Building a pool or purchasing a home with one is not a cheap endeavor. You have to invest in pool chemicals, cleaning supplies and regular maintenance to ensure your pool runs smoothly and safely. Expenses especially begin to accumulate when you receive the monthly energy bill. Pool operations like water heating, circulation, filtration, cleaning and lighting require a sufficient amount of energy and money from your wallet.

What if you could minimize the energy consumption and costs associated with keeping your pool clean and warm? Let’s review some energy efficiency pool tips for conserving power and gaining more savings.

Use a Pool Cover

When using a cover on your pool, especially when the pool is not in use or the weather is poor, you can control the amount of dirt and debris entering your pool. Sure, this helps keep your pool clean, but how does this affect energy efficiency? You create a barrier between your pool and any dirt, meaning your filtration system won’t have to work as hard or as long to filter out unwanted debris.

Pool covers act as a shield against unwanted materials and the sun’s heat that causes evaporation and lowers water levels.

While protecting your pool, the cover also keeps it warm. Pool covers retain the heat held within the water and reduce the time and energy used to heat your pool. Heating costs can be substantial for pools, especially without solar energy to help — as you’ll read in the next section.

Heat Your Pool Naturally

Gas and electric pool heaters have significant upfront costs, require maintenance and can increase your monthly energy bills significantly. Solar heaters have an affordable upfront cost and require little to no maintenance. Solar heating systems function by passing pool water through solar energy collector tubes, heating the water via the sun’s rays. By using solar energy, you can save money and reduce your effects on the environment.

The Sunheater Solar Pool Heating Systems extend your pool season with free heat from the sun. Instead of paying those costly electricity bills for heating your swimming pool during the winter months and chilly summer evenings, use the power of the sun at your disposal.

Reduce Heat Loss and Evaporation

All the money and energy spent to maintain your pool can vanish with the summer heat or wind. Evaporation causes significant heat and water loss in swimming pools. Use a cover to prevent additional evaporation in your pool, introduce natural windbreaks and keep lower water levels to help avoid these issues. Plant trees or bushes around your pool to naturally block wind from affecting it, as wind can cool the water. When filling your pool, keep the water level lower than the surface to reduce evaporation from the wind.

Don’t spend extra time and money to reheat your pool. Use these preventative measures to reduce the risk of heat loss and evaporation from the wind and harsh weather conditions.

Maintain Good Water Circulation

Water circulation is essential for swimming pools, as it directly affects the cleanliness, clarity and temperature. How often you run your filtration system, the condition of your filter or filtration material and how clean your skimmer and pump baskets are all influence water circulation. When the filter is full of dirt and debris, the pump’s plumbing system faces increased pressure, making the equipment run harder and require more energy.

Ensure the plumbing system has wide pipes and few sharp turns for substantial water flow. Uninterrupted water flow puts less strain on pool equipment and energy use.

Review Pool Pump Run Time

Ensure your pool operating systems are running for the correct amount of time, based on the size and shape of your swimming pool. You could be running your systems longer or more frequently than needed. Most swimming pool pumps run for an average of eight hours per day. Instead of running your pool’s pumps throughout the day, consider running them at night. Electrical companies charge more during the day since these are peak hours of operation.

If you are into the “set it and forget it” lifestyle, consider using an automated timer for your pool’s pumping system. Most pool timers have an easy-to-use screen or dial to delegate the amount of time your pump should run.

Maintain Pool Filter and Cleaning System

Aside from using a protective pool cover, skim and scrub your pool regularly to remove debris that can get caught in the filtration and cleaning system. Clogs can lead to system exhaustion and overuse of energy. Staying on top of your pool cleaning and maintenance will reduce the amount of power used to filter debris out of your water. Check the instructions on your replaceable filter or filtering material to see how often it should be changed or cleaned.

Larger filters and cartridge filters are recommended for your cleaning system if the pool allows it. Pool filters like these have the least water resistance within filtration and circulation systems. Less water resistance within filters provides a smooth experience and reduced energy use.

Install LED Pool Lighting

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, LED lighting uses 75% less energy and lasts 25 times longer than incandescent lighting. LED lights have fewer replacement costs and facilitate less waste disposal with their longer life spans. Consider installing LED lights in or outside your pool to enjoy swimming after dark and conserve energy. NiteLighter Aboveground Pool Lights bring fun to your nighttime swimming experience. No draining or drilling is required, saving even more energy in the process.

Owning and maintaining a pool does not need to break the bank or heighten your electricity bill. Energy-saving tips for pools can help you keep this feature of your home clean, warm and perfect for diving into, all without emptying your pockets. SPQ Brands is here to help with your energy-efficiency needs when it comes to enjoying your swimming pool.

Shop SPQ Brands for Pool Supplies

Both inground and aboveground pools can be great choices depending on your situation and preferences. Whichever type you choose, you’ll probably need a few extras to complete your vision. SPQ Brands manufactures a range of high-quality pool products like fences, alarms, covers, solar heaters and lights to cover your every need, from safety to fun. We also make the products you’ll need to maintain your pool, like nets, vacuums and hoses.

Regardless of the type of pool you install, SPQ Brands is committed to helping you create a safe, fun and easy-to-maintain swimming environment. Browse through our pool products today to see how we can help!