Get a pool?

[iloveyoga]

Iowa here, pool heather is a must, along with a cover. We open in early May and closed the last week of September. Next year I will add a week on each end since we cut down another tree and have more heat from the sun. So five months out of twelve.

 

[Aerides]

In S. Fla I imagine I'll start in late March, depending on the weather, and I'm still in it every day now in Mid-Oct (though a pool at 82F is considerably chillier than when it was 88). No heater, mainly because I don't care how warm the pool is, if it's 70f outside I'm not going to want to go swimming. But I'll still sit on the edge and let my feel dangle.

We don't do closing/opening of pools down here, and it's really not much work to keep it clean and balanced, which can be zero work if you pay for it.

 

[Jerry1]

Iowa here, pool heather is a must, along with a cover. We open in early May and closed the last week of September. Next year I will add a week on each end since we cut down another tree and have more heat from the sun. So five months out of twelve.

Same here in Michigan with a heater. Without a heater, we’d lose a month at least.

 

[Andre1969]

Slightly off topic but was wondering what pool owners and those contemplating a pool would consider an acceptable pool "season" thus making installation worthwhile. I recall the municipal pool in my home town always opened on Memorial day and closed after Labor day. To me, the water was WAY too cold to enter until at least mid June. It was already cold again by Labor Day.

I'm in Maryland, about 10 minutes to the NW of Annapolis. I'd say that realistically, it's comfortable enough to go in from about mid-May through maybe mid/late September. So I might get about 4, possibly 4.5 months out of it.

I always try to have them open it in early May, so that if there are any problems, there's enough time to get it sorted out. But it's too cold to actually go in and enjoy it, at least for me.

I had it closed down this season on September 21. I went in a bit the day before. I think water temp was still around 75 degrees. It felt cold when I first went in, but I acclimated to it pretty quickly.

I bought the house in September of 2018, and the pool was enough of a novelty at the time that I tried to get as much time in as possible. I also kept a bit of a record to see how long the water stayed warm, so I could get a feel for how long the season realistically lasts. Well that, and I was late contacting a pool company to get on their closing schedule! The last time I went all the way in that year was October 8. After that, I went in up to my waist a couple times...getting in past my belly button is sort of a mental sticking point for me. My lower body acclimates just fine, but the upper body, I have to force myself. But probably didn't do that for more than a few days after.

Now, after three full swimming pool seasons, I've gotten used to having it, and by the time mid-September sets in, I'm sort of over it, and just want to get it covered before the trees start dropping their leaves.