Pool covers

For anything to do with the garden and pool
Guest3
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Pool covers

Post by Guest3 »

We're having pool heating (Calorex heat exchange pump)installed and have to get a pool cover to prevent loss of heat. It's a light weight cover on roller and castors.

For those of you with pool heating, do you asks guests to roll the cover on at night (?) as this is what is recommended to prevent heat loss. Bearing in mind we don't actually live on site so cannot monitor whether guests will comply....in which case do we just prepare ourselves for huge electricity bills :roll:

Also, can anyone give me an idea of electricity cost (per week/month) using pool heating?
la vache!
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Post by la vache! »

If it is any easy pool cover to fit, I don't see why the guests shouldn't be able to put it on themselves every evening, but you can never guarantee compliance! We have an abri and it wouldn't be possible to ask them to take that on and off as it is very heavy, but I'm on site, so it doesn't matter.
As for pool heating, it depends on the cost of your electicity, the ambient temperature, the cover you have....we have ours running from the end of March to the beginning of November and keep it at 27°c (it takes about 2 weeks to get to this temperature, usually puts on 2°c every 24 hours.) When it is on, in April, May and October (the abri is VERY efficient at keeping heat in, so the heater comes on a lot less) I guess it costs around 125€ a month for the heat pump and filter (but we do have a very cheap rate of electricity during this period).
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enid
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Post by enid »

With a beautiful day yesterday but pool temp down to 18° my thoughts turn yet again to heating. The heat exchanger works well I know but we have Tempo so when I want to heat the pool there will be red days and even at night that could get pricey based on your costings Susan. Has anyone got solaire heating? We are interested in the sort that has large hoses that the water passes through - but does it really work?

Crystal re the cover - I think if you are not on site you'd be better to presume they'll forget to do it when estimating your running costs.
la vache!
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Post by la vache! »

Enid,
I only heat the pool from 1st April to 1st November (or maybe a little before and after) and there are never any red or white days during this period! It certainly wouldn't be cost effective otherwise. I can't comment on solar heating as it wouldn't work here in Northern Brittany, but the electric heat exchanger with an abri doesn't cost much to run at all.
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Lesblancs
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Post by Lesblancs »

I was looking at heating options last night & came across this.

http://www.piscines-online.com/chauffage-solaire.html

The price seems very reasonable, but as I am bit sceptical, it seems to be too good. Virtually free heating for under 3000€?

So having looked at heating options, where do I build a pool? We have 2 large barns (hangars), each of which are easily big enough to take one, or do I go for the outside option?

Thoughts would be welcome on this please.

Re the pool cover, we had an outdoor pool in our house in Prestatyn (brrrrr!) for 10 years. The solar cover was very efficient in keeping heat in overnight, & if left on during the day would often result in a 1 degree increase in water temperature.
Unfortunately, had to fish out the occasional hedgehog though.

Robert
LaLuz
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Post by LaLuz »

Crystal, In the past I've stayed in villas with pool heating and we were asked to keep the pool cover in place when we weren't using the pool and especially at night.

We were told that it would make the water warmer and so we always complied. Leaving the cover in place at night and if we were out in the daytime too.

We all want a unrealisically warm pool so the thought that they are increasing the temperature will entice most guests to follow your instrucions - just lay it on a bit thick!!!
CostaBlanca
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Post by CostaBlanca »

Hi Crystal,

Our pool temp. today at 10am was 25ºC so probably with just the cover alone, the pool would be perfect for swimming. So your heating months would be restricted to Oct- June period if you wish to offer heated pool all year round. During the colder winter months, your heating costs are naturally going to be much higher. Bare in mind the 2 days for heating (as Susan has pointed out) before guests arrive when calculating costs.

I would prefer to have an automatic pool cover at the touch of a switch or a remote control. I don´t know if this type is possible to install after your pool has been built though. By the way, I don´t have pool heating or cover as I don´t rent out during the Winter. Also as our pool is an integral part of garden and terraces, I don´t particularly like pool covers, at least the ones that I have seen so.

Let us know how you get on.

Saludos,
Maria
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Alan Knighting
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Post by Alan Knighting »

Robert,

I have taken a look at the Website you mentioned. I must say I am very surprised at the apparently modest cost of their solar heating systems - I was under the impression that the capital cost would be a lot more.

I have two neighbours whose pools are heated (mine is not, other than by God but he works pretty hard for us in the Lot-et-Garonne), one with a heat exchanger unit and the other with solar panels. Both cost a lot more than 3000€ installed.

They tell me that the heat exchanger unit (a bit like a refrigerator working in reverse) is the more effective of the two. It is almost totally unobtrusive in that it can be fitted in any spare space of a couple of square metres or so. It relies on ambient temperature and not direct sunshine and therefore works anytime the air temperature is above 10°C. However it does require an electricity supply and it costs money to run because it relies on pumps and compressors.

They tell me that the solar system, on the other hand, requires a lot of space – a roof for instance – because it needs a surface area of up to a third of the surface area of the pool. As it mainly relies on direct sunshine it is not as effective in early Spring and late Autumn. It relies entirely on the circulation pump of the filter so costs nothing to run.

They are both fully automatic so they only run when the pool temperature is below that required.

It’s “horses for courses� but I would have thought the more northerly the pool the more attractive a heat exchanger becomes.

Fluffy
la vache!
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Post by la vache! »

Robert,
for info, my pool supplier said that a solar pool would not work for anywhere north of Nantes! I've been very happy with my heat exchange pump, on the tarif tempo and with an abri, it is very efficient and not very expensive to run at all.
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enid
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Post by enid »

not very expensive to run at all.
Tha seems quite expensive - am I wrong?
la vache!
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Post by la vache! »

I don't think so - it is only on for 3 out of 7 months with the abri. The cost is for 24 hours a day filtration and heating (there is no point in switching off the heater once it has been started, it needs to get to it's maximum temp asap.) My costings may be slightly over estimated - the pool doesn't have it's own counter and is shared with 2 gites (one of which has electric heating which is used in April and May, plus an electric chauffe d'eau which is on 24/7 as well). When I consider the number of bookings that opening the pool early and late in the season brings me, it is worth it!
Edit: my pool is at 27°c today! A lot warmer than the ambient temperature :wink:
Guest3
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Post by Guest3 »

Thanks for all your replies...I suppose when we have the pool heating up and running we will "have to lay it on a bit thick" (as suggested above) to make guests fully understand that it's in their own benefit to use the cover at night or when they go out!

We aim to use the pool heating as a 'carrot' to get more Winter bookings, so just hope that it will pay for itself this Winter! :roll:

Another issue is that there are so many types of heat exchangers all claiming to be the best on the market! Calorex and Heat Siphon being two that immediately come to mind. Can anyone pm me on a pool heat exchanger that is already tried and trusted in their own pool?
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bornintheuk
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Post by bornintheuk »

teapot wrote:
lewisreed121 wrote:A solar pool cover https://www.sydneycitypoolcovers.com.au/pool-covers/ will do the trick. It will warm up the water even if you cover it in the night and day time too. This will really reduce your electricity bill .
Looks like a blatant advert to me!
Geobubble is superior in the northern hemisphere.
+1 for geobubble - and it will last longer than what looks like standard bubble covers from Australia.
Is this one of the great "post brexit" deals we are going to have available ????
What would Plato do ?
SW31
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Post by SW31 »

We have a heat exchanger and a built in electric cover. Guests are good at opening and closing the pool as their realise it’s in their interest. I always explain there’s a hefty fine if the pool is left open, unattended, as the cover is also the pool’s safety security as well.

Heating the pool though is sometimes a problem. Our night temperature can drop sharply, in mid season, basically we have to leave the heating running almost 24 hours to maintain the temperature. We have had our heating unit checked out and talked to pool specialists who have confirmed that we need to keep the heating running al lot mid season. The pool is in a very sunny position so we open the pool up on sunny days to improve the meagre warm water from the heat pump. I’m very asthmatic and cannot get into a cool pool - I stop breathing so it’s not an option!
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teapot
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Post by teapot »

Depending on your setup and on the conditions at the time, a heat retention cover might be better.
Passivpool Energy "A" rated Swimming Pools, the most efficient, lowest running cost pools in the world
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