How to heat a paddling pool?

proactive

Enjoying a drop of red.
I know. The front lawn instantly filled the brown bin, so I've got to wait till it's emptied on Thursday before I can cut the back.
I've tried that excuse with Mrs p but sadly it doesn't wash. I have to trail it down to the tip every week, sometimes twice a week if the growing weather is good :(
 

Carole

Well-Known Forumite
Stop it. I am getting horrible flashbacks. The doctor, trying to ascertain whether I had concussion asked me if I was confused. I replied that it was hard to tell.

On the subject of bins. We had the same problem re them filling up so we bought another from the council for £25. So now I have 2 bins to jump in and squash down and fall out of.
 

Glam

Mad Cat Woman
Stop it. I am getting horrible flashbacks. The doctor, trying to ascertain whether I had concussion asked me if I was confused. I replied that it was hard to tell.

On the subject of bins. We had the same problem re them filling up do we bought another from the council for £25. So now I have 2 bins to jump in and squash down and fall out of.
Pictures? Or it never happened :D
 

wmrcomputers

Stafford PC & laptop repair specialist
only the dog was a witness and she can't use a camera.;)
You haven't trained her very well then...

dog-selfie-iphone.jpg
 

wmrcomputers

Stafford PC & laptop repair specialist
Thought I'd update this thread as my kids have currently been swimming in 30 degree water, heated for free by the sun. Making the decision to get rid of the 4ft deep pool and replace it with a 3ft deep one was definitely one of my best decisions. I'll summarise my discoveries from the last 2 years...

1. Solar pool covers DO WORK. If buying a pool I recommend a maximum depth of 3ft and just a couple of decent weather days will make the pool useable (it will massively take the chill off)
2. Solar coils and similar devices do work, but it requires a huge amount (around 600 feet of coiled black pipe) to make anywhere near the same difference as a solar pool cover will make. Unless you're planning on spending lots of money and using huge areas for it, don't bother! I did it last year and haven't bothered this year.
3. Even if using a shallow paddling pool that you intend to empty at the end of the day, a solar pool cover in 3 or 4 hours of hot sun will make a huge difference to the water temperature. Just bear in mind that solar pool covers have their dangers so don't leave toddlers unattended near the pool (not that you should regardless of using a solar cover or not). Get it filled and covered for about 11am and plan to use it around 4pm and you should be quite impressed.
4. Think of a solar pool cover as being capable of adding about 5C to 3ft depth of water in around 4 hours of decent sun. Therefore I'd imagine that a 1ft deep paddling pool could get from 15C to 24C by mid afternoon in hot sun. Two or three hot days makes a 3ft deep pool lovely (being uncovered to use for around 2 hours a day), and mine is literally warm water now. So much so that I'm tempted to go for a swim during the night :)

I've gone from wishing I could afford a £700 pool heater, to not even considering how to heat a pool further. Overall summary; don't even consider a 4ft deep pool in the UK unless you want to spend serious money heating it.
 

Alee

Well-Known Forumite
Unfortunately not the case, we've tried. If there is already a pre-payment meter fitted at a property when you move in (which is the case in a high percentage of rented properties), then there's no way of getting it taken out. I've even offered to pay to have a standard meter before without success.

Likewise, people on a standard meter can't just request to have a prepayment meter fitted. But they do have the advantage, as by refusing to pay the bills you end up eventually having a prepayment meter forced on you set at higher rates to recover the money owed.
we are also stuck with the pre payment Metres. You right they won't remove them.
I upgraded to smart meters instead so i don't have to do the dreaded shop run with shampoo still in my hair :-D
 
Top