Is there a “best” temperature for your swimming pool water? Do you want the water to be bathtub warm? Teeth-chattering cold? What should the pool water temperature be? It is a hotly contested conversation among families and honestly, there is no one-size-fits-all temperature.
The question of pool water temperature is one the swimming pool contractors from Advanced Pool Care answer regularly. What may feel comfortable for you, may not be ideal for the children or your significant other. The “ideal”pool water temperature may vary depending on what you’re doing in the water and what the outdoor temperature is.
What should the pool water temperature be?
Ask yourself and your family how they want the water to feel when they’re swimming.
- Brisk — this is the best temperature for burning calories
- Like bathwater — comfortable, but will you feel like swimming or playing or will you just feel like lying back and floating?
- Somewhere in between — this would be the happy medium that most everyone can agree upon
Comfortable pool water temperature is typically between 78 and 82 degrees. Although, again, this is just a suggestion as “comfortable” for one person is “too hot/cold” for another! Start the pool water temperature between 78 and 82 degrees then move it up or down a degree or two until you strike that perfect balance.
Remember, though if you aren’t using a pool water heater, yo won’t have to worry about adjusting temperatures as mother nature will do it for you. Using a solar cover won’t give you control over the temperature of the water, but it will help you to “heat” it by using the rays of the sun.
The higher the temperature of the water, the more chemicals you will need to clean it. Also, warmer temperatures will speed up the evaporation of the water and means you will have to fill it more frequently.
When you’re using a water heater for your pool, let us know what temperature you’re holding steady at as we may need to adjust the cleaning and sanitizing schedule based on water evaporation and chemical burn off.
Heating your pool water will increases your home utility bills; budget for that.
Getting started
Choose a starting point for the pool water temperature and swim in it for a couple of days and see whether it suits everyone using it. If there are complaints about being too hot or too cold. Adjust the water temperatures by only a degree or two — nothing drastic — until you settle on a temperature that suits most everyone.
If you don’t have a pool water heater, ask us for information and advice on its installation so you can make an informed decision.
