Mom, there’s a robot in our pool!
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This is the first, of hopefully many, collaborative articles on Enough About It.
Sticking with the Father’s Day theme, I’m publishing a post written by a very special guest author: Chuck Parisi Sr. (my Dad!)
If you checked out the post, Enough About Being a Dad, then you know that my dad is the man. Upon the creation of Enough About It, he became inspired and wrote the following post: Why I Prefer a Robotic Pool Cleaner.
As summer approaches, following Father’s Day weekend, I thought this was the perfect time to release this post into the wild.
Enjoy!
Why I Prefer a Robotic Pool Cleaner
With summer on the horizon, many homeowners might be gathering information on how to tidy up their pool for swimming season. Perhaps you installed a new pool over the winter. If so, congrats! Now you get to maintain it :)
A quality pool contractor will help you size your pool filter and equipment requirements to provide years of fun swimming in crystal-clear water.
One commonly overlooked consideration when selecting proper pool equipment is the pool vacuum device.
Your skimmer will suck in surface debris, while the bottom inlets will pull in water and filter the small suspended or microscopic debris.
However, you’ll need a good vacuum to suck up the debris that will inevitably find its way to the pool’s bottom. This debris may include leaves, dirt, grime or other unsavory particulates.
There are three types of pool vacuum devices: robotic, pressure-sided and suction-sided.
We’ll use the following information from homestratosphere.com to describe the difference between type of pool cleaner
Robotic cleaners come with their own motor. They also have an integrated microprocessor that lets it assess the shape and size of your swimming pool, and then create a method for a thorough and effective cleaning for the best results. There are even models in the higher price range that you can pre-program using a convenient remote control.
These pool cleaners are available in several types for your above ground or in-ground pool. They can be quite expensive though, so it’s vital to pick a brand and model that best fits the size and type of your pool.
Suction-sided cleaners are the most economical type of automatic pool cleaner and a good choice for most pool types. It’s also the most common pool cleaner used for both above-ground and in-ground pools. These devices can handle all kinds of debris, such as stubborn algae and various harmful forms of bacteria.
You attach it to a dedicated suction located at the side of the circulation system of your pool. It works like an underwater vacuum and uses the force produced by suction to move around your swimming pool, while at the same time scrubbing the pool surface. These pool cleaners work well at removing sediments like leaves and particles left by a pebble-tec-style surface.
Pressure-sided pool cleaners are also known as booster pump cleaner. They are ideal if your swimming pool collects large items and debris such as leaves, bugs, acorns, twigs, and pebbles. So if your pool is under a lot of trees or you live in a windy area where plenty of debris tends to end up in your pool, this is the best option for you.
This system is commonly used by people with pools that have a powerful pressure-side port.
In selecting a pool vacuum, there are many variables to consider
Full disclosure: I have no experience with a suction-side vacuum. They might be amazing, but I can’t speak to them with experience. The following comparison will focus on the robotic and pressure-side vacuums.
Costs
We live in Northern California, where our swimming season runs from April through October.
I typically run our pool filter year-round. Many places in the US,, however, cover their pools for a good portion of the year.
In retrospect, it might make sense to cover our pool in the off-season to avoid the electric costs of running our filter.
An obvious factor in choosing which cleaner to purchase is the cost.
Robotic vacuums cost between $800 and $1500.
Pressure-side vacuums cost between $500 and $900.
The pressure-side vacuum does require a separate pump. These pumps cost between $350-$550 and are installed into the existing pool plumbing.
Maintenance
(my experience)
Both the Polaris 380 and the Polaris 360 are standout pressure-side vacuums.
Pressure-side replacement parts
-rubber tires ($22) every two years: the rubber tires wore as they rode along the finish of our gunite in-ground pool.
-sweep hose (~$26) every three years: the suction hose became brittle and would tangle easily.
-suction hose (~$250) every three years.
-mesh baskets (~$42) would wear out and need to be replaced every other year.
Not as threatening as The Terminator robot, but just as efficient when cleaning your pool.
The robot is not inexpensive, as it costs around $1,300. However, when you compare this cost to the pressure side vac at $600 plus the dedicated pump ($500), the difference in price is negligible.
Maintenance costs on the robotic vacuum
We’ve had this vacuum for nearly 10 years and only run it once a week for 8 hours. There have been zero issues and the tracks and threads show only minor wear.
Score one for the robots
The entire motor mechanism resides in the vac itself. Therefore, I assume a repair would be expensive.
Also consider; other points of failure might be with the external AC-DC power pack that sits external to the vac as well as the low voltage DC cord that connects the vac to the power pack.
Don’t be put off by having an electric motor and cord in your pool. This is low voltage DC in a completely sealed cord motor.
Performance
The pressure-side vacuum with leaf bag does a solid job of sucking up leaves. This assumes the pressure hose is pliable and jumbled up in a knot. The sweep acts as a tail brush that moves debris off the bottom and may find its way into the skimmer. Other than leaves and visible debris, the pressure-side vacuum does not provide any other filtration.
The robotic vacuum is superior to the pressure-sided vacuum due to the fact that it:
-cleans the sides even above the water line. Actually, scrubs the surface
-has filtration down to two microns: this removes the smallest particles, even green algae. Microfilters push 75 gallons of pool water per minute.
Upon a robotic vacuum cleaning cycle, you remove the filter tray, each filter, and hose them down to remove excess debris between the filters. This is a 5–10-minute job. This is more work than emptying out a filter bag, but worth it based on the efficacy of the cleaning cycle.
Energy Efficiency
The cost of electricity in California (the greenest of all states) is fairly expensive.
The pump required to run a pressure-side vacuum is 6.8 amps at 220 VAC. This is 768 watts, or 0.78 kilowatts.
The robotic cleaner uses 150 watts, or .15 kilowatts.
Performance aside, the energy efficiency is what sold me on the robotic vacuum. Consider the following scenario:
The cost of electricity in California (as of this writing) is $0.30/kilowatt
Conclusion
If you live in a heavily wooded area and your pool is prone to a lot of larger leaves, you might be better off with a pressure-side pool vacuum.
If you don’t live in a heavily wooded area but want exceptional filtration, lower maintenance costs, and significantly lower electric bills, in my opinion, you can’t go wrong with a robotic pool vacuum.
cleanerhttps://www.homestratosphere.com/types-of-automatic-pool-cleaners/