Real cost for SWG use

[waterbear]

You also have to look at the convience factor that you get from using a SWG. It is hard to put a dollar amount on that but IMHO it far outweighs any additional costs that may be incurred. As for the life of a cell--there are many factors invovled such as salt concentration, water hardness, operating temperature, pump run time, cell output setting, etc. Most cells are rated in hours of operation. Given all the variables your milage will vary. My system (Aqualogic PS-8 by Goldline) is new so I have never had cell problems. Haven't even needed to clean it yet and it's been in constant operation since lst Nov. My brother has a salt system that is over 6 years old and he is still on the original cell and going strong---don't know what kind it is though.

[KurtV]

You also have to look at the convience factor that you get from using a SWG. It is hard to put a dollar amount on that but IMHO it far outweighs any additional costs that may be incurred.

Good post and good answers so far, but I think Gutbucket is asking a slightly different question than the one that's been answered. While (most) everyone acknowledges that SWGs are a great convenience, that convenience comes at a higher price, especially when compared to the "grocery store" school of pool water care. While for Waterbear and others, at the price he/she is paying (initial + operating + maintenance), the benefit "far outweighs any additional costs that may be incurred", that isn't the case for everyone (or anyone at some price point). That cost/benefit ratio breakpoint is pretty high for lazy spendthrifts like me but much lower for the more industrious, frugal types. What I (and I think Gutbucket) want to know is, what are your true total costs? What is the average daily electricty appetite of the SWC (if it's non-trivial)? How often do you have to add salt? We know that cell life is expressed in hours of operation, how does that translate into years of "normal" operation?

I know there were some very informative posts on this on the old forum. Did any of you who've done those calculations save that information?

Michael: Thanks for Bleachcalc (though you should probably rename it since it now does so much more); it's very helpful.

[waste]

There were quite a few good responses posted on this when the 'old' forum was available, unfortunately, those are gone right now (and perhaps... (shudder)... forever).
As I recall (do you trust my memory of the old posts?) they were usually not excessive. However, I do recall a number of(something between 'a few' and 'quite a few') responses for short life on some SWGs. As I recall, the most short lived were the ones that didn't have the 'auto-reverse polarity' function.
If you, and your wife or children are the 'we can do this ourselves' sort - bleach is the way to go. If you want less involvement in your pool, get the SWG.

I don't know your financial situation. If you can afford it, I'd go with the SWG. Hell, even if you can't, adding salt (it's cheep) might increase the 'feel' of the water.
This response is incomplete, but other members will add on, as neccesary (and I'll keep my eye on it).

You came to the right place - stick with the pool forum!

[mwsmith2]

I add salt very rarely. Maybe 40# in the past year. I wouldn't worry about the cost of salt. Figure 1 gallon of acid per month during the summer. I can't see how the electric cost would be more than $10/month. Truthfully, you are going to be able to do it cheaper with bleach. But, when I was doing bleach, I had to add .75 gallons every 3 days, without fail. Even then, I was skirting 0.5 Cl. I always had about 0.5 PPM CC, and a slight Cl smell. I don't have any of those problems now with a SWC

[Gutbucket]

[QUOTE=KurtV]What I (and I think Gutbucket) want to know is, what are your true total costs? What is the average daily electricty appetite of the SWC (if it's non-trivial)? How often do you have to add salt? We know that cell life is expressed in hours of operation, how does that translate into years of "normal" operation? QUOTE]

Yes! my questions exactly. I'm certainly convinced about the convenience factor. I'll poke around the online auction sites and see what I can find. The issue for me at the current point in time is that there are too many more important house & pool projects that require the time/energy/funds I'd spend getting and setting up a SWG to justify the convenience and nice water feel I'd get in return. Thank you all for your responses.

[Mark_WATERMAID]

I can speak for Watermaid but don’t have numbers for the rest of the units out there. I don’t suppose that it will be much different for the rest of them. The total cost to run a Watermaid unit for a season is between $70.00 and $80.00 maximum. This includes chemicals and electricity and assumes that the unit is run at 100 % 24 hours a day for the entire time. One note for everyone, I am in Canada so our pools are seasonal here. This is the cost to run a full 5 months. To compare, the average cost to run a pool on regular chemicals in Canada is $400.00 per year.

Mark Manning
President
Watermaid Canada
www.watermaid.ca
mark@watermaid.c