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Forum
-> Household Management
-> Finances
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amother
Puce
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 Sun, Jun 21 2015, 5:13 pm
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A friend of mine is looking to buy a house with a pool. She'd like to know what the typical cost is per season for regular maintenance. Also what are some of the more expensive problems and how often do pool owners experience them?
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mummiedearest
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Sun, Jun 21 2015, 5:19 pm
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it depends on how they maintain it. a saltwater system is supposed to cost less per year than chlorine, but the system itself costs $$. it's really a question of the cost of chemicals, test strips, pool cover, pool vacuum, etc. per season. it also depends on whether or not you hire a pool maintenance service.
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amother
Cobalt
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Sun, Jun 21 2015, 5:47 pm
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have the pool inspected before you purchase the house. I know someone that had to replace the pool liner and install a fence (the home insurance insisted) , which was an unexpected huge expense.
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sourstix
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Sun, Jun 21 2015, 6:10 pm
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I havea a pool and I am not using it bec of the expense involved. the water alone will cost alot. I dont really know the costs cause I dont use it but it sure costs. so if she doesnt have extra cash like me she should know its expensive. btw I cant see the topics pp are post ing on the home page. this happens every few weeks. why? I keep asking and never get an answer
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amother
Babyblue
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Sun, Jun 21 2015, 6:28 pm
Please clarify.
What do you mean by $$?
Please post numbers. Anything.
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MagentaYenta
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Sun, Jun 21 2015, 6:35 pm
| amother wrote: | Please clarify.
What do you mean by $$?
Please post numbers. Anything. |
My cousin in Lkwd has a pool, she said seasonal start up costs are over $1k if you have a pool that is new or newer. Her elect runs about $650 a month for the pool alone her pool service is $150+ a month.
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amother
Puce
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Sun, Jun 21 2015, 8:31 pm
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What do u mean the electric for the pool is $650 per month? What electric is involved in a pool?
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sky
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Sun, Jun 21 2015, 8:42 pm
| amother wrote: | | What do u mean the electric for the pool is $650 per month? What electric is involved in a pool? |
I don't know numbers. But pools require pumping, filtering, and perhaps heating.
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MagentaYenta
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Sun, Jun 21 2015, 8:44 pm
| amother wrote: | | What do u mean the electric for the pool is $650 per month? What electric is involved in a pool? |
Pumps, filters, heat, lights, alarm system, vacuum.
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amother
Jade
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Sun, Jun 21 2015, 8:45 pm
| amother wrote: | | What do u mean the electric for the pool is $650 per month? What electric is involved in a pool? |
electricity is needed to operate the pump/pool filter system.
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MagentaYenta
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Sun, Jun 21 2015, 8:50 pm
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There is also the cost of filling and draining annually.
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amother
Jetblack
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Sun, Jun 21 2015, 11:06 pm
I think a lot of costs have to do with location.
I'm in Florida, just moved into home with pool and landlord says the water and electricity to run the pool is not a big expense, maintenance under $100.
Since pools are used all year here, no annual emptying and refilling.
There is also more competition as most people have pools, so costs are less.
She needs to ask people in same area with similar pools to see what they pay. $650 sounds super high, maybe the person quoted is exaggerating, using her entire electric bill or has some fancy expensive to run equipment that is not needed.
I'm brand new to this, so not enough info.
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MagentaYenta
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Sun, Jun 21 2015, 11:26 pm
| amother wrote: | I think a lot of costs have to do with location.
I'm in Florida, just moved into home with pool and landlord says the water and electricity to run the pool is not a big expense, maintenance under $100.
Since pools are used all year here, no annual emptying and refilling.
There is also more competition as most people have pools, so costs are less.
She needs to ask people in same area with similar pools to see what they pay. $650 sounds super high, maybe the person quoted is exaggerating, using her entire electric bill or has some fancy expensive to run equipment that is not needed.
I'm brand new to this, so not enough info. |
Actually I called my cousin in Lakewood for the info.
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harriet
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Mon, Jun 22 2015, 12:23 am
I have a pool and $650/month on electricity sounds really high unless it's heated.
Here are my approx costs: $400 startup (by pool service, cheaper if you do it yourself), $250 closing costs (again, pool service, cheaper if you do it), chemicals for maintenance over 2-3 month pool season, about $600 and then there's miscellaneous costs (ie replace part of filter or repair fence or buy new pool cover...), I don't think we've ever spent less than $2k over the summer. And that's without heating our pool (which is supposedly a huge expense, we've never turned on our heater).
Btw, water cost is minimal (although we don't empty it fully over the winter so just have to top it off).
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amother
Brown
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Mon, Jun 22 2015, 12:42 am
| MagentaYenta wrote: | | Pumps, filters, heat, lights, alarm system, vacuum. |
Not every pool has heat and lights, and I've never even heard of a pool alarm system.
I don't know the exact amount for expenses but electricity for pumps, filter, and vacuum were not nearly that high for my parents. Their total electricity bill including pool was never higher than mid $300s. My parents also did their own maintenance, and didn't have to drain and refill the pool because they live in Florida.
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MagentaYenta
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Mon, Jun 22 2015, 12:46 am
| amother wrote: | Not every pool has heat and lights, and I've never even heard of a pool alarm system.
I don't know the exact amount for expenses but electricity for pumps, filter, and vacuum were not nearly that high for my parents. Their total electricity bill including pool was never higher than mid $300s. My parents also did their own maintenance, and didn't have to drain and refill the pool because they live in Florida. |
My cousin has two alarm systems on her pool. One for the retractable cover and one just for the pool if the cover is not in place. Yes she does heat in the early and late seasons.
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mummiedearest
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Mon, Jun 22 2015, 8:03 pm
| harriet wrote: | I have a pool and $650/month on electricity sounds really high unless it's heated.
Here are my approx costs: $400 startup (by pool service, cheaper if you do it yourself), $250 closing costs (again, pool service, cheaper if you do it), chemicals for maintenance over 2-3 month pool season, about $600 and then there's miscellaneous costs (ie replace part of filter or repair fence or buy new pool cover...), I don't think we've ever spent less than $2k over the summer. And that's without heating our pool (which is supposedly a huge expense, we've never turned on our heater).
Btw, water cost is minimal (although we don't empty it fully over the winter so just have to top it off). |
a saltwater system is supposed to save you a lot of money on chemicals. I have one, but I have an above ground pool that we put up for the season. it's not as big as an in-ground pool. I'm not sure how much we spent on electricity last summer (used to run the filter and salt-water chlorinator), but we spent approximately $20 on chemicals. would've been less if we had a local walmart, pool salt there is somewhere around $7 for a 40 lb bag, which is exactly the amount we need for our pool. we also used some baking soda periodically to get the ph balance right. a larger pool would need more salt, but you generally don't need to add any more salt for the whole season once the pool is set up. test strips are also necessities, but they aren't going to cost you a terrible amount. we use the pool skimmer (manual one, nothing fancy) every day, and we keep the pool covered when not in use. we did buy a cheap pool vacuum last year, but it broke pretty quickly. I'm not sure we need to replace it this year, I found skimming, covering and filtering worked just fine for the most part.
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Peanut2
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Mon, Jun 22 2015, 9:22 pm
You have to have a fence and IME also an alarm. It's important for safety reasons, a total must if you have kids, but even if you don't insurance IME requires both. (I don't have a pool but I've lived in places with a pool and there were always alarms.)
Also it increases your insurance. Maintenance costs vary, but there is upkeep.
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amother
Pearl
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Mon, Jun 22 2015, 11:21 pm
I also live in the South and some of these numbers sound crazy high to me. I definitely think the location will make a huge difference. We do not have any startup/closing costs because it never gets that cold here. We do all the pool maintenance ourselves (except for equipment repairs). Chemicals probably cost $600 for the year.
My husband spends about an hour a week on cleaning during the summer months and the other 6 months of the year require minimal cleaning and chemicals.
Our homeowners insurance is not much higher because of the pool and our water bill is probably $20 a month more in the summer than the winter. (It also depends on how much it rains in the summer)
Our electric bill in the summer is about $300 a month and that is in a climate of 90+ degree days everyday for a 3000 sq ft house. I don't think the pool equipment is really adding a significant amount of money to the bill.
As far as bigger expenses. We installed a fence when we moved in - about $1500. In 5 years we have spent about $600 on repairs - so that is a little more than $100 a year. We do not have an alarm on the pool - I do not know of anyone here that has one. But our kids do learn how to swim from when they are about the age of 3.
Again, I think a huge part of the decision needs to be based on location. My kids spend about 2 hours in the pool everyday for 4-5 months of the year. When I tally up the expenses - it is well worth it.
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amother
Turquoise
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Tue, Jun 23 2015, 7:49 am
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I have a nice size above ground pool. I would say about $2k-$3k. Thats without pool cleaning service. There is always something that needs to be done. Consider the expense of equipments around the pool too. The pool was not enjoyable without a heater.
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