Poolside
Ideas and Fixes.
When you live in the Southern California desert having a pool is one of the best ways to cool off when ther temp gets above 90 deg for extended periods. If you have kids and/or grandkids it's a great way to keep them intertained too.
In ground pools usually cost $10,000 or more and if you live in a rental, well, why would you do that? There are a number of above ground pool makers and the example you see here is an Intex. We did have another one that had an inflateable ring and no outside supports. It was great for the first summer, but the inflateable ring portion had multiple holes in it when it came out of winter storage. Scap one pool. But we are keeping the liner to make a pond out of some day.
The new one you see here is the same size (18' x 52") but is much better made.
Below you will find ideas and soultions that I have had with the old pool, the new one, and things in between. I hope it is helpful for you and if you have any ideas you want to share, as usual we love to hear them.
In ground pools usually cost $10,000 or more and if you live in a rental, well, why would you do that? There are a number of above ground pool makers and the example you see here is an Intex. We did have another one that had an inflateable ring and no outside supports. It was great for the first summer, but the inflateable ring portion had multiple holes in it when it came out of winter storage. Scap one pool. But we are keeping the liner to make a pond out of some day.
The new one you see here is the same size (18' x 52") but is much better made.
Below you will find ideas and soultions that I have had with the old pool, the new one, and things in between. I hope it is helpful for you and if you have any ideas you want to share, as usual we love to hear them.
Ladders
The only complaint with the new pool, the ladder is rather shakey when you get to the top. As usual my first solution is not the best but does work, will not corrode, and is very cheap. (Cheap as you probably know is not always the best way to go)
To keep the ladder from shaking my solution was to use Zip strips.
To keep the ladder from shaking my solution was to use Zip strips.
I happened to have a bundle of zip strips around so it cost no money. I made a loop from the top step to the nearest post and cap. If you do this on both sides it becomes much more stable imediately. If you like this cheap and simple idea great, but here are some improvements for it.
1. Spend a few extra dollars the next time you're at the hardware store and buy LARGE zip strips. It took five for each corner . One large one would look better and have more strength .
2. Get a couple of metal strips and do the same thing except screww them to the ladder (or put them under the existing bolts) and screw the other end to the top rail.
3. Move the inner uprights against the outer rail and screw them directly to the top rail.
You may have other ideas and we would like to hear them, but to everyone that reads these or any other ideas listed on this page, THESE ARE ALL DONE AT YOUR OWN RISK. YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR POOL, YOUR MODIFICATIONS, THE HEALTH AND SAFETY OF ANYONE USING YOUR POOL.
1. Spend a few extra dollars the next time you're at the hardware store and buy LARGE zip strips. It took five for each corner . One large one would look better and have more strength .
2. Get a couple of metal strips and do the same thing except screww them to the ladder (or put them under the existing bolts) and screw the other end to the top rail.
3. Move the inner uprights against the outer rail and screw them directly to the top rail.
You may have other ideas and we would like to hear them, but to everyone that reads these or any other ideas listed on this page, THESE ARE ALL DONE AT YOUR OWN RISK. YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR POOL, YOUR MODIFICATIONS, THE HEALTH AND SAFETY OF ANYONE USING YOUR POOL.
Solar Heaters
If you have a pool and want to have it useable for a longer season then a solar heater is the way to go. The example you see here is 280 feet of black 1/2 inch drip line hose attached to the pool filter pump with a couple of valves to divert it.
The water comes out 10-15 degrees warmer than the input temp. Right this minut it is 91 deg. outside and the pool is 89 deg. and warming. A solar cover is really helpful too. It will help heat it and help hold the heat you make. To many, this is way too warm for a pool. I personally think it's perfect. I can walk right in and not have to get used to the cold. If I stand up all wet I get all the cool I need. But you can also use it to cool the pool. If the pool gets too warm with just the solar cover on then use the solar heater at night. The hose will bleed heat out at night.
Here is a picture of the simple valve diverter system I devised.
The water comes out 10-15 degrees warmer than the input temp. Right this minut it is 91 deg. outside and the pool is 89 deg. and warming. A solar cover is really helpful too. It will help heat it and help hold the heat you make. To many, this is way too warm for a pool. I personally think it's perfect. I can walk right in and not have to get used to the cold. If I stand up all wet I get all the cool I need. But you can also use it to cool the pool. If the pool gets too warm with just the solar cover on then use the solar heater at night. The hose will bleed heat out at night.
Here is a picture of the simple valve diverter system I devised.
Though it worked pretty good, even better when I added more hose, we moved since these pictures were taken and decided that we didn't want to put the deck back up at the new house so the solar heater set up has changed. Like many other projects like this the idea was to save money, not just from the electric bill but in the building of the solar heater. but sometimes more money spent in the beginning is a better idea.. As you see below the hose was now moved off to the side and closer to the ground. I did save money by repurposing the deck material into a fence and into the seperate base for the heate hose. It works better now but I don't like the looks.
Now I am doing two things . I am going to replace all or at least most of the hose with a manufactured solar heater that only costs about $100. This is as much for looks because it is now down at eye level. The pump doesn't have to work as hard now because it isn't trying to pump the water up 12 feet to the heater.
I also found that I had a 10 foot piece of copper pipe laying around and still have a pile of wood left from the deck. I like trying new things so the next project is going to be a solar trough. This in theory should work much better than just the black hose. The hose was counter productive in that plastic is not a good conductor of heat. The black rubber hose did work better but copper is a much better material to transfer heat.
With that in mind the first thing I needed was a parabola. Here is where I love the internet. I went to a site that has a graphing calculator to print out a parabola. I found sites that expalned them well and told me how to calculate a parabola, but you have to calculate each point and If you want to change the dimensions at all you have to refigure all your plotted point again. If you go to http://www.meta-calculator.com they have the most amazing graphic calculator there that will plot it all out for you.. This was so very helpful and time saving. If you want to have a true porabola (you really do) then go there.
I also didn't want to have to do a lot of sheet metal bending so I went to Lowes and there you can get metal ducy for heating and A/C. The great part is that even though it is meant to be used as a tube, they sell it open. You don't have to cut it to open the tube up.. It's about $9 for a 50 inch long 7 inch dia. tube. You can probably use it just the way it comes but what you want is a mirror finish. So I bought a can of chrome spray paint. The more reflective the better. There are places you can buy Stainless steel with a mirror finish, but the cheap part of me won't let me spend that much on it. It's expansive. And if this works as planned I don't want to triple the price to make more. A good cost/bennefit analasis would help, but this is a home project for fun.
So soon I will follow up with a video of my progress and pictures.
Now I am doing two things . I am going to replace all or at least most of the hose with a manufactured solar heater that only costs about $100. This is as much for looks because it is now down at eye level. The pump doesn't have to work as hard now because it isn't trying to pump the water up 12 feet to the heater.
I also found that I had a 10 foot piece of copper pipe laying around and still have a pile of wood left from the deck. I like trying new things so the next project is going to be a solar trough. This in theory should work much better than just the black hose. The hose was counter productive in that plastic is not a good conductor of heat. The black rubber hose did work better but copper is a much better material to transfer heat.
With that in mind the first thing I needed was a parabola. Here is where I love the internet. I went to a site that has a graphing calculator to print out a parabola. I found sites that expalned them well and told me how to calculate a parabola, but you have to calculate each point and If you want to change the dimensions at all you have to refigure all your plotted point again. If you go to http://www.meta-calculator.com they have the most amazing graphic calculator there that will plot it all out for you.. This was so very helpful and time saving. If you want to have a true porabola (you really do) then go there.
I also didn't want to have to do a lot of sheet metal bending so I went to Lowes and there you can get metal ducy for heating and A/C. The great part is that even though it is meant to be used as a tube, they sell it open. You don't have to cut it to open the tube up.. It's about $9 for a 50 inch long 7 inch dia. tube. You can probably use it just the way it comes but what you want is a mirror finish. So I bought a can of chrome spray paint. The more reflective the better. There are places you can buy Stainless steel with a mirror finish, but the cheap part of me won't let me spend that much on it. It's expansive. And if this works as planned I don't want to triple the price to make more. A good cost/bennefit analasis would help, but this is a home project for fun.
So soon I will follow up with a video of my progress and pictures.
Solar Covers
It's hard to say more than "Worth every penny". They help heat the pool. They help keep the pool clean. They are fairly cheap for what they do. Some of you may want to make one on your own because you have access to a lot of free bubble wrap. As long as you know it won't last. The bubble wrap used for shipping packages disintigrates fast in the sun. The pieces will plug your pump and filter. We do not recomend this.
And here is where the solar cooling helps too. Out here it can get up to 110 deg. for weeks. This is when you take off the solar coover at night and run the the heater. The heater works as a heat exchanger so if the outside air is cooler than the pool at night and the pool is too hot for you during the day it will help cool the pool.
The inflateable ring pool we started with had a much smaller filter (a cartridge filter) and pump. If you have the yard space to put the pipe on the ground you can use it, but it won't pump to any heighth above the pool. I had used a pond pump I had on hand. This was workable but barely, AND IT IS NOT SAFE. Never do this with people in the pool. Think about it. you're going to put your kids in the pool with a live electric cord. Sure, it is insulated. But what if it wore out or got a short? DEATH MAY OCCURE! This was a bad idea on my part and dangerous. This is why the water and the motor from a pool pump are seperated and should always be plugged into a ground fault interupt plug.
And here is where the solar cooling helps too. Out here it can get up to 110 deg. for weeks. This is when you take off the solar coover at night and run the the heater. The heater works as a heat exchanger so if the outside air is cooler than the pool at night and the pool is too hot for you during the day it will help cool the pool.
The inflateable ring pool we started with had a much smaller filter (a cartridge filter) and pump. If you have the yard space to put the pipe on the ground you can use it, but it won't pump to any heighth above the pool. I had used a pond pump I had on hand. This was workable but barely, AND IT IS NOT SAFE. Never do this with people in the pool. Think about it. you're going to put your kids in the pool with a live electric cord. Sure, it is insulated. But what if it wore out or got a short? DEATH MAY OCCURE! This was a bad idea on my part and dangerous. This is why the water and the motor from a pool pump are seperated and should always be plugged into a ground fault interupt plug.
Filtration Systems
If you plan to use your pool a lot we strongly suggest you get a pool that comes with a sand filter or that you by one seperatly.
The first pool used cartidges. These work but do not last. I had a set of six that I would rotate. But on a good day of swimming with 6-8 kids and all their sun block and sweat I could need to change the filter twice in one day.
A sand filter works so much better and you can take less than five minutes to backwash it, rinse it, and have the pump back on and filtering great again. Much cheaper in the long run.
The pool shop also has a number of automatic pool sweepers. I do not recomend these if you buy an inflateable ring pool. the transition from the bottom to the walls seems to get them stuck. For one with a frame and smething closer to 90 degree angles going from the bottom to the sides they work rather well.
The first pool used cartidges. These work but do not last. I had a set of six that I would rotate. But on a good day of swimming with 6-8 kids and all their sun block and sweat I could need to change the filter twice in one day.
A sand filter works so much better and you can take less than five minutes to backwash it, rinse it, and have the pump back on and filtering great again. Much cheaper in the long run.
The pool shop also has a number of automatic pool sweepers. I do not recomend these if you buy an inflateable ring pool. the transition from the bottom to the walls seems to get them stuck. For one with a frame and smething closer to 90 degree angles going from the bottom to the sides they work rather well.
And...
Pools of any kind can be great fun in the summer, even in the winter if you can keep them warm enough. But don't think that a pool is without cost. You do need to clean the pool.......constantly. You need to keep the chemicals in ballance. And parts do break. Like the rest of your life there is always something. If you love to swim in your own pool it is worth it.