Salt system? Ozonator? Two-speed pump? Thinking about having a pool installed...

[bparks]

Hi all,

My wife and I are seriously considering having an in ground pool installed. We've talked to three different contractors and have heard vastly differing opinions on the below items:

Salt system:

Two contractors say it's great - better for the skin, easier to take care of, etc. One recommended against it and says it causes heaters to blow up, "it's not good to have all that salt in the water", etc. Who's right? My wife has sensitive skin, so, if there are no major disadvantages to the salt system, it seems worth the $1300 price tag.

Are you planning to install a heater? We had a wonderful vacation in SD over Christmas a few years back and it was in the 70's the whole time, I can't imagine wanting a gas heater there. I'm one of those who have added salt to a not SWG pool, need to add another bag but it really does make the water wonderful.

Ozonator:

I currently have a portable spa with an ozonator and Nature2 and love it. Two dealers recommended ozonation for the pool, while one said "it's not really effective". Who's right?


Two-speed pump:

Here in San Diego, electricity is very expensive. I've heard that the two-speed pumps can really save on energy costs. Two dealers recommended the two-speed pump, and one said that they're a waste of money. We do plan on installing solar heating as well as a couple of "sheer descents" water features. Will the two-speed pump be pointless since the solar heating will (apparently) require that the pump run in the high-speed? What about the days in the summer where the water is already hot enough?

I would say go for the two speed, and have the solar heating on a second, lower power pump.

Solar heating system:

The concept seems very basic - put some black plastic panels up on the roof and pump water through 'em so that the water soaks up the heat from the sun. Are the more expensive solar heating systems really that much better in efficiency, or will an inexpensive solar heating system be sufficient?

the concept is just as simple as it seems, especially in a climate as nice as yours. I would think that solar heat would easily make the pool swimmable year round there. If you had it on it's own pump you could set it on a timer so that it runs during the day when you want it to heat the pool, and during the night if the pool is too hot. Let the filter pump be on it's own set schedule.

Thanks, in advance, to all that can provide some unbiased opinions on the above features.

Kevin K

Welcome, and spend some time reading the great info here and on poolsolutions.com - they will save you a fortune and help you love your pool.

[cwstnsko]

I have an IG pool with a 2-speed pump, SWCG, UV-Ozone (lowzone), sheer descent and solar setup off of e-bay.

2-speed pump - love it! It is nice and quite in low speed mode, and the efficiency of the circulation is better. I could use it to save on power, but the primary reason I have it is because I prefer to circulate water 24/7 like they do by law in public/commercial pools. I run it on high speed for a few hours a day to run in-floor cleaning, waterfalls, solar, etc. (I could use solar in low speed if I had actuators on a few more valves )

SWCG - LOVE IT!!! the water feels great. A lot less hassle. I add about 1 cup of acid/day to keep the pH at 7.4 like I want it to be. If I go away for a week, it climbs to 7.6-7.8

Ozone - Take it or Leave it, It's been a bit of a hassle trying to regulate the amount of air drawn into the system. Too much will reduce alkalinity due to constant aeration. The only thing positive I can say is that it MIGHT be extending the service interval on my cartridge filter, and I MIGHT use a little lower setting on the SWCG.

Solar set-up. I love the solar set-up, but you need to make sure you plan for it when you are having your pool built. The most important thing is keeping pressure off the returns used by the solar, preferably deep returns. You definitely want to keep the returns for the solar separate from the sheer descent circuit. Study the site at http://www.powermat.com before you close out the details with whichever builder you choose. I asked my builder to set me up for solar before I understood what was needed. He charged me about $200 and the two little PVC stubs he left me are USELESS. Luckily he did set me up with lots of returns and seperate circuits for each, so I can still make it work.