Finally, some colder weather has arrived, just in time for the Holiday Season. Many patrons flock to warmer pools as the surf temperatures can dip into low 70’s from December through March. Temperatures don’t consistently reach the 80’s until May-June. So a terrific 84F-86F municipal, condominium or hotel pool is just what the doctor ordered, right?
But the cooler weather brings some challenges for pool owners and operators, and here are a few tips to help your season go a bit smoother.
Be Proactive: If you haven’t already done so, have your team fire up the heaters right away. If they don’t light up, please contact us as soon as possible so that we can take care of you as soon as possible.
Getting Warmed up? Most pool heaters have been off since last May, and what happens when you turn them on for the first time? Sometimes Nothing! Ignitors won’t ignite, burners won’t burn, and the heaters just don’t heat. If they do fire up, they’ll burn much more fuel than normal and tear up your budget.
An ounce of prevention: Heaters require annual maintenance, and a clean heater heats quicker and uses less fuel. CES offers a wide variety of special PM programs especially tailored to your size and model. Contact us to schedule a Heater PM service, and you’ll save tenfold over the coming months.
Check your Delta T: Check the Delta T (the difference in temperature of the water entering and leaving your heaters) to make sure that they are working efficiently. The proper DeltaT on Heat Pump pool heaters depends on the brand or even size, but should be between 3-6F (check your manual). If the DeltaT is too high or too low, you can adjust the heater valve to bring it to the desired range.
How About Gas Heaters?: On gas heaters, 3-6 is too low, and means that the water might be moving too fast. This can cause very expensive damage to your unit. Adjust the amount of water entering your heater to reach a more normal DeltaT of 8-12F (depending on brand and model).
How about boiler-types? Boilers are different. To achieve high efficiency, they recycle a loop of water up to 130F, and then syphon off that heat into the pool return line. These heaters will last for years, but you can destroy them by not maintaining them with proper annual care.
Even the newest high efficiency heaters should be looked at before each heating season to assure they are tuned up and ready to go.
Keep the heat in: Are you spending too much to heat your pools, and tired of seeing steam rising from an unused pool overnight, there is one sure solution to saving 66% of your annual heating costs. A custom- fitted pool cover will last you over 10 years, and could save you hundreds of thousands of dollars in heating costs.
The bottom line is that heaters require preventive maintenance (PM), and PM gets overlooked in the hustle and bustle of everyday pool operation. But without PM, heaters break more expensively and take longer to fix.
CES stands ready to help keep you in warm water, but we need your help… as many heater companies close for the holidays, and also reduce their stock – so less parts are available.
Please contact your CES Rep to see how you can save time, money, and hassles… and you can enjoy your Holiday Season with one less thing to worry about.
