Saving Money Options With the Pool Pump?
Question?
Q: Did you see what the Lee County Electric Company (LCEC) put out in their July newsletter? I was a bit shocked and do not believe their pool suggestions. Here is what they put out:
"With a typical usage of about 4,200 kWh of electricity annual, pool pumps can amount to more than a dollar a day. Here is a few ways you can easily beat the summer heat and help keep your LCEC bill in check this summer".
Here is what LCEC said about Pool Pumps: An easy way to save is to only run your swimming pool pump for one hour every seven hours. Yes, this means on only three hours and off twenty-one hours daily. They state said that a statewide swimming pool circulation system energy study shows that the key factors in maintaining satisfactory pool water balance are proper chemical and physical maintenance, not pump running time. The study says that more than 90% of the participating homeowners found imperceptible changes in water quality when the pool pumps were only run 3 hours per day or even less.
The study concluded the average participant in the study saved nearly $150 annually or 1,800 kWh, because of the decreased pool pump running time.
Sorry for the long question, but what do you think? I hope I made myself clear.
Good day to you, sir.
Curt Millen (Fort Lauderdale Florida)
Answer!
A:
Very good question. It appears the LCEC study is not looking at overall pool care costs, and is focused to narrowly on electrical costs only.
If you maintain your own swimming pool in the area of Lee County and you try the Lee County Electric Company (LCEC) savings system; Your electrical cost may go down, but overall pool maintenance costs will very likely go up.
Let's suppose that your maximized savings are a bit more than ideal, and you save $20 a month in electrical costs. Coming down to reality, and taking into account the strong sun light and the heat of Florida in the summer time, the rain, and the rise in chemical prices; in two weeks time only, you would have to spend double or triple that amount of money in chlorine only, just to clear the many types of algae that we get down here in the sunny state. We battle with it everyday!
If you have a pool care professional maintaining your swimming pool, it will be required to run the swimming pool system for 8 hours in the summer time, and 6 in the winter. Alternatively, if you have to hire a swimming pool company to fix an algae problem it can cost you approximately $300. This demolishes the annual Lee County Electric Company (LCEC) theory to pieces by double in a short period. There you go.
Please take care.
Regards, Alberto
("Your Cape Coral Pool Cleaning Professional")
