We used to have a swim spa, but found that it wasn't all that they are cracked up to be. Despite the heating, if you live somewhere cold and/or windy (eg Canberra), it is still very cold getting in and out in the winter - indeed we could slip on the ice on the ramp up to the spa! And even if you have it indoors or the weather is good - swimming against the jets isn't as good as real swimming. We used a snorkel to deal with the jets in your face and that worked well, but I had difficulty getting a good setting on the jets for my stroke. I'm now pretty sure that was due to a crooked stroke as my husband had a lot less trouble but it wasn't fun being pushed constantly out of the stream of water and finding myself at the side of the spa. Another thing is that you can only really have one person actually swimming at a time. I reckon kids can actually have a reasonable amount of fun in the spa - they do love the jets! There isn't as much room for a proper game of water polo etc.

watchedpoppy, here's something about heat pumps designed for cold temperatures. Note, these are reverse cycled air conditioners (air-to-air), not pool heat pumps (air-to-water). I don't know how heat pumps stack up. It's an American site, so FYI -13F equals -25C. http://www.mitsubishicomfort.com/benefits/hyper-heating On a side note, temperature is just the product of the motion of atoms & molecules (kinetic energy). These are in motion all the way down to zero Kelvin (-273C). So although it may feel cold outside, there's still energy available in the site, although heat pumps do become much less efficient when it's cold (the difference in input & output temperatures is important). One thing that has made heat pumps very inefficient in the past is that the condensing coil would ice up at around zero C. This would have to be thawed out with a plain old electric element (COP of 1). Greatly reducing the overall COP in temperatures around our below zero C. But the modern heat pumps, which use the CO2 compressors Luxury Home Heating has talked about don't have an electric element to thaw them out, greatly increasing their efficiency. As for the noise issues. Some modern heat pumps (but not all) are very quiet. So just pay close attention to the decibels they produce, listed on their spec sheets. FYI, here's a good read. Though it doesn't mention solar PV, which would be advantageous for a heat pump. https://www.pooledenergy.com/blog/choosing-a-pool-heater-what-are-the-relative-performances-of-solar-gas-electric-pool-heaters/

2 things swimming pools don't like and that is large rooted plants, and falling leaf, flowers into the water. The other problems we face are the pavers around the edges lifting from roots.

Hey guys, We are getting our pool titled, I wanna know what brand of grout should we use for our swimming pool tiles. My tiler suggested Ardex FG8 with Ardex booster. Is this a good brand, should we stick with this, or is it worth paying more for a different better brand? Thank you