This is not intended to be another rant thread on the topic. There are more than enough of those here already.
Our pool director just jacked the pool temp up. He said he is responding to complaints from the aquarobic folks and because the local schools are bringing kids in for lessons. He said it was 82 today, but I don't believe it. It's usually between 80 - 82, and it was a whole bunch warmer today. We couldn't really work out at all, and ended up just going back and forth. I ditched my cap for the first time in maybe 6 months, but it didn't help. We all got overheated anyway.
Can anyone point me to a study about the hazards of a bunch of fat old dudes (and, of course, our much svelter dudettes) trying to go too hard in tepid spa water? Or any study relating to the dangers of overheating while exercising? It occurs to me that a pool that is slightly too cold for comfort for some may be an annoyance, but a pool that is too hot may be a danger. Most of the stuff I found after a quick search relates to pregnancy. I'm not even a little pregnant. As far as I know.
At one point in time I was checking the pool temperature every time we swam, and recording it in my handy USMS Planner (free from USMS; see the home page today to order yours).
Anna Lea
Anna Lea,
I checked the USMS home page, but don't see anything regarding the planner. Do you have any additional information on how to get one?
Thanks. :)
The indoor pool I swim in is too warm for working out. Even the Master's Coach/Head Swim Instructor agrees, along with most of the masters, triathletes and lap swimmers. Written and oral complaints, suggestions, and even compliments (on the one day they lowered it to 82 during maintenance) have gotten nowhere.
I read the previous posts and I'm going to buy a thermometer and collect the data.
An angle I want to present is this: "You know, if you lowered the pool temperature just X degrees, you would save an estimated Y dollars a year."
How do I estimate this? I assume I need to know the indoor air temperature, the volume of the pool, the current water temperature, the target water temperature, and the cost of energy. To be exact, I assume I would also need to know the rate at which the pool loses heat. I don't know how to estimate that. Can a reasonable assumption be made there? Its an indoor in-ground pool. Aren't they usually insulated from the ground? External air and ground temperature would play a role in that, too, I assume.
Does someone have an EXCEL spreadsheet I could plug these things into and produce a cost savings analysis?
Surely there is an Masters swimmer with an engineering background out there that could pull this together and help us all.
I don't know how the numbers will turn out, but this could be a very powerful argument to make to the management.
Thanks !!
The simplest way to demonstrate the cost to heat the pool water is to take the total gallons in the pool (the operator will know this) and multiply in by 8.33 which is the number of pounds in one gallon. One BTU will raise 1 pound of water 1 degree F. So, if there are 300,000 gallons in the pool it weighs 2.5 million pounds and would require 2.5 million BTU’s to raise it 1 degree. Your local utility probably charges by the decatherm which is 1 million BTU’s. Here in Colorado natural gas is pretty inexpensive these days, around $3/therm, but it has been as high at $13.
Unfortunately, this won’t tell you how much it cost to maintain the higher temperature over time. You’re right that there are many variables that can affect this including ambient temperature and humidity, pool usage patterns, air circulating patterns, makeup water, etc., etc. One way to approximate the difference would be to time the hours of heater operation over 24 hours at the two different temperatures (e.g. 82 degrees v. 85 degrees). This would obviously require the cooperation of the operator. You’d need to wire up a simple timer to record the length of heater operation and keep the variable as similar as possible during the two testing periods. Heaters are rated at a certain number of BTU’s/hour (typically around 1.5 million). If your experiment shows the heater needs to run 4 more hours a day to keep the pool at 85 rather than 82 for your hypothetical 300,00 gallon pool that would equal an additional 6 million BTU’s per day. At $6/dekatherm that is $36/day or $13,000 a year.
If the operator is not interested in doing this his supervisor might be. You can always use the “green” point of view as well. Two billion BTU’s a year ain’t chopped liver.
Former Member
The indoor pool I swim in is too warm for working out. Even the Master's Coach/Head Swim Instructor agrees, along with most of the masters, triathletes and lap swimmers. Written and oral complaints, suggestions, and even compliments (on the one day they lowered it to 82 during maintenance) have gotten nowhere.
I read the previous posts and I'm going to buy a thermometer and collect the data.
An angle I want to present is this: "You know, if you lowered the pool temperature just X degrees, you would save an estimated Y dollars a year."
How do I estimate this? I assume I need to know the indoor air temperature, the volume of the pool, the current water temperature, the target water temperature, and the cost of energy. To be exact, I assume I would also need to know the rate at which the pool loses heat. I don't know how to estimate that. Can a reasonable assumption be made there? Its an indoor in-ground pool. Aren't they usually insulated from the ground? External air and ground temperature would play a role in that, too, I assume.
Does someone have an EXCEL spreadsheet I could plug these things into and produce a cost savings analysis?
Surely there is an Masters swimmer with an engineering background out there that could pull this together and help us all.
I don't know how the numbers will turn out, but this could be a very powerful argument to make to the management.
Thanks !!
Former Member
I think most everyone is really taking the wrong tack here, trying to rationally justify a lower pool temperature. Think guilt and more guilt. Who knows how much extra carbon gets spewed into the air over the course of time as a result of increased pool temperatures. Show this to those noodlers, water aerobics people and tell them there little bit of extra comfort is killing the Polar Bear. :rolleyes:
YouTube- Noah Wyle PSA Polar Bears
