Good use of daylight with a well-designed building. Ease of light maintenance with bulb replacement and cleaning of fittings. But also ensuring the light fittings are resistant to corrosion.
Considering building a new pool yourself?
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