Hopefully The Information Provided Throughout This Above Ground Pool Buying Guide Has Helped You Understand More About The Options Available To You And Answered Your Questions We Have Compiled A Few Of Our Most Frequently Asked Questions Below Just In Case
A 24 pool is the most popular size we sell at our store see the photo for reference. You can easily fit multiple families or host birthday parties with floats and toys spread out without feeling too cramped. It is in the mid-range of the pricing spectrum, so you get plenty of room without breaking the bank.
If properly maintained, an above ground pool can easily last 15-20 years. With Oklahoma storm season, there is always the threat of severe weather for hail or strong winds, we can generally provide replacement parts or help re-establish your wall or liner if they sustain storm damage with the exception of a tornado completely relocating your pool, most storm damage can be resolved without replacing the entire pool.
Yes, we offer free site checks to help you find the best location for your new pool, as well as measuring your space so you know what size pools will fit in your yard. A site check will also help you understand any excavation that may be necessary if you have a heavily sloped yard.
If you maintain your pool water, perform weekly water testing/balancing, and perform the suggested weekly cleaning routines, you can expect to pay between $250 – $500 for chemicals and maintenance each season . This range assumes no major water issues, like a large algae bloom.
How Much Water Does Your Pool Hold
The first step in determining the proper size pump for your pool is to calculate how much water it holds. The reason for this is that your pool pump should be able to turn over the water in about 8 hours. In other words, all the water in your pool should run through your pump in that time span. And that should happen once a day.
To determine how much water your pool holds, start by looking at the paperwork that came with your pool. If you cant find the number of gallons it holds, dont worry. With a little simple math, you can figure it out on your own.
Just follow these formulas, depending on your pools shape, or use our pool volume calculator:
For a rectangular pool: Length X Width X Average Depth X 7.48 = Total Pool Gallons
For a round pool: 3.14 x radius squared x average depth x 7.48
For an oval pool: 3.14 x ½ Length X ½ Width X Average Depth X 7.48 = Total Pool Gallons
To determine the average depth in your pool, which you will need for the above formulas, add the shallowest part of your pool and the deepest part of your pool and then divide the number by two.
Size And Selection Of Swimming Pool Pumps
Youve come to the mountain top, seeking wisdom and truth, or the answer to a question that has plagued humanity for all timeWhat is the best pool pump?
The first thing you need to know is that not all horsepowers are equal. Every pump has different flow characteristics, and the flow rate will vary by manufacturer and model.
But the question cannot be answered without some other key insights, namely your Pool Type, Turnover Rate, Filter Design Flow Rate and estimated Resistance, in Feet of Head.
Also Check: How Deep Is The Venetian Pool
Calculate Your Pools Turnover Rate
The first step in figuring out how long to run a pool pump for your pool is to determine your pools volume. In other words, how much water your pool holds in gallons. You may already know because its listed on your paperwork, but if you dont, you will determine it by the shape of your pool.
Here are the formulas to calculate your pools volume:
For a rectangular pool: Length X Width X Average Depth X 7.5 = Total Pool Gallons
For a round pool: Diameter X Diameter X Average Depth X 5.9 = Total Pool Gallons
For an oval pool: Length X Width X Average Depth X 6.7 = Total Pool Gallons
After you know how many gallons of water your pool holds, its time to calculate the turnover rate, which is the number of hours it takes for all the water in the pool to go through the filter.
To calculate the rate, use this formula:
Pool volume
8 = Gallons per hour that needs to be pumped.
Your pool pump may go by gallons per minute instead of GPH. To arrive at this figure, use this formula:
GPH ÷ 60 = GPM
Now that you understand your turnover rate, its important to ensure that your pool pumps rate matches the speed. If it pumps a little faster, thats okay, but you should never use a pump that pumps below the appropriate speed for your pool.
Calculating Pool Pump Size
While outside of this simple yet extremely import we get asked a lot about what HP a pump should be. That being said, it’s important to know that pool pumps should really be rated by the gallons per minute of water flow instead of the motor’s HP.
What you’re looking for is a pump that will be able to pump all the water in your pool through the filter in no more than 8-10 hours. This typically looks likes 40 GPM for smaller pools and 80 GPM for larger pools. However, you can determine the more precise needs of your individual pool by following these steps:
Keep in mind that the desired time frame of turnover is between 8-10 hours, so you get a range by substituting the 8 hours used above, for 10 hours instead. This would allow a range of acceptable pumps instead of assuming only one options.
Recommended Reading: Lice Swimming Pool
What Size Pool Heater Do I Need
Owning a swimming pool means you and your family get to have a lot of fun together, and you can invite your friends and relatives on the weekends for pool parties. However, there are limitations on how long you can use your pool because of climate and day/ night cycles. Unless you are training to become a special forces operator, jumping into a pool filled with freezing cold water doesnt sound like a lot of fun. And to make things complicated, different members in your family will have varying preferences when it comes to pool water temperatures. Some may feel that 75°F is a perfectly fine water temperature for the occasional early evening swim, whereas others will find it hard to step into an 80°F pool even with the sun shining right above them.
Heating the pool requires energy, but maintaining the heat is another problem with a different set of challenges. A pool is essentially a large water body sitting out in the open, and it loses both heat and mass over time to the atmospheric air through evaporation. Once your pool heater has brought the water temperature up to a comfortable level for swimming, it must also maintain the temperature caused by heat loss from the water surface.
How to Determine your Pool Volume
Intex Pool Filter Pump Upgrades: A Buyers Guide
Is your Intex pool filter a little, shall we say, tired? Intex pools are known as a quality starter pool for the price. However, Intex Fast Set and Frame Set pools often come with filter and pump combos that are a bit on the small side. Of course, this helps keep the prices competitive, but it comes at the cost of efficacy and efficiency. If youve struggled with your Intex pool filter or have considered upgrading your circulation and filtration system, keep reading!
Read Also: Can Lice Survive In A Pool
How Often Should I Change The Sand Filter In My Pool
The turnover rate is determined by the local laws on the place you live. Most positions require a swimming pool filter to complete a filtration cycle at least two times in a day. But, its healthier to pick a turnover rate between 6-12 hours. Some sand filter will even come with a programmable timer.
Above Ground Pool Installation Steps
-
Excavation and leveling
-
Preparing the bottom of the pool with sand or a hard bottom
-
Laying out the bottom track of the pool
-
Setting the wall of the pool
-
Installing the liner and securing to the wall with the top track
-
Attaching the pool posts to secure the wall and liner
-
Attaching the top caps to cover the connection points of the liner, top track, wall and posts
-
Using a vacuum to remove any air between the wall and liner
-
Begin filling the pool
-
Cutting out the skimmer and installing the skimmer plate
-
Install and connect the pump/filter system
-
Final steps to be completed by homeowner once pool is full, discussed below
Don’t Miss: How To Heat Above Ground Pool Quickly
Exactly What Size Pump/filter Do I Need
exactly
zea3 said:. If you can give us the brand and model of the pump we can help you figure out if what the builder is recommending is a good match.
zea3 said:You can add either a simple plug in timer if you are running the pump off a power cord or if you are hard wiring the pump there are timers for that as well. As you can see on this page, you can spend anywhere from under $25 to over $200, depending on what you want it to do.
Are There Other Options
Yes! Its generally better to start with the highest recommended filtration and taper down. Once you have an algae bloom or the water chemistry gets too far out of whack, it can be very difficult to get things under control.
How the water in your pool behaves depends on a lot of different factors how often you use it, how many people use it, how much direct sunlight it gets, etc. Some people feel that cycling the entire pool once in a 24-hour period is enough and you may find that it is.
Some people run the filter for eight hours overnight and turn them off during the day. Others do leave the filter off at night and do eight hours during the day or you can try four hours in the morning and four hours in the evening. It all depends on what works best with your swimming pool. Thats why its good to find a pool pump made with these options in mind. Most of them have different speed settings as well as timers so you can customize it to your needs.
Recommended Reading: Mandalay Bay Pool Open Year Round
Water Volume And Time
This is a very popular method for measuring pool heater size, it takes the volume of the pool in gallons and also factors in loss from surface through evaporation.
First, we need to know how many BTUs it takes to heat one gallon of water. One gallon of water weighs 8.34 pounds, and we know that a single BTU is the amount of heat energy required to raise the temperature of 1 pounds of water by 1 degree. So, to heat 8.34 pounds of water we need 8.34 BTUs, which is the amount of heat energy needed to raise the temperature of one gallon of water by 1 degree. Now, we need to calculate the number of gallons in our swimming pool which measures 40 x 30 x 6. The volume is 7200 cubic feet, and when converted to gallons it is 7200 x 7.48 = 53,860 gallons.
We need 8.34 BTUs of heat to raise the temperature of one gallon by 1 degree. Taking our example of a swimming pool in Detroit during September, we need to go from a temperature of 65°F to 80°F which is a 15 degree rise. So, we need 15 x 8.34 = 125.1 BTUs per gallon of water for a 15 degree rise in temperature. Now accounting for the entire volume of our pool, the total heat energy required is 125.1 x 53860 = 6,737,886 BTUs. Thats a whole lot of heat energy, right? Clearly there is no company on Earth which will sell you a 7 million BTU/hr. pool heater. So, lets do this over a 48- hour period which sounds reasonable- 6,737,886 BTU spread across 48 hours is 140,372 BTU per hour.
The importance of solar blankets for your pool
How To Calculate The Size Of Sand Filter For Above Ground Pool
You can also calculate its size yourself using this formula. Volume = length x width x the average depth x 7.5 for the rectangular/square pool and 5.9 for the round pool. Having found the volume in cubic feet, you need to convert it to gallons. To do so, you need to divide the cubic feet with 7.48 to have the capacity in gallons.
Also Check: Cyanuric Acid Calculator
Run Your Pool Pump For Non
Yes, you want to run your pool pump for at least eight hours every day to complete at least one turnover cycle. But that doesnt mean it has to be eight hours straight.
Again, refer to those non-peak utility hours. Working around those, you can run your pump for two hours here, seven hours there, and then three hours there. As long as it runs for at least 8 hours in every 24-hour period, youre covered.
Intex Ultra Frame Pool Filter Systems
Ultra Frame pools need the largest filters, but these pool sets may be sold in the box with one of the smaller filters. While they may do the job, they tend to wear out quickly under the strain of so much water.
Ultra Frame pools can certainly use a 16 Intex sand filter without any issues. But if you have one of the larger Ultra Frame pools, you may be better off using something like the Hayward Pro Series or Pentair Sand Dollar filter and pump systems to maximize filtration efficiency.
To upgrade to a ridiculous level , look at the Hayward XStream pool filter system. This thing is the real deal, offering industrial-grade equipment for permanent above ground pools. Youll never again have to worry about insufficient filtration or circulation.
If youre looking for superior pool filtration in terms of particle size, then look no further than the Hayward EC-50 Perflex filter. When purchased as a combo, the package comes equipped with the same Power-Flo pump as the X-Stream cartridge filter. The only difference is youll have the added filtration efficiency that comes with a diatomaceous earth filter.
Also Check: Unclog Pool Skimmer Line
How To Calculate Turnover Rate For Your Pool
First, if you dont already know it, youll need to calculate your pools volume. If youre not sure how to do this, you can use our pool calculator to figure it out:
Once you have your pools volume, divide it by eight to determine the number of gallons per hour that need to be pumped.
Most pool pumps go by gallons per minute rather than GPH, though. So to get that number, divide the GPH by 60 to determine how many gallons per minute need to be pumped for full turnover.
So your formulae will be:
Total Pool Volume ÷ 8 = GPH
GPH ÷ 60 = GPM
Running Your Pool From Sunrise To Sunset
It may seem logical to have the pump running during the day, while people are swimming in it, so the water stays clean. And thats a good thought. But consider a couple of other things too.
Those non-peak hours your utility has may be at night, especially if you live in a warm climate where people are more likely to run their air-conditioning during the day.
Also, running your pump is usually necessary after youve added chemicals to your pool. In order to get the chemicals dispersed throughout the water, it has to be moving. Otherwise, you may end up with super-sanitized spots and pockets of not-so-clean water, and thats not the kind of Marco Polo you want to play.
But theres one chemical that needs to be added at night, or at least at dusk: pool shock. Add it during the day, and the sun will just burn most of it off, reducing its effectiveness.
So when you shock your pool, youll definitely want to run your pump at night, and for a minimum of eight hours to fully distribute the shock.
You May Like: Winstar Pool Tower North
What Size Pump Should I Get For My Pool
If you’re looking to build a new pool or simply looking to replace a pool pump you may find yourself asking, “Is a larger horsepower pool pump always better?”
PRO TIP: No matter which type of pump you choose, youll want to make sure you properly select the correct pump and filter combination. The pump needs to be sized appropriately compared to the filters flow rate. Choosing a pump with a higher flow rate than the filter will put strain on both the pump and filter, reducing life and efficiency of each. This means that you would not want to choose a pump designed to be used with 2″ plumbing piece, and then use a filter designed to be used with 1 1/2″ plumbing piece. Proper pairing of these two units is essential for a pleasant pool experience.
For example:
If choosing a pump with a 1-1/2 inlet/outlet, you should choose a filter with a 1-1/2 inlet/outlet as well. However, a pump with a 1-1/2 inlet/outlet can work with a filter with a 2 inlet/outlet if needed to.
X You would not want to attempt to use a pump with 2 inlet/outlet with a filter that has a 1-1/2 inlet/outlet as they would not be sized correctly or efficient when used together.
You can also learn more about Single Speed and Variable Speed Pumps Here!
