A swimming pool question for all those who have pools?

Question

My Husband and I were offered a pool from our neighbor who wants to get rid of it, and get a smaller pool. It's a 27' above ground pool, in decent shape. He is going to give it to us for free. With the exception that we have to help move it into our yard, and buy a new liner, and a pump, etc.

My question is, is it worth it? Yes, it's a free pool frame, but, how much will I spend to use it total? (chemicals, running the pump, water bill, etc.) Will my electric bill sky rocket?

How much to liners for a 27' cost on average?

We live in Ohio too, btw. So we'll only use it June, July, August.

Give all experiences, advice, how much you pay a month, etc. PLEASE! THANK YOU!

Answer 1

I don't know yet about overall costs but I wouldn't think electric bill would sky rocket because at most you really only need to run the pump an hour a day unless the pool gets a lot of heavy usage.  The chemicals shouldn't cost too much except possibly at first depending on the water condition in your area.  But water bill might go up from filling it.  However, would you be taking it down after the season or leaving it up (winterizing)?  You would have to definitely research it more, but if I were given that opportunity, I would take it.  Most of the costs are upfront or only annual.

Answer 2

I gave a Thumbs Down the the 2nd Responder... Simply put, they dont know enough about pools.  They might have a pool, it might be one of those quick set pools from Walmart, or something else, but i will tell you this... as a Swimming Pool Technician who has taken care of hundreds upon hundreds of pools over the last 15 years, NO POOL can sustain clear blue water on only 1 hour of pump usage a day.

Your Chemical cost depending on various factors could cost you upwards of 4-5 hundred dollars over the first year.  Simply  put, you have brand new water, and you are going to have to treat it to get it to become "pool water".  Next year, the costs should be signifigantly lower, but you should consider having a pool store test your water at the beginning of each year to properly balance your water.

As for Liners, you should definately search around on prices.  You have hundreds upon hundreds of options with a liner.  Down to color of the bottom and design etc, some designs will cost more than others, and if you get a standard design, that is onhand, and does not have to be specially ordered, you will probably spend much less.

Electrical... You are going to need a Pump/Motor, and a filter.  You can get sand or a DE filter,  DE requires powder which cleans your water, Sand cleans the water in a sand filter.  DE filters, clean the water better than Sand Filters, but Sand filters do the job as well..

The filter itself does not require electrical, but your pump does.  You will want to run your pump f or at least 8 hours a day since you have a bigger pool. And don't let anyone fool you, running your pump at night when energy costs are "lower" does not save you any money in the long run, as you are probably more apt to spend more in chemical costs for not filtering your water during the day when the sun is beating down on it.

As for you water, you should check with your water department, if you are on a system where you get charged twice for your water <water in and water out for sewerage costs> you should inquire about a Pool meter.  This way if you have to add 10000 gallons of water, you are not being charged for 20000 gallons, because they know that 10000 gallons of water did not go into the sewer system.

Hope this info helps.

Answer 3

Be warned,,,,, they are a money pit!