Keeping the Pool Clean
When you consider the cost of installing a swimming pool, it only makes sense to invest in the best pool cleaning equipment that you can afford. My friend Kristin just had a beautiful swimming pool installed last year. I think she said it cost her and her husband about $30,000. That’s a just a little outside of my budget right now, but hey, she lets me hang out next to it any time I like during the summer, so I can be happy with that for now! The one thing she doesn’t like about her new investment is having to clean it. We started talking about that yesterday, and she mentioned that what she really needs now is a robot to do the work for her. I told her that I’d try to find out what a top quality cleaning machine for her swimming pool would cost while I was sitting poolside with my iPad. Here’s what I found out!
Which Automatic Pool Cleaner Should You Buy?
The first thing I learned as I started researching is that a lot of sites say they will show you “the very best” vacuum, and then go on to show you almost every cleaner for sale online. What good is that? I wanted to weed out the cleaners that buyers don’t absolutely love. I also am eliminating products that have very few reviews written for them. The minimum number of reviews I looked for was five. For me, unless the product is brand new, having so few reviews available is a red flag. It probably isn’t a coincidence that most of the cleaners that fell into this category were also extremely expensive. Why would you want to pay over a thousand dollars for something unless it has stellar feedback? The models I eliminated from consideration had average feedback at best and they cost a ton of money.
The Polaris Vac-Sweep
OK, so what did I pick as my favorite machine for the money? After crunching the data on the cost, average ratings, and what I learned from customer reviews, I came to the conclusion that the Polaris Vac-Sweep Pressure Side Pool Cleaner might be the way to go. There are three models available on Amazon at the time of this writing (280 model, 360 model, and the 380 model). As expected, the more expensive models have more features that you may or may not want. Click the link or the photo to get more details on the differences between the models, read customer reviews, and to check on eligibility for Prime shipping savings if you happen to be an Amazon Prime member.
Things to note
- I highly recommend reading the reviews for the Polaris. They include a very detailed analysis and video from a “poolman” who discusses his experiences with this particular pool vacuum. He has several customers who have already purchased the unit, and he offers an interesting perspective. I really like the fact that there is a video included (also shown below now).
- If you are replacing an existing machine, you probably know this, but it deserves to be mentioned… Many pool cleaning units require booster pumps and/or additional plumbing for the unit. This should be considered when you are figuring your total cost. Of course, if you are spending tens of thousands of dollars on the pool itself, going cheap on a tool to keep it clean and maintained doesn’t make much sense, but some people do think of such things. Whether you choose to go with the Polaris or not, go for quality. Get the best that you can afford.
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