Preparing and maintaining your pool for summer

Wednesday, 16 September 2020: Spring is officially in the air, the sun is once again warming our skins and if you are a swimming pool owner, you are starting to prepare your pool for the warm months ahead. The cost of maintaining your pool can fluctuate depending on many variables such as material the pool is made of, that waterfall you had put in, the overall design, and most of all the size. However, that doesn’t mean your operating costs are set in stone the moment your pool is finished. These factors set the baseline for your monthly maintenance bill, however there are some energy management actions you can take to use electricity smartly and in the long run reduce your average monthly bill.

Below are some energy efficient tips that will enable you to make the best of the spring season:

  • It’s important to make regular pool maintenance a priority, as this will contribute to optimising how much electricity your pool pump uses.
  • Clean areas in your pool with the least circulation by brushing the floor and walls of your pool to remove debris that the filter misses, at least once a week.
  • Clean your pool filter and do so at regular intervals throughout the year – a clean filter is key to better water flow.
  • Set the controller / time switches on your pool pump to operate for limited periods at the most appropriate times.

We encourage you to set your pool pump to run outside of 5pm to 9pm, the period of peak demand for electricity in South Africa, whilst still allowing your pool pump to filter the water twice in a 24-hour period, when pool is used.

If an average household reduces their pool pump operating time by one hour per day, the annual demand reduction will be around 274kWh or approximately R680.00 saving, depending on your electricity tariff. By taking these energy efficient steps, you will use electricity smartly and can help to reduce the possibility and impact of loadshedding. For more information download our swimming pool facts sheet click here.

 
 
Loadshedding or a power outage may affect the settings on your timers fitted to appliances. . When the power has been restored to your home you need to check your timer to ensure that the time settings are still accurate and that the pool pump or geyser is set to operate outside of 5pm to 9pm.  
 
Remember to keep an eye out and respond to the real-time Power Alert messages on SABC, eTV and DStv to help manage the strain of the electricity system. Together we can make a difference and keep the lights on.