Enjoying Your Pool in the Winter

When the outdoors become chillier, it usually signals the time for pool owners to close up shop. However, with all the new products and accessories out today, you can enjoy your pool for way longer, and even put energy savings in your wallet during the summer as well! 

Just think about the investment you've made in your outdoor living space. Products that allow you to enjoy your pool a few months more every year can really offer you more bang for your buck! 

 Consider snow-melting cable systems that can be installed fairly easily underneath patio areas keeping them warm and free of frost and snow. Pricing begins at $10 per square foot for materials. 

A great system to consider is automatic freeze protection that will keep your water flowing, even in freezing temperatures. A Jandy AquaLinks System automatically turns on the water features in your pool when the temperature drops below a certain preset point. How awesome is that?! 

Obviously, cooler temperatures do mean you'll have to heat your pool if you want to keep swimming — unless you love doing the "ice bucket challenge" for fun...on a large scale. Smart-phone apps allow you to control all aspects of your pool and outdoor living space such as spa and outdoor lighting anytime anywhere.  Using an app like this means if there is a danger of dropping temperatures, you can turn pool equipment on or off with a flick of the finger. You can also check the air and pool temperatures. 
 Some heat pumps that absorb surrounding heat can save as much as 80 percent of the energy that other heating methods require to heat your pool, extending your swimming season by at least a couple of months. These heat pumps simply absorb free heat from the air and transfer it to the water, making the heating process efficient and ecofriendly, with lower energy bills to boot. While an upfront cost of more than $8,000 may make you wanna dive off the deep end, this may be a worthy investment in the long run if you love to swim and live in an area with four-seasons. 

A lower cost out-of-pool option is an outdoor heater, which can warm a swim-up bar or other gathering space, or simply the area where swimmers get out of the pool. Look into both wall-mounted options and freestanding units. These can run from $100 -$600.  

If you're still in the process of planning your pool, think about adding a fire element for those brisk autumn nights. A great fire pit integrated with the pool design gives an element of entertainment and a warm point of relaxation for swimmers during cooler weather. Pricing on these varies so do your homework! 
 

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