no question the cover was the smartest thing that i did this spring (and the first..even though i didn't have a clue at the start of the season why that is what i did first aside from i knew it was going to be the cheapest item in a long string of goods to get my pool up to snuff) glad i didn't get the heater in spring now...and the cover at end of the process

winter will include spending time spec'ing out parts and cost for solar goods. 350 bucks is not an extraordinary saving per year, but hey, it's 70 bucks a month, it's 70 bucks a month.

the key for me is keeping the financial investment practical. if i can keep it at about 1,000 i can see us being here that far in the future..if it was say 2000 dollars, that's 6 years to pay off. my eldest will likely be gone from the house 2 years before it pays for itself, the youngest will be 18 and likely on his way out by then.

then, we start asking ourselves the question if we want a house with a pool anymore or not..i know , i know..some may shudder at the thought..but it really does become impractical if:

-my wife will rarely swim (which is the case)
- i use it even once a day for an hour.

a hottub at that point would likely be more practical for my wife and i