Time to Heat the Pool Again - Cheaply
If you have a pool, you know heating it can run your utility bill through the roof. It takes a lot of energy to get such a large amount of water warm enough to enjoy. You needn’t cringe, however, every time you hear the water heater crank up. There are some incredibly minor and cheap steps you can take to keep the heating bill down.
Many people that complain about the utility costs associated with keeping their swimming pools up to snuff fail to take common sense steps to cut the bill. Filtration systems, for instance, can easily account for over half of the cost of maintaining your pool. The problem area is often the pump. Most pools have inefficient, weak pumps. This means they have to be on longer to do the job and longer means more negative impact on your utility bill. For less than a hundred bucks, you should be able to switch out your current pump for a powerful and energy efficient one. You’ll be surprised how much it lowers your utility bill.
A second area of energy waste is the surface of the pool. The water and air interaction acts like a vacuum. If the pool is uncovered, heat is being sucked out of it every minute of every day. The simplest way to stop this is to put a cover on it when it is not being used. If you’ve ever owned a hot tub, you know the major impact a cover can have on the utility bill.
A second factor to consider with your pool is the wind chill factor. During winter, wind chill is often reported on the news, particularly how much colder it makes things. Blowing, cool wind is a heating nightmare. Even in spring, summer and fall, it can kill you utility bill. If your pool is exposed to wind, you need to make some landscaping changes. Planting bushes and hedges around the exterior of a yard can eliminate wind. The less there is running across the surface of the pool, the more you will save. It is as simple as that.
The winter chill is starting to end, which means its time to start thinking about heading out in something less than all of your clothes. Follow these recommendations and you will soon be doing cannonballs.
