Hi guys Thanks for looking at the structure more closely; now you see what I've been talking about! zl700: the structure was built for a snow load of 40 pounds and it will handle winds up to 120mph. Here in CT I'll need a snow load of 30 and a wind rate of 100 so I'm all set on that. (The building was manufactured to MA code.) As far as snow and ice, if it is too cold to swim outside, we stay inside; to heck w/ the snow and ice!! No need to open the structure on days like that. If it gets warm inside on a cold day all I need to do is open any of the windows. I have talked w/ countless owners and so far none of them have had any damage to the building or track due to snow/ice. My structure will be built on a freeze (frost?) line foundation so no chance of the track or deck warping/cracking/getting out of alignment. Trhought: I was very close to just using a few of the vent-free propane heaters as many of the owners are curruntly doing the same. I'll bet, however, that none of them, except the gal in TX, is in their pool 8 hrs/day 6-7 days/week running a swim academy. I'm assuming they all just pop in the pool every now and then just because they can. I'm going to need some source of heat that is efficient (HA!), safe, and comfortable for long stretches of time in the pool. I currently run my lessons out of a school pool who's air temp is a disastrous 68 (their pool pack is broken) and the H2O a chilly 80. I'm in the pool for 6 hours and have resorted to wearing a full body 3mm wetsuit. I stay quite warm but some of the smaller kids are chilled to the bone by the end of their 30 minute lesson. Since the first rule in learning to swim is relaxing, I'll need the whole set up to be comfortable for all of my students. It sounds as though I should just pony up the cash and do the whole HVAC system w/ radiant heat for the air, pool as well as decking??? The system at $25K will cost more than the actual pool!!!! Should I prepare for the HVAC system but try out the small heaters the first winter and if they don't work I can then complete the installation of the HVAC or doesn't it work that way? Kind of like installing duct work for A/C in a house but not having the $ to complete it until years later?? Again, any and all offers of help are much appreciated!! (And you can all dream of swimming at my place while you're pools are all closed up tight for the winter!!) Thanks! Joanneswimsct

My personal opinion, not seeing your design, I LOVE TILE! I like it on walls, I like it on decks, I like tile. I think it adds an expensive look and there are so many options. I tiled my pool deck with travertine because of one of my customers has it, it makes my pool look so much more classy and nice clean edges. I have seen some really nice stuff on walls done with travertine and/or glass tile. I know some people say that if you get any movement in the deck it will crack the tile. Big deal, there are ways to prevent that and if it does happen you can replace the cracked tile and no one would ever know. If your deck cracks and you have a finish on it the patches I have seen are obvious. But I live in Texas and we get a lot of movement. Oh well, just my thoughts. Good luck.

I am 1/2 way through the build of my home with indoor pool . I am putting plastic sheeting between studs and concrete board and then covering concrete board with quikrete quikwall stucco . I am also caulking around all outlets , fixtures and switches . I am using wet rated ceiling fans for lighting . I am installing radiant heat through entire house . The water will be primarily heated with an outdoor wood furnace which will also heat all domestic water and heat the pool water . I will have a boiler for backup heat source. I am also installing a fireplace with blowers in the pool area . I have installed venting skylights and am installing an exhaust fan . I am debating between a saltwater or an ionization system for pool sanitation . I have heard the ion system does'nt do well with algae but am thinking it might not be a big problem with an indoor pool . I am afraid of a chlorine smell with the salt water . I am also afraid the saltwater may corrode my stained concrete floors in the pool room . I did check on the different dehumidification systems and the costs were outragous . I could rebuild the whole enclosure for the cost of the system . I live in Illinois and the winters are very dry here so humidity would be a benefit in winter . In summer - I can open up the doors and windows to provide air movement - it would be just as humid using an outdoor pool as an indoor one. As for noise - I plan to insulate the entire enclosure to prevent excessive noise in rest of house . The cover I think is a must and I think I'm going with an automatic one because it would just be convenient .

I am not an 18 year veteran of the solar attic however I had a PCS3 from 2002 till last year. I have owned a Solar Attic system. I purchased it from solar Attic directly around 2002 I owned rental property so I had the advantage of having the maintenance people to assist me in the Installation. I talked directly with the engineer/owner/designer of the system. He was and has been very helpful over the years. As a matter of fact I emailed with him just a few day ago. OUR INSTALLATION We build a pan 4 inches deep and 6 inches larger than the PCS3 system all the way around. We equipped it with a 2 inch drain which we eventually put a cut off on in that we had a float switch system cutoff that was in parallel with the emergency cut off in side the PCS3. The reason we put a cut off and an additional emergency float switch was that the longer I thought about it having the system pump 25000 gallons of water into the catch pan with a two inch drain would not be able to remove water fast enough than it would be better to just have the system shut down so the issue could be corrected. We mounted the unit about 5 feet off of the attic decking to get it as high and in the hottest area as possible. That installation we did with rigid 2" pvc We had 2 90 degree elbows and a total of 5 joints that got the water out of the attic. In the beginning I had some of the same concerns that have been brought up here about a possible leak however considering the fact that almost all of the water pipes in this house are PVC as are 99% of all of the water pipes in all of the houses built in america are PVC and the fact that the water pressure in the solar attic system is as I understand it less than the pressure that your home water system has a leak is not very likely. OK, so here we go. We had to pump the water up 2 stories. In that this was a close loop system with strategic check valves our concern for the 1.5 HP (up rated) pump being able to move the water was quickly retired as soon as we started the system. No problem. Great flow. The quality of the product was good. The unit was well designed, thought out and put together. The only moving part on the system was a GE electric motor that could be manually adjusted from low to medium to high speed. This would change the flow of the air over the heat exchanger. I came set on medium an after 5 years of messing with the speed it is now set on medium. We used their electronic control system which consisted to a electric control valve and an electronic controller that detected the temperature in the attic and the temperature of the pool water. If the attic got to be 5 to 10 degrees warmer than the pool water the unit would come on and stay on till the water got warmer than the set point. We had system on a time and regardless of how the system was set we turned the pool pump off at 11PM and on at 9AM In 2015 we sold that house and the solar attic system went along with it. Our new home has a slightly smaller pool and an electric heat pump from heat siphon(325Kbtu) system. We are thinking of installing a solar attic PCS3 in conjunction with the electric heat pump. The cost to run the PCS3 is about $10 per month for the GE Fan motor. My electric bill for the Heat Siphon is $300 plus per month. As I am writing this the time is 2:36P EST in Atlanta Georiga. The outside temperature is 73F Degrees and the attic Temperature is 105F. At this rate we would have in our house that had the Solar attic system have turned the system on at this point. This would have started the heating process. Unlike electric or gas systems where the heat will start immediately the solar attic system will raise the temperature however this is over a period of time. If you installed a solar attic system in July and started it up on July 4th you probably would not see the water temperature rise quickly. I would say it would talk a week or more to bring the temperature to its set point. My current pool is a free form pebble tec with about 15,000 gals of water. With a solar attic system if it operates as my last system did I will have the largest hottub in the north Atlanta are. It can and will bring the water temperature to 95 degrees. My wife likes warm water. As I see it the biggest draw back is the price. If the system were priced in the $2000 range, for the basic system and $2500 range for the full electronic system this would be a product everyone would have like a salt system or LED lighting. A $2000 adder to you Aquilink system is small dollars with a great reward.