Energy conservation is a key factor in the analysis of your swimming pool mechanical systems. Focusing on making improvements in energy savings will allow you to advance your overall aquatics facility operations.
Swimming Pool Covers
These provide one of the fastest paybacks. If you use either a thermal pool blanket or one of the lighter solar covers, you will insulate your pool from the effects of wind and air temperatures which cause your pool or spa to lose heat. Many operators find they can save 50% to 70% of the costs to heat an outdoor pool and 25% to 40% on an indoor pool. For safety, all pool and spa covers need to be removed when the facility is open for use.
LED Light Fixtures/Bulbs
Using these will reduce the energy needed to power your pool lights. LED light fixtures can replace your existing incandescent light fixtures and use only 45 to 55 watts of power to produce the same lumen output of an older 300 to 500 watt fixture. Further, the life expectancy for the new LED lamp can be as much as 11 years, versus only about 10 months for an incandescent lamp. Each time you replace a bulb, the added life of the lamp will save you the cost of your labor time in addition to the cost of the bulb. Your facility will reap the benefits of switching every minute your light fixtures are on.
New Multi-speed, High-efficiency Pumps
These pumps allow you to select the speed to reduce power consumption instead of allowing a pump to run full speed 24 hours a day. This new multi-speed pump technology has been around for years but is now being applied to swimming pools. A new Department of Energy regulation requiring smaller pumps went into effect on July 19, 2021 to meet minimum energy efficiency standards. Most pool pumps with a horsepower rating of under 5.0 THP will be required to meet those energy standards. This change applies to single phase motors only. Three phase motors are excluded.
Pool and Spa Heaters
Heaters are another focus area utilizing new technology to reduce energy consumption. New high-efficiency heaters are available that can be up to 98% efficient. Many of the older atmospheric pool heaters in use are only 65% to 82% efficient. Changing to a higher-efficiency pool heater/boiler can help reduce facility gas or electrical consumption. In addition, there are new indirect pool heaters that use a separate heat exchanger to keep the corrosive pool water away from the expensive heater components. This system helps with the payback calculation and ensures longer heater/boiler life.
We all have an opportunity to help conserve energy. The products detailed above are only a few of the energy savings options available. Most products you can select have very quick ROI, making the choice much easier.
Charlie Luecker is the director of commercial sales for Lincoln Aquatics. For more information, email cluecker@lincolnaquatics.com or call 800.223.5450.
