can u live w/o pool in phx? (house, neighborhood)

[ZaVaZ]

Well I moved into a rental with a pool not expecting the cost of one. I never had a pool before. You just got to keep in mind what you are getting yourself into when getting a place with one. The monthly cost, in Power, chemicals, toys, pool tools and hoses and upkeep. Right now I have a pool I cant use because the nights keep the water to cold to warm up during the day. Everyone tells me to get a blanket to entrap the heat at night or get a propane tank and really watch my power bill sky rocket. But like I said this is a rental for me. When it comes time to look for a real house to purchase I will most definitely be looking for a house with a pool but if I don't no big deal. Because I live in a rental I really don't want to go overboard in getting things that I cant use if I move into an apartment or a house w/out a pool.

Heres a few things too look out for.

1. If you do get a Pool put the filtration on a 12hr run from 9:00pm - 9:00am (off peak hours)
2. Get a pool cleaner. He/She will know whats best for the pool and can get Way better deals on chemicals than you alone. ($75-$150/mo.)
3. Get that blanket. My pool is FREEZING! Even at 3:00 pm @ 95 degrees I really wanna take a dip and workout but I cant.
4. Take the time and do research on pool care. in the summer time 48hrs can really deplete the pool of chemicals and the water level through evaporation. I filled my pool to the Tippy top and was surprised at how far the water level dropped at the end of the day. (this was in mid July)
5. Keep that grass cut! if you allow the grass to grow you will get mustered algae. no matter that you do you cant prevent mustered algae unless you cut that lawn. If you have gravel thats better. (but sweep for rocks)

Theres much more but those are off the top. If I missed some please add some of your own

[Great Joy]

Pools are expensive; both upfront and maintenance costs. If you plan to stay in your home a long time, then I might consider getting one. But, even then, I would still weigh the positives and negatives. Most people we know spent over $50,000 for theirs (that's a lot of fun vacations!). We didn't install one because our development has a water park with three pools, water slides, and a dancing water fountain for the kids to play in...as well as being close to Lake Pleasant. Some of our neighbors installed them. Some use theirs more than others. I find it interesting that all of them used their pools much more during their first summer here, and since then their use has been more infrequent. I think it's like any new toy; you play with it a lot when it's new and then not as much later.

[LadmoFan]

How much does the water and electric bill run if you own a pool? Also, what is the insurance costs? I've never lived in a house with a pool as I was concerned about both things.

LadmoFan

[Great Joy]

Neighbors' pool-included electricity bills run on the average about $200-$250 per month more than our non-pool electricity bill throughout the year. One of our neighbors ran their pool heater a lot during the beginning of the winter last year until their got their electricity bill, which was over $800 that month! Ouch!

[LadmoFan]

Ouch is right. I think I'll live without the pool. LOL!

I have lived in the high desert many years without a pool, I guess I can do so in Phoenix.

Where I live now, our August high temps will reach 115 to 118 degrees F.

Our nights are delightfully cool and normally run in the 70s. Perfect weather.

Winter here is a bit nippy, especially in March, when the temps are in the 40s with 50+ mph winds.

LadmoFan

[imtaya2]

I would love a pool but I rather have a safer backyard. When we first move here we went to a Pediatric Doc for my son before he started school. And the doc ask about a pool. I was surprise but she explained that there are so many drownings in Arizona. My son can swim also. he is 5 now and he has been going to swimming class since he was 8mnths but we still choose not to have a pool. we go to a nice YMCA in Goodyear.

[sierraAZ]

Originally Posted by imtaya2

I would love a pool but I rather have a safer backyard. When we first move here we went to a Pediatric Doc for my son before he started school. And the doc ask about a pool. I was surprise but she explained that there are so many drownings in Arizona. My son can swim also. he is 5 now and he has been going to swimming class since he was 8mnths but we still choose not to have a pool. we go to a nice YMCA in Goodyear.

It's a consideration all right... not to mention being liable for trespassers (thieves...?!) drowning in it! It's one of the most ridiculous things I've ever heard, but what else is new...

[joninaz]

I couldn't imagine living here without one. When it's hot, day or night, there's no better immediate relief than jumping in for 3 minutes or 20. It's also my summer gym. You can't go for a walk at noon in July, but you can swim and feel great.

Depending on house location and other shade elements, you can choose to swim when it's shaded, avoiding sun/skin exposure. No biggie.

It's how my social circle spends the summer - we simply rotate pool parties/BBQs every weekend. Cost wise, it's probably cheaper to turn off the AC and sit out back with the pool/misters/fans than it is to entertain indoors.

That said, I give it up latter Oct. through early April. To me it's not worth the effort/cost. You're fighting nature/physics. It takes a lot of energy to heat a large volume of water, meanwhile heat rises and the nights are cool/cold. A cover can help, but in winter months you still need to heat that body up. That can get costly. And it's the time of year to be out walking/biking/golfing and all of those other things that come alive. Why bother?

Running the filter? I only run mine a few hours a day. Maybe up to 6. I'll run overnight if there's been a big storm, but if everything is purring along, pools don't need 12 hours of filtering each day. Not unless you have 30 people covered in baby oil and spilling drinks all day. That can happen from time to time, and requires three 12-hour days of filtering.

Public pools are often over-chlorinated for the very same reason. Similarly, a lot of backyard pools have too many chemicals. I have friends with pools where I can kick back for 20-30 minutes, then need a break. Since installing a salt system, I've never been bothered.

Cost-wise, it's not that bad. In the winter it's pretty much shut down. I run the bottom skimmer from time to time and tweak the chemistry to keep it happy, but that's about it. I have a solar heating sytem that lets me heat the water with no power in the early spring/late fall, giving me a longer season. Pool guy? Not for me, but I can appreciate why many like the convenience. There's a Paddock pool store 3 blocks away and they'll run a water sample through the computer, for free, and give an exact report on what needs to be done, if anything.

That said it does take work. And pool stuff can be way overpriced. But I figure it costs, overall, a $100 a month during the summer. That's not bad for an added expense. Cheaper than going to the beach or the lake with some boats.

[eddiek]

nikkzone-

doing well, thanks. Good to hear from you on this site. I am still at the other site as well.

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by LadmoFan

How much does the water and electric bill run if you own a pool? Also, what is the insurance costs? I've never lived in a house with a pool as I was concerned about both things.

LadmoFan

Some of the amounts above seem way too high.

Consider:


Pump - 10 hours per night at 2.0 KW/H = 20 KW x .$.10 = $2.00 for 30 nites is $45. 10 cents is high. If you have time of day its about 3 cents per KW so the cost is somewhere between about $20 and $60 for electric in summer. Winter would be about half that based on lower rates and shorter filter cycles.

Water: I did a calculation for a 16x30 pool and get an annual evaporation of 36000 gallons in the Phoenix area. Yikes! That strikes me as high and 16x30 is bigger than the average pool, but lets go with it. That works out to 3000 gallons a month. Water is about $2.50 per 1000 gallons here so water costs are 2.50 x 3 = $7.50 per month.

Chemicals: Based on my own costs, it's slightly less than $1 per day for tabs. Round it to $1 or $30 per month.

So total at high end is $60 + $ 7.50 + $30 = $97.50
and with time of day rates: $20 + $ 7.50 + $ 30 = $ 57.50.

This is an estimate, of course, and is complicated by varying electric rates and water rates being higher in summer when evap is higher too. But I think if you went in the middle - $75 - for annualized budget purposes you would be OK.