[Tom C]

We are looking a home, specifically a home with a pool. This is a question to homeowners who have a pool at your home:

We do not know is how much value we should put on a home with verses one without a roof-top pool heating system.

I understand the nearly “free heat” gained by such a system, what I don’t know is the value.

Knowing the following would help us: What is the temperature of pool water that is not heated? What is the temperature of heated pools (I know that is preference, but give me an idea here). Are there maintenance issues with roof-top heating systems that are greater than standard electric heating systems? Are there some questions that I should ask or things I should look for in one system or the other?

Thanks in advance for your insight and experience that you care to share here.

[photo1902]

We have solar heat for our pool. The bottom line is that in the winter, there are going to be months that you are simply not going to use your pool, even using solar and a pool blanket. We find the optimal time solar heat is a benefit is late fall and spring. Of course this also comes down to a personal preference as far as what temperature you like the pool water.

We chose not to go the route of electric or propane heat, due to cost issues.

[Goldwingnut]

You can add the solar heat for about 3-4K maybe more depending on the size and plumbing. It will cost you a little more to use solar each month due to increased pump run costs. The pump needs to run at about 80% or more for the solar depending on configuration. I run ours at 90% for solar and 40% the rest of the time. Electric heat/heat pump will cost substantially more to run.

Temperature, we keep ours at about 86 but also use it to heat the spa up tp 103 without a problem. To get tp 86 our pool (14000 gal) takes about 2 hours in the morning to make up for the heat loss form overnight. Obviously it takes longer in the cooler months. We got partial use during late December January and February and near full use the rest of the time.

Maintenance is basically zero on a solar system. I’m a bit obsessive on mechanical systems and breakdown the valve and actuators annually, check the coils on the roof twice a year, and after bad storms (Irma). All is a bit of overkill as I’ve never found any issues.

Definitely worth the cost, in my opinion, for the extended use of the pool here in Florida. The "value" when purchasing the home is a lot more subjective and will depend on the amount of time you want to use the pool vs. the actual cost, the hole in the ground (pool) has the principal value. For the solar itself count the number of 4 ft. panel x $300 will give you about 50% of the cost to use (use a little less if >5yrs old due to possible replacement/maintenance costs) when new and add that into an apples-to-apples comparison.

[jojo]

We have solar for the shoulder months and keep the pool at 86. Obviously not needed in the summer. We do not use our pool in January and February - have no desire to do so.

[l2ridehd]

Use our pool year around. Have solar and natural gas heater. Keep the pool at 88 degrees most of the year. Only need the gas heater in January and February. Maybe some in December and March. The solar has the added bonus of cooling the pool in the summer by running it at night. I also have a hot tub that the gas heater is used to bring it quickly to 103 degrees. And after use I move that water into the pool.

[billethkid]

Originally Posted by l2ridehd

Use our pool year around. Have solar and natural gas heater. Keep the pool at 88 degrees most of the year. Only need the gas heater in January and February. Maybe some in December and March. The solar has the added bonus of cooling the pool in the summer by running it at night. I also have a hot tub that the gas heater is used to bring it quickly to 103 degrees. And after use I move that water into the pool.

Ditto the above.

We look at it like the expense of air conditioning....personal choice.....
We have had our solar system for over ten years. The system we have is warranted for 10 years. Have had to have a couple of panels replaced over the years....under warranty.

Regular maintenance and inspection are key to keeping all pool related equipment in good working order.......as well as anything else.

We maximize the number of days of use as much as possible.....

[HoosierPa]

Have been on the fence about installing pool in the new home we are building. I think we will just use the neighborhood pool and the rest of the time, sit on the patio and watch the neighbors enjoy theirs (and maintain it) and play more golf !

[Tom C]

Great info! We have a hot tub at our current home, and we keep that 99-100 F. From what people are saying here, I would think we would keep the pool at ~80-85 or so.

I like the idea of cooling the pool in the summer with the roof system(great idea!)

This made me think, is there anyone who is using their pool to cool their home? I assume the air conditioning units for homes are an air to air exchange. It seems like a heat pump between your pool and your home in the summer would cool the home much more efficiently...

[JSR22]

Originally Posted by HoosierPa

Have been on the fence about installing pool in the new home we are building. I think we will just use the neighborhood pool and the rest of the time, sit on the patio and watch the neighbors enjoy theirs (and maintain it) and play more golf !

My husband was not 100% on board to putting in a pool. E put in a pool. He plays golf 4 days and week and comes home and jumps in the pool. He loves the pool. We pay T&D to maintain the pool. They clean it, test the water and puts in the appropriate chemicals, scrubs the tile and cleans the filter. Zero work for us. If we ever move the new house will have a pool. The night swims are great.

[Packer Fan]

So follow up question - how much does it cost a month to run your pool (energy, service, chemicals, etc) and how much to run just a hot tub?

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by Packer Fan

So follow up question - how much does it cost a month to run your pool (energy, service, chemicals, etc) and how much to run just a hot tub?

TandD charges $26 a week to service a pool, but many do their own easily. We have solar heating.

If you want to lap swim in your pool you need to consider that when planning. I try to swim laps every day.

This is our first pool and every day I like it more.

[JSR22]

Originally Posted by Packer Fan

So follow up question - how much does it cost a month to run your pool (energy, service, chemicals, etc) and how much to run just a hot tub?

T&D takes care of our pool and all the chemicals for $115 per month. We heat using solar not gas. Our electric bill went up max $15 a month.

[photo1902]

Originally Posted by Tom C

We are looking a home, specifically a home with a pool. This is a question to homeowners who have a pool at your home:

We do not know is how much value we should put on a home with verses one without a roof-top pool heating system.

I understand the nearly “free heat” gained by such a system, what I don’t know is the value.

Knowing the following would help us: What is the temperature of pool water that is not heated? What is the temperature of heated pools (I know that is preference, but give me an idea here). Are there maintenance issues with roof-top heating systems that are greater than standard electric heating systems? Are there some questions that I should ask or things I should look for in one system or the other?

Thanks in advance for your insight and experience that you care to share here.

We live in an area of The Villages that does not have natural gas. When we designed the pool we had the option of an electric heat pump, solar, and a propane heater. The cost to operate our pool is minimal, as is the upkeep. There is nothing that has to be done to the solar panels. We decided not to add electric heat or propane, due to the additional costs associated with using those to warm the pool. The trade off is that there are some months we dont go in because the water is too cold. Regardless, we love our year round "water" view

[l2ridehd]

I budget $5000 a year for the pool. That includes T&D at $100 a month, electric up charge, water up charge and any maintenance required. So far I have never spent the entire $5000. But keep the extra set aside for a new pool pump or pool heater when they finally fail. I can only estimate the extra water and electric based on prior bills and a couple other homes I have without pools. I believe the electric is between $25 and $30 a month extra, the water about $10 a month extra and the gas heater about $50 a month extra. Although the gas is about $200 more in January and February and maybe $75 more in December and March and another $50 for when I do the hot tub. So total is around $2500 and the other $2500 is set aside for maintenance. You will pressure wash the deck a couple times a year, have to replace a screen or two, need a new sand filter once in a while, had to replace the auto water leveler once so there are extra costs. But if you plan for it, then it's never an issue.

[Goldwingnut]

Our cost is about $25/mo for electric, 10-15/mo for water, 10/mo for acids for chemistry, 10/every other month for salt. My costs are higher than most because I run my pump longer for extra cleaning and use a lot more makeup water and salt because I have 2 golden retrievers that are in the pool with us every day. I loose about 2-3 gal of water every time one of them gets out of the water so about 100 gal/hr when they're playing in the pool plus the salt loss that goes with the water. I clean my pool myself every week and it takes <30 min/wk.

I have gas to heat the spa in the evenings when I want to go in, but the use is minimal because of the sequence I have programmed with the solar that has it warmed up to 100+ every day. The 200 gal gas tank that T&D buried and filled last year is at about 50% for the initial fill so I've not had that cost to deal with yet.

All together my costs are about $50/mo plus about 2 hrs a month of my time.