Blog

Are smart meters really that smart?

Are smart meters really that smart? Yes! Smart meters digitally measure when and how much electricity you use at home and send this information to a registered Metering Coordinator to…

January 21st, 2020

App Update – Version 6.0.2

From today, you’ll be able to download a new version of the Pooled Energy application from both the Google PlayStore and the Apple App Store. It can take up-to 24…

December 15th, 2020

How much energy does the average swimming pool use?

An amazing amount! The pool is usually the largest single ‘appliance’ in a house and it uses about 40% of the total electricity of an average pool and house.

July 4th, 2017

9 Tips on How to Build and Operate an Energy Efficient Pool

1) How do you want to use the pool? It sounds simplistic, but you really do need to answer this carefully as it affects many aspects of your pool. If…

August 22nd, 2017

Swimming pool covers! Tips on the pros and cons

Just over 10% of the pools we look after have covers. The most common objection from people we speak to is that they either don’t like the look of them or don’t have space on their pool deck for the roller. You can see from our analysis of swimming pool water temperature they offer a significant temperature gain – more on average than heaters often provide.

September 14th, 2017

How to Build and Operate an Energy Efficient Pool

General questions you should consider when building a new pool. Please note that this is general advice. How do you want to use the pool? It sounds simplistic, but you…

May 8th, 2017

Chlorine Hair: How To Protect Your Hair And Prevent It From Turning Green

There are many myths surrounding the effects of swimming pools on hair – especially blonde hair. It’s not surprising as the great majority of pools do not have sensors to…

August 30th, 2019

What to do when you’re social distancing with a pool

You’re stuck at home for the foreseeable future and the great news is that you’re social distancing. Good job! Now, we don’t want to infringe on your “schedule,” but when…

April 8th, 2020

Will Solar PV panels reduce the cost of running my swimming pool?

From July 2017 many swimming pool owners are experiencing an astonishing 30% or more increase in the price of electricity required to filter and chlorinate their pools and are now looking to adding solar PV panels to reduce these new costs. Will solar PV panels help? Not necessarily. Adding solar panels to a home with pool, will certainly reduce the amount of energy you will need to purchase from the Grid, but it will also likely force you to use more expensive Grid energy, actually putting your bills up. The reason for this apparent contradiction is the weather. This blog explains why it happens, how you can avoid the problem and how you can save dollars.

July 24th, 2017

What Sort of Pool Sweep, Cleaner or Robot Should I Buy?

A pool sweep or robot makes a pool much easier to manage and keep clean. You can hand vacuum the pool, brush the bottom or flail away with a net, but it is quite a chore. If you want a clean, automated pool, we would strongly recommend an automated pool sweep.

July 10th, 2017

What causes my pool to go green?

What causes a green pool? The green colour is algae, which contains the green pigment chlorphyll. The more algae in the water the greener your pool. Algae growth is normally prevented…

August 17th, 2015

What affects the temperature of my pool water?

One of the really unique aspects of our business is that we’re automatically harvesting large amounts of data on swimming pools, regularly and reliably. One of these data points is water temperature. Using a large enough group of pools to be statistically meaningful I’ve looked at water temperature with some surprising results. For each of the graphs below – click on the image for a higher resolution version if you want a closer look.

March 31st, 2016

Want to extend the swimming season beyond the summer months? Here’s tips on recommended pool heating solutions

When you heat your swimming pool not only do you need to choose the most appropriate type of heater to match your needs, you should also think about how the heater will be connected to your pool and the other equipment. Some heating types dictate the plumbing method and others you have a choice. For the same heater and the same heat output, the plumbing method can have significant effects on your energy consumption, your power bills, and the ease of operation. We’ll walk through each possible configuration and look at their pros and cons.

September 4th, 2017

The new smart tech to maintain your swimming pool

Pool owners know how time-consuming maintenance can be – testing the water with a pH stick, adding chemicals like chlorine (volumes of which were often based on guesswork), fiddling with the pumps, and sometimes ending up with algae despite your best efforts.

September 28th, 2017

Sydney swimming pools slugged with up to 53 percent electricity price increases from 3 July 2017

Australia has an estimated 1.4 million swimming pools with a total electricity consumption equal to around half of the State of Victoria. With the recent retirement of Victoria’s massive Hazelwood Power Station, coming soon after the retirement of another 8 power stations, more than 90% of NSW pool owners will face operating cost increases of up to 20.2% to 52.6%, with the majority over 30%.

July 10th, 2017