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I am thinking of a salt system for my pool. piping will be no problem as I have plenty of room for the salt cell. I'm wondering if it's worth the cost of it verses bleach as I am now doing. Any thoughts along with type would be greatly appreciated Thanks Dave G
Hi Dave!
I have an Autopilot SWCG system that's in its second year (12th year with this pool) and I love it! But is it worth it in dollars and sense versus liquid chlorine/Bleach? Absolutely not! It will never pay for itself!
I buy Liquid Chlorine in 5 gallon jugs called carboys for about $19/jug. I MAY go through $100 or more of chlorine a season--each jug is the equivalent of close to 8 gallons of 8.25% bleach...pretty cheap!
Assume you can put in an SWCG for your pool for $1000--plumbing, electrical, the unit, salt. I think for your size pool, that's about as good as you'll get.
Let's make another assumption--You won't need any more chlorine each season. That's actually pretty outlandish--you WILL need other chlorine occasionally, but for now....that means it takes 10 years to equal the $100 in chlorine a season.
After 5 years your salt generator (the cell itself) will probably fail, costing you probably $500 clams to replace. Now you're back $1000 behind the 8-ball. See?
BUT if you travel a lot and cannot rely on someone to care for your pool too well while you are gone, it can really make it easier for you. It does for me! If you are home all summer, the SWCG will cut back on SOME work but our methods are so nice and simple--and effective, that you won't spend much time on pool maintenance anyway.
Thanks so much for a complete reply. Now I need to decide if it's worth doing. Thanks so much
Only you know if it is. But do yourself a favor: If you do it, don't go low-end. It will drive you crazy. Also, be sure to get a cell with a bigger capacity than your pool. A cell rated for a 20,000 gallon pool would be my guess for a minimum. Also, even though you can shock with your SWCG ("Boost" setting), don't. Your cell will live longer. Most manufacturers recommend a higher CYA/Stabilizer level of 60-80ppm. You should plan on maintaining a chlorine level of at least 5% of the CYA level.
PoolSean is one of very best experts on SWCG systems.
Thank you Carl
If it's the soft water feel you are looking for you can always add the salt and continue to chlorinate with bleach.
It's not the water softness just looking for the best way to chlorinate. A lot of people are going for salt systems and I am just figuring out the costs as I may be going on vacations for 2 weeks each. I guess I could hire a pool company to check my levels or just put tons of bleach to put the pool at super high ch levels till I return