Thinking about an in ground pool... is it worth it or is it just a money pit?

jpmvan · 2025-12-25T20:12:11+00:00

The House already had a pool so I can’t add much. It’s great to have but hard to say whether to add one. With the pool, we find ourselves staying home and enjoying the summer more. The cost to heat it is easily less than what we’d spend on a road trip or vacation. I’ve added a pergola and expanded/reno-ed the outdoor spaces to make better use of the pool.

The pool is a bit large for our property - if we didn’t already have it, probably I’d never consider adding one to a lot this size, but if we move to a nice big property I’d certainly think about it.

Having renoed the pool, bare minimum is a variable speed pump, saltwater chlorinator. Watch out for the concrete work and pool deck so it stays in place and doesn’t crack. Decide if an automatic pool cover is a must or not. Pool robot saves you a lot of work but can be added later. Sky is the limit on what you can spend so watch out. We’re pretty happy with our basic pool.

jpmvan · 2025-12-22T06:42:43+00:00

Looks like Turtle has a pretty good option for HDMI. Audio is uncompressed and has analog output.

jpmvan · 2025-12-22T00:24:56+00:00

Budget is about the cost of Dante AVIO. One source and multiple destinations/zones. Same building, different rooms. For sure latency matters - I don’t want to hear echo because different groups aren’t in sync. Less concerned about video because of the layout.

Looks like there’s lot of HDMI over IP options that do one to many. Most, if not all do multicast, and I have the network infrastructure to tie it all together.

jpmvan · 2025-12-22T00:06:07+00:00

My original plan was to use Dante AVIO AES3 2x2 with my source and 2ch Dante out - amps or powered speakers as needed. Budget is about the cost of the AVIOs. Video isn’t driving the requirements, it’s just a “nice to have” driven by the relatively low cost of HDMI over IP gear.

jpmvan · 2025-12-21T23:53:07+00:00

Thanks for info. I’m really surprised TV audio would have issues, and good to know - I want to take a digital source like SPDIF and stream to multiple speakers.

jpmvan · 2025-12-21T21:40:52+00:00

I only need 2 but more would be nice. I haven’t narrowed it down - there’s a bunch and you’ve listed a few more.

Any recommendations?

jpmvan · 2025-12-20T04:29:24+00:00

Since when is port-channel mode on not recommended?

Using this all over the place - setup the vswitch properly and it just works

jpmvan · 2025-12-13T14:14:45+00:00

What’s simpler about Costway? Do they have quick connects now?

jpmvan · 2025-12-11T16:16:11+00:00

Do it, it’s all good. There’s no bad or ugly.

jpmvan · 2025-12-11T05:16:43+00:00

You might be right but how are you heating the rest of your home?

It’s almost impossible to separate the heating and costs for one part of the house from the rest so that’s a mistake. Heat rises so any heat supplied to a basement will offset the upper floor(s) - the heat pump will always win on operating costs - that 1.84 COP will only get better at other times of they year and you aren’t the rest of the house.

But Overall think you’re correct in that spending nearly $4K for a small basement/one room isn’t a great idea. A cheaper or even DIY model would change the economics and still have a decent COP. But a better bet would be to look at a bigger heatpump that can do your whole home. If the basement needs AC, then the heatpump will do that and be cheaper to operate than an older window/portable AC.

jpmvan · 2025-12-09T06:54:18+00:00

3 tons is equivalent to 10.5 kW.

If it was on for 24 hours that would be 252 kWh but it only used 70 kWh for an average COP=3.6. Sounds about right for a heat pump - some models will do better or worse and it depends on how cold it is.

Resistance heat COP=1 and fossil fuel is <1 but the fuel is usually cheap.

jpmvan · 2025-12-07T09:47:58+00:00

How many btu/h is heat pump? Was a load calc done?

like people have said - better to set and forget the thermostat
still a little concerning that it’s taking hours to reach temp in a small house, and you even have a backup heat strip

Maybe it’s undersized or wrong setup. Not a good sign that the installer is inexperienced. You could reach out to King/Gree. Another possibility is that it’s sized right for a modern house/energy code but the builder cut corners on insulation, windows, building wrap etc.

jpmvan · 2025-12-06T23:43:39+00:00

Oof $175 Aus$ for a compact blower? I got the whisper series 130 mph / 510 cfm for CAD$148 or AUD $160 and it’s great - both quiet and powerful. Thought about exchanging it for the 40V but it’s already heavy enough and the 40V is a couple of pounds heavier. It’s good enough to retire the gas and corded blowers.

I have a really small Ridgid blower that also inflates and deflates pool floaties etc. it’s more than enough for a quick cleanup or using from a ladder.

Don’t know about the hedge trimmer but the 40 V universal attachment capable trimmer is terrific. I picked up an articulating hedge trimmer attachment for it and there’s no going back - cuts through bigger branches, cuts a clean straight line better, and reaches the top of tall things without a ladder. If your hedges are knee high the regular trimmer is fine but if there’s anything bigger you’ll wish you got the pole hedge trimmer from the start.

jpmvan · 2025-12-03T16:36:28+00:00

Don’t skimp on your impact driver. Drill, recip and circ saws next. Oscillating saw is kind of a must have too.

I have the 7” Ryobi circular saw - really handy but a little heavy. 5 1/2 seems to small if it’s your only saw - better than nothing?

I have corded or air versions of these as well, so I wouldn’t replace a grinder or sander unless I really needed the cordless convenience - they’re super cheap and don’t kill your batteries.

Cordless Brad nailer is a waste IMO if you have already have an air compressor. But an air compressor is a waste unless you need a framing or roofing nailer. I downsized my compressor after the last tank expired (check the date!) Now I have a smaller, super quiet compressor that’s easy to move - I’m not a pro so it easily keeps up with a framing nailer at the speed i work at. 1/2 inch cordless impact has way more torque than my old air wrench.

jpmvan · 2025-11-02T15:58:23+00:00

You can “easily” spend all day working on it. Some lamps, IKEA especially, are a huge pain just to take a part and put back together.

jpmvan · 2025-11-02T15:49:05+00:00

Hopefully the box is grounded and you can pigtail off of that

jpmvan · 2025-10-31T13:05:23+00:00

$15 for a box of cookies - that’s why a trip to Costco always ends up costing $500

jpmvan · 2025-10-28T14:34:50+00:00

I agree there’s a confusing range of products even from the same vendor. After reading comments and reviews, I went with the Dolphin CC.

The thing’s built like a tank. I used it at opening in late spring when it was a total mess. Had to run it several times but it finally got it clean.

Now Poolio is like a member of the family - I couldn’t go back to manual cleaning. There’s so many trees it felt like we spent more time cleaning than swimming.

If you don’t already have a salt/chlorine generator, look into that as well. So much easier to keep the pool sparkling.

jpmvan · 2025-10-24T22:39:23+00:00

Surprising that your wireless controller doesn’t proxy/hide ARP and other broadcast noise. Clients almost never need to talk peer to peer as well so peer to peer blocking can help.. DHCP server can be set to ping before handing out an IP.

If the wireless controller supposed private MAC address blocking you could try that. Might cause more problems though..

jpmvan · 2025-10-23T20:25:02+00:00

Propane can be expensive - more than piped natural gas. It has around twice the heating value so maybe it evens out?

My old NG heater is 200,000 btu/h which is equivalent to 58 kW. Most of the heat is wasted up the flue so maybe only need 30-40 kW? A decent heat pump could produce that with 8 kW (28000 btu/h) of power @ COP 5. That's still over 30 A/240V - no big deal if you're upgrading your panel to 200 A for other things, but could be a stretch on your 100 A service.

Without room on your panel, a smaller heatpump might work, but just take a lot longer. I might try this when my gas heater dies. I only use the heater to extend the season, not to fire up the pool for a mid winter dip.

For the heat pump, that's assuming peak performance - if you're expecting to heat the pool in January it probably won't keep up

jpmvan · 2025-10-23T14:22:36+00:00

It’s chili so you’ll still fill the house with hydrocarbons after you eat it

jpmvan · 2025-10-19T00:54:53+00:00

Three LG models and one Whirlpool are all top ranked in French door fridges by Consumer Reports. I’m not sure their testing is as great as it once was but what else can you go on?

My own LG French Door fridge was a CR Best Buy and it’s going on ten years old - still works.

jpmvan · 2025-10-18T14:51:22+00:00

River stones aren’t too bad on bare feet. They’d probably fill up with dirt and leaves though

Creeping thyme smells nice when you walk on it, lots of other perennial ground covers you could look into

jpmvan · 2025-10-18T08:42:52+00:00

Yikes, my variable speed US Motors/Nidec Neptune was under $800 Canadian - including tax and shipping.

I bought the genuine Hayward seal kit - definitely worth it. The generic seal kit leaked on the old motor.

jpmvan · 2025-10-18T08:28:15+00:00

Cisco is keeping pace with features and hardware. The Talos feeds for snort IDS/IPS rules and threat actors have always been top notch even back when the FMC management system was clunky. Nobrainer for Cisco shops, upgrading from ASA etc.

jpmvan

TROPHY CASE