Medag -

Did you get charged $3500 just for the pump, or did you have to upgrade your automation to accommodate the pump and that is where the price came from? I'm assuming you had to upgrade your automation too.

Variable speed savings are definitely real. Savings are maximized with a cartridge or sand filter. You won't see the same savings, and still have a properly filtered pool, with a DE filter though because you still need to run the pump at a high enough RPM to keep your DE in the filter in suspension. If you cranked your pump really low with a DE filter, all of your DE would just be sitting in a pile at the bottom of the filter and you would not be filtering adequately. You will still achieve savings with a DE filter, just not as drastically as you would with a cartridge or sand filter.

Optimal setup = variable speed with a sand filter filled with glass media. The glass media will filter very close to as finely as a DE filter while still achieving maximum energy savings.

If you ever feel like trying another pool company, and want to do business with an Ag, check us out...

http://www.yelp.com/biz/patriot-pool-and-spa-austin-2?osq=pool+service

We're currently redoing our website, hence the link to Yelp...

[This message has been edited by MPython43 (edited 7/21/2014 7:12a).]

I bought a house 5 years ago with a pool. It was my first owned pool. I learned to manage the chemicals myself and cleaned it myself.

It would have been $100 a month to do chemical service once a week.

I didn't have a heater for the pool or a Polaris. I did all of the cleaning myself.

I'd strongly advise not building a pool in your current house, unless you plan on living there quite a while. You won't recoup the cost.

Piling on...we bought our house because it already had a pool with a design we liked. The pool is about 8 years old now and we've had to replace the pump and part of the casing that holds the filters. Last few months have had some sort of issue. Thoughts:
-No way I wouldn't have a Polaris
-We were inconsistent about keeping up with chemicals/cleaning - the pool service I hired a couple of years ago has been great. Nice to not walk out and not have an algae bloom and miss swimming time because you've had to pour tons of chemicals in
-We have chlorine, not salt. The chlorine is hard on the skin but easier on the pool parts and hardscape, etc.
-It has felt like a money pit lately but at the same time we can afford it and we love it. Great family activity right there in our back yard.
-We have a pool fence. Our daughter is 3. Our nephews are 4 and 2 (our son is 12 and swims like a fish). If I regularly had little ones around, I would absolutely get a fence. The peace of mind we have no compared to before is worth every penny.
-Previous owners who installed the pool used slate as the decking. MISTAKE. I hate it. It's hard and it sheds. I would do cool deck or whatever concrete coating option there is out there that's got slip resistance and stays cool. I'd take function over look any day of the week where that's concerned.
-Don't leave the pool heater on for a week.
-Get some sort of option that fills the pool automatically. You'd be shocked at how much evaporates at this time of year.
-Be careful with foliage choices. Previous owners put in bottle brush trees. They're a mess. Too many small bits fall in the pool after it blooms.

[This message has been edited by prisschris (edited 7/21/2014 12:18p).]

[This message has been edited by prisschris (edited 7/21/2014 12:19p).]

prisschris can you recommend your pool service company? I am getting tired of taking care of mine. I am better at sitting in my pool than I am at taking care of it.

We LOVE ours. It's such a great family gathering place. You and your children , grandchildren will spend so many hours there. We have a fabulous beautiful one that looks like a tropical resort! But one thing that helps and I would recommend it would be a chiller. It drops the water temperature down in the summer time 10-20*! Keeps your pool refreshing. Good luck with your decision. I vote YES!

I hope I posted correctly here's a partial pic of ours.

learn to do the maintenance yourself. it's not hard, and you can save a lot of money.

Wow, pfo

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Wow, pfo

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^This. Holy **** that is nice.