Heated Pool Costs

[30ashopper]

Hi all.

Curious if some of the friendly folks on this board who rent could help me out with some figures. I?m trying get a feel for what the added cost of ownership would be for a medium sized, heated pool. It?s a hard thing to look up on the internet! Houses with pools seem to do better at occupancy, but I have to imagine the maintenance and cost of heating one of those things adds a signifigant amount to your ownership costs. Would anyone mind posting some estimates?

:scratch:

 

[Matt J]

Hi all.

Curious if some of the friendly folks on this board who rent could help me out with some figures. I?m trying get a feel for what the added cost of ownership would be for a medium sized, heated pool. It?s a hard thing to look up on the internet! Houses with pools seem to do better at occupancy, but I have to imagine the maintenance and cost of heating one of those things adds a signifigant amount to your ownership costs. Would anyone mind posting some estimates?

:scratch:

The company I used to work for charged $500 extra per week to heat the pools at houses. It usually went pretty fast with the gas. Electric is a joke for a pool BTW.

 

[swantree]

i know most of the Pool cleaning a so forth will run you an average of $150+/month not including extra's and power! you can save if you maintain your own...it's tricky for some people.....Me included;-)

 

[SGB]

Having a pool will definitely help your bookings. Having a heated pool will help with the shoulder seasons, although we found when we added the heater, that it didn't change too much. Although we used to clean the pool ourselves, we found that hiring someone is better. If you don't get the chemicals right, you'll end up having to resurface the pool, which isn't cheap. We have a small pool and pay $100/month for the maintenance, which is a deal.

We have a gas pool heater (the only way to go) and pay about $60/week for gas when the pool is heated. We don't charge extra for the pool to be heated, it's in the rental cost essentially. When the pool isn't being heated, the gas bill is about $11/month. I don't know what the extra cost is for electric and water for running the pool.

Be prepared to buy a new pool pump about every 3-5 years on a rental. (about $250-$300). Be prepared to buy a new filter about every 5-7 years. We are close to the ocean and with renters, it's harder on the equipment. That's our experience, anyway.

There are expenses with a pool, but it is definitely worth it if you want some rental income.

 

[30ashopper]

Thanks guys!

 

[Beach Runner]

We charge extra for pool heat to discourage people from using it. We got tired of arriving and finding the pool heater set to 105 degrees with the house having been vacant for, perhaps, weeks and us footing the bill.

We don't offer pool heat in the summer -- actually, sometimes in the summer renters will run up our water bill because they'll turn on the hose and let the water cool off the pool.

In the cooler months we charge $35 a day for pool heat. That averages out to be what it costs us. Yes, in January it might be more and in March it might be less. But it's just too complicated to charge a variable amount based on the temperature.

We used to lock up the pool heater controller. But a renter this spring who was not paying for pool heat broke the lock, pulled off the cover, and used up $490 worth of heat. They got charged for that plus $250 for installing a new cover. Now when no one is paying for pool heat, the management company turns off the power to the pool heater (the switch for which is locked up) and locks up the gas meter.

Weekly maintenance costs $135 a month.

The pool heater used to go out every spring and that cost about $1000 a year to repair. Then a friend told my husband that what was wrong was that a $30 valve gets rusted and that was probably the problem. Well, this spring the heater went out again. Hubby replaced the valve himself, and bingo! He saved us about $970.

We've been told that as close as we are to the beach, we can't expect our pool heater to last more than five years.

Other expenses include people tearing up the equipment (such as kids playing with the hand-held skimmer and tearing up the net, breaking the weir, etc.). Not expensive, just annoying to have to drive to Destin to buy that kind of stuff every few months.

 

[SGB]

Our pool heat is controlled by us and our management company. We set it to 86. On occasion, renters have requested that the heat be set a bit higher and we've obliged within reason. The control is locked. We haven't had anyone try to break the lock yet, but we've only had the heater a year. I'm sure it will happen sooner or later. We also don't turn the heater on during the summer.

Pool heaters do tend to need repair. Ours has been good so far. Research which type of pool heater you should get, on the internet. The standard one that is installed around here has reliability issues.

Oh - here's one for you - if your renters throw water balloons in or around your pool, you can expect to have to pay for a new pool pump. Do whatever you can to discourage this behavior.

 

[Beach Runner]

Oh - here's one for you - if your renters throw water balloons in or around your pool, you can expect to have to pay for a new pool pump. Do whatever you can to discourage this behavior.

I didn't know about the balloons. Thanks.

But I don't know how we can discourage any type of misbehavior. We've had renters diving off the balcony on the second floor into the pool. My neighbors just happened to be staying at their house and called me. The rental company kicked out these people mid-week with no refund and put up a sign saying, "No diving off balconies."

But how much stupid behavior can one anticipate? Daughter joked that maybe we should put a sign on the knife block which says, "Do not run with a knife pointed at your chest. You might trip and kill yourself."

Some renters just do stupid, disrespectful things to the property of others. Thankfully, most don't. I've been told that's the cost of doing business and letting our guests help pay the mortgage.

 

[Miss Critter]

Just curious, how does having a pool on a rental affect your insurance?

 

[SGB]

Just curious, how does having a pool on a rental affect your insurance?

I don't know. We're always asked if we have a pool, but I don't know how or if it affects the premium.