With everyone’s attention now focusing on starting up their swimming pool for what we all hope will be a better summer than last year, the steady rise in energy costs are providing pool owners with additional cost they could do without. In the Observer 20th April, Tim Webb writes

Energy companies are preparing to slap hard-pressed households with a second massive hike in utility bills this year. Bills could start rising again in the summer by as much as 25 per cent, or an average £250 per household.

With these increases in mind, making savings on the running costs of swimming pools will become more and more in peoples minds. One area we have noticed is where pool owners who have a perfectly good heating system such as an oil or gas heater and are buying an alternative heater to reduce their heating costs. These alternative heating systems tend to be heat pumps or solar heating systems such as our pool solar or the solar sun rings. If the forecasts are correct then a 25% increase in energy costs on top of the significant increases already seen over the past twelve months will dramatically increase the running costs of those swimming pool owners with gas, electric or oil heaters. The capital outlay of a heating system such as a heat pump is relatively high approx £2,000 to £3,500 for most inground pool sizes, but being able to reduce heating bills by 70% means that this capital outlay will potentially be recovered in the first year and certainly should by the second year.

Smaller pools, such as Intex, Bestway, splasher and the more substantial above ground pools such as the wooden or steel frame pools can also now benefit from a heat pump, with the price of a heat pump as low as £549, where as in previous years the only source of heating a small pool would be via an electric heater. Running costs can be higher than people imagine espcecially with the smaller above ground pools where pool owners new to having a pool are shocked at the additional costs involved.

There is a lot of negative news at the moment regarding house prices, energy costs, cost of food etc but within the swimming pool industry there are more and more products available that will reduce some of the overheads that in previous years were unavailable. We all hope for a better than average summer and weather forcecasters such as metcheck accuweather and the metoffice all predict a better than average summer. If this is the case and summers are going to become warmer then passive heating systems such as the solar sun rings and pool solar heating systems will come into there own. With the right type of products it is possible to control the overheads conneceted to running your swimming pool.

Swimming is a great form of exercise as it uses all of the major muscle groups providing a good all round aerobic workout. But research into swimming and weight loss have produced inconsistent results.

Studies have found that some swimmers have lost weight, some stay the same and some have even gained a few pounds. In most cases where weight was actually gained it was found that this was due to increased muscle build up and not fat.

Swimming places a significant demand upon the heart and lungs potentially providing a valuable aerobic workout. The buoyancy of the water can be enormously useful to those who are overweight, pregnant women and people who may have injuries or disabilities. Aqua aerobics is a form of aerobics performed in the water where the buoyancy and support of the water provides cushioning and support. The water also offers resistance making it harder to move your arms and legs thus increasing the effort required to do so.

When looking into reasons why some swimmers didn’t experience any significant weight loss it was found that some were simply not doing it for long enough and not exerting themselves enough during their swimming routines. Also, exercise needs to be used in conjunction with a healthy, balanced diet in order for it to be effective in losing weight.

Weight Loss Tips

Here are a few tips to help you shed a few pounds through swimming and water based exercising:

1. Start by looking at your diet and making certain you are eating a healthy, balanced mixture of foods
2. Always start gently by warming up with some water based exercise and maybe a few freestyle lengths of the pool
3. Push yourself to swim as hard as you can for a short distance and then rest. Try 100 metres, take a rest and then repeat this several times
4. Try some aqua aerobics by walking through the water both forwards and backwards, running on the spot and swinging your arms in the water like a long distance skiier
5. Combine your water based exercise routines with some land based exercises. These may involve walking, stretching, arm swinging and regular aerobics
6. Vary your exercise routines in order to keep them interesting and challenging
7. Many people feel very hungry after a water based workout. Don’t give in to the fast-food temptation. Eat fruit and drink plenty of water.
8. Most importantly - have fun!

If you enjoy your exercise you will want to do it more so why not invite some friends over to share your pool and workout together. If you don’t already have a swimming pool you might like to consider our Wooden Exercise Pools. At only 3.9m by 2.4m they will fit into even the smallest of gardens.

Worlds Deepest Swimming Pool

• World’s deepest swimming pool has 2 pools, 3 pits (5, 10 and 33m) and 2,500,000 liters of spring water

Swimming Pool Safety

• In the USA 300 children under age 5 die and 2,000 more children under age five visit hospital emergency rooms for submersion injuries every year!!!

Swimming pools are tremendous fun but care should be taken at all times. At H2ofun we stock swimming pool safety fence, swimming pool alarm systems and safety covers to help you keep your pool safe. Contact us to find out more

Swimming Pool Heating

• Most experts recommend around 78° for swimming pool water to be the most comfortable, but many peoples actually prefer warmer water, 80° or more

We know that a lot of customers want their pools to reach these tempretures as a minimum. With energy cost at a premium, heating your pool can be an expensive business. Swimming Pool Heat Pumps are an ideal way in which to heat your pool at a fraction of the cost of electric, gas or oil heaters.

Solar Power for Swimming Pools

• Sunlight travels to the earth in approximately 8 minutes from 93,000,000 miles away

Well if going to all that trouble we may as well use it!! Using solar energy is becoming more and more common in the UK and we are finding that people are asking for solar heating systems as much as any other type of heater, we stock Solar Sun Rings and Solar panel systems such as Poolsolar and Piwi. But solar energy is not just confined to heating the swimming pool, this year a number of UK companies are promoting solar powered cover systems. We are able to supply Abriblue pool solar covers. Call to find out more!

and lastly

• If you put a can of diet Coca Cola and a can of regular Coca Cola in a swimming pool….. the can of regular Coke will sink, but the can of Diet Coke will float!