If you get a house with a pool cage and most of them do have them you will enjoy your pool. We have a pool here in CT and I wish sometimes I had a backhoe! We have to run the filter 24/7 when the pool is opened with is June 1 until mid sept. always skimming stuff of the top, a daily chore, alway fiddling with the chlorine level. Our electric bill raise from about 125.00 to nearly 400.00 for the months that the pool is open.

We also have a house in southwest Florida with a pool. It has a cage, nothing to really maintain, throw in some chlorine tablet into the automatic dispenser, the filter is set on a timer it runs from 10am until 2pm daily. Easy peasy. Light bill for the month of May, the last month we were there was 115.00. That included AC when needed. When we left to come back home to CT in early June we set the timer to only run 2 hours a day. Pool boy says everything looks good. electricity is cheaper in Florida than here in CT

I had a pool in my last house (moved out 3 weeks ago). I converted it to a salt water pool a few years ago and it made a huge difference in the cost of chemicals. I live in a cold climate so we only had it open for June-September most years. I found the cost of paying to open and close it was more than the utilities but again in a cold climate, they have to blow out lines and add anti-freeze and cover.

I live in Wisconsin so not a really warm weather climate (although it is should be 90 all this week). We have an in ground pool and love it. We do not find it difficult to take care of at all. We have a vinyl liner and a cartridge filter system. We run our filter 8-10 hours per day.The water is always crystal clear and the levels for the chlorine, ph and alkalinity rarely need adjusting. We use chlorine tablets in the skimmer and add 2 whenever they are dissolved (maybe every 4-5 days).

The cartridges definitely keep the pool in better condition than our old sand filter did (The sand filter was 10 year old when we bought the house and used it for 8 years. The sand was never replaced in those 18 years)
Cartridges need to be cleaned about twice a season and replaced every few years.

We skim debris from the near by trees as needed and vacuum every two weeks or so. I would rather be doing these chores outside than dusting and vacuuming my house inside.

Our overall utility bill is not really higher in the summer than the winter because we have to heat a 2,500 sq. ft home in some pretty cold weather. We do not like the pool too warm so generally only heat it to 82 degrees.

If I lived in Florida, I would definitely want a pool. I wish our pool season was longer.

Here is a recent shot of part of our pool area.

thanks, all! Bullydosmom: sounds like the cage helps (keeps debris out of the pool). But you also mentioned a pool boy -- is that a weekly or monthly expense?

I am a Florida pool owner. We figure it costs about $ 75.00 a month. That includes electric for running the pump (10 hours/day) and the chemicals. Ours is caged, which keeps the water cooler then those that aren't.

I am the pool 'boy', cleaning is usually my job.

Lots of pool info over on the Gardenweb Pool forum.

ML

ML

We have a pool guy (live in SoCal) and the cost is $100 per month. We got a few estimates and that was about average.

We have had a pool here in Central AL for 11 years. Since we got rid of the pecan tree there is very little to do as far as maintenance. DH does it all. We use the pool every day from June through Oct. We run our pump 24/7 in those months. The chemicals are very cheap . We use 1 chlorine tab in each skimmer every week...the hotter the temps the quicker it dissolves. We also use a phosphate remover 1/2 bottle each month so $12. That is it unless there is an inordinate amount of rain..then you shock...also it there is a very heavy use ,such as a party , you also shock. Our electric is a little higher with the pool but even so not exorbitant at all...we have a 4000 sq foot house and the pool and 2 heat/ac units...it is $150-250 a month depends on how hot it is out..so far this summer we are on the very low end. Our pool has a new vinyl liner which is dark and we love it !! Also we have changed the sand one time and it didn't need it so probably will never change it again. The pool was built in mid 80's .

It is very interesting to read how each person manages their pool. Good thread. c

Mjlb, the pool boy is a very good friend who lives fulltime in Florida. He checks the chemicals weekly and adds them when needed. I pay him 45.00 a month,when we are there I do it,