swimming pools
 

can anyone tell me the approx. yearly price of having a heated pool, I don't know the exact size but I guess the average for a courtyard villa.
Thank You

Buy solar.....annual cost is zero.

I have a courtyard villa with a fair-sized pool and a large spa. I like to keep the pool at 85 degrees and heat the spa to 100 on the average of once a day. Heating only with gas I had a bill of over $600 in the first very cold February I had the pool. So I "invested" in solar heat.

The highest gas bill I've had in the five years since then was about $250, so I have more than paid for the solar system in that period. The average gas bill from December-April is less than $200, which includes operating the stove and hot water tank. The remainder of the year the gas cost is almost negligible because the solar easily keeps the pool at 85 and the spa at or very close to the desired temp.

Solar cost?
 

What was e cost of the solar unit installed? What is the expected life of the solar unit? Is there any maintenance costs involved with the solar unit?


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Cost depends on pool size--we just had system installed 10,000 gallon pool

about 3,300 --12 year labor/parts --

Dont really know what the life cycle is. I would hope it would be longer than 12 years ---

payback vs electric is less than 3 years --gas is even quicker Then its free !!

GoodLuck

The solar unit was about $6000 from Jack's Solar. (Jack is great!). A small part of the cost was for increasing the size of the system by about 75% more than needed because I had more available roof area in perfect southern exposure. The end result is a system which heats more efficiently and quickly.
It was explained that I have solar panels which are vented and installed in such a way as to eliminate rot damage to roof shingles.
There is no maintenance to a solar system. I have what is called a "lifetime" repair warranty. A small pipe leak occurred a couple of years ago. It was fixed at no charge.
My home is nine years old and I expect to have to replace the roof in another ten years or so. I will have to pay to have the solar panels removed and reinstalled. I might even have to have some replaced. Somehow, it just doesn't seem to matter...

There are MANY other costs of owning a pool then the heat. I have a 14 X 28 pool, small but adequate, I have gas and solar heat. Solar will heat the pool about 8 months of the year and the other four require gas back up. There is the weekly cleaning and minor chemical adjustment cost. I hire T&D to do this at $22 a week. I run the circulating pump 8 hours every day, about $80 a month. And there is usually a couple maintenance items every year. Caulking, lights, deck painting, filters, new pump motor, other. I estimate and budget the pool costs at about $5000 a year to always have it clean, warm and ready to use. However I also believe it's worth it.

We also had Jack's solar install our solar panels and they work well. He's done several in our neighborhood. Also use T&D for cleaning. The pool makes the summer heat tolerable.

We bought a resale that has a solar heated pool and love it.
If you are searching for a home and plan to install a pool later check that there is roof area with the correct orientation to install enough solar to extend the season on both ends. Check on the availability of natural gas in the area. We don't have any heat other than solar and would add a natural gas heater if it was available.
A pool sized lot also offers more privacy but requires more lawn maintenance and irrigation. Our water bill is higher with more lawn sprinklers and pool evaporation.

We also had Jacks Solar ,and I agree --he is excellent ---!!

If your luck is anything like mine--12year labor/parts...translation "will last exactly 12 years and one day" :)