I Think it's Here

We keep wondering, and it keeps changing. We think it's there, and here we stand in the unexpected. What in the heck are we talking about? The weather! This once again is the weirdest, wildest weather we've seen in a while. So...what do we make all this? Well, I think it's here. It's about a month early, but I think it's here....... Ok, enough with the riddles already! I think pool season is here. ...No, no it IS pool season.

I think we are pretty confidant the weather is going to hold. We always say when your pool temps get above 65 degrees start paying attention to your pool water. As we are assisting folks getting a jump on pool season we are seeing pool temps range from 70 to a whopping 75 degrees. If you don't pay attention to your pool water during uncharacteristic such as what we are experiencing, it's quite possible to wake up with a green pool overnight.

So, now that we are here.....here is how we get there LOL! Make sure you bring a water sample in for analysis. This will allow us to verify where the water chemistry is and if we need to make any adjustment. It's a good idea to perform a good spring shock treatment at this time to oxidize any winter compounds. Add the suggested items and you should be good. Hop in and enjoy.......I think it's here.

 

Note- It rained for two days while composing this blog LOL!

 

See ya soon!

 

 

 



 



Crazy Weather!

This weather is absolutely crazy! I have only experienced a less than a handful of these wacky and whimsical weather roller coasters. It's hot, it's cool, it's windy as "all get out", and your pool, garden, and grass are spinning like the dickens trying to figure out how to respond to all of the wacky weather.



Let's concentrate on your pool and how to address it in this type of weather. Typically while the pool  water is confused, so too is the pool customer. Reality is that the weather according to history is going warm up with some sort of consistency.



So, let's address it by the numbers....if you have not cleaned you filters last fall or early this spring, now is a good time to do so. Next, bring a water sample into the Energy House for computerized analysis. Once this is completed balance the pool water as per the balancing instructions. Make sure you are circulating the popper number of hours per day. Call and we can help you with that.  This should get you on track to brilliant water.

 

Finally, follow our simple 1,2,3 system and you are 99% guaranteed beautiful water, and you won't get algae. The 1% is for that small chance you don't follow 1..2..3...which is sanitize, oxidize(shock), prevent algae, along with balancing.

 

 

 

Soon we'll be back to this....

 

 

See ya soon!

Hot Tubs and Hot Weather?

......Absolutely! Many places in California are not as hot as California's Central Valley and the thought of continued use of  a hot tub in the summer doesn't come up, it simply get's used. Many years into assisting customers at the Energy House I noticed a trend, hot tubs were not getting used in the summer months. In fact, hot tubs were being shut down in the summer similar to the way they are winterized  in the eastern part of the US. This was a little puzzling to me here is "America's next great appliance" is sitting in perfectly good condition.....shut completely down like a snow blower.

We'll one day I happened to ask a customer that I knew had both a pool and a spa from Energy House how they are enjoying their spa. The answer was "we don't use our spa in the summer." I asked "why?" and the answer was "it's too hot."  I replied "too hot?" then asked "the weather, or the spa?" He said both. I asked if he'd ever thought of turning the temperature down on the spa. He replied "I never thought of that....."

As it turns out, this thought of spas and summer time not being a match was very common. And as the years went by staff has been educating customers on how they can enjoy their hot tubs all year around. It's simple just turn the temp all the way down and add a slightly folded face towel on the bar top to allow heat generated by direct sunlight to escape. And there you go!

There is nothing better than a cool refreshing body massage, and right in the comfort of your own backyard. Just because it's called a hot tub doesn't mean you have to keep the heat jacked up to infinity in the summer. Hot tubs and hot weather? Absolutely,turn it down and enjoy!

 

Spring is Here!

Spring is Here.....!

 

 

.....And unfortunately every year our showroom is flooded with calls, and customers who's pool resembles the pic on the left vs. the pic on the right. It's actually pretty easy to start the season with a pool that looks like the pic on the right, but I will save that for another time.

Sooo what's next? Well it's a pretty easy process, it's just time consuming and the price tag can add up depending on the severity. Hopefully you have cleaned the filter in the fall before the pool went dormant, if not guess what you get to do? It starts by bringing in a water sample for computerized water analysis. The pool must be balanced first for the process to be most effective. This will tell us where the water is "at" from balancing perspective, where it needs to be, and how to get there with no guess work. It's now time to increase pool circulation times. We will recommend pool run times based on your pool size. Next add the recommended products per the read-out based on the analysis results. It's highly recommended to run the pool 24hrs the first day during this process.

If you have followed all the recommended instructions on the analysis print out you should see improvement within a 24hr period. There is no answer as to when any pool will "turn the corner" but, the 24hr window is a good indicator if the pool is making progress. It is also a good idea to check progress by monitoring the chlorine level, visual status, and sharing this info with the Energy House. We should be able to let you know whether the pool is progressing.

Once the pool is clear and resembles the pic on the right, re-clean the filter and bring in another water sample for final balancing. Keep us in the loop by bringing in a water sample every two weeks to at least once a month. This should keep you "on track." Remember it is easier and less expensive to maintain rather than rescue a pool.

It is always the goal to have our pools look like this....



Brilliant! ...See ya soon!

What is this "I'm a Hot Tubber" stuff?

For many years the world's leading hot tub manufacture Watkins Mfg., the makers of the Hot Spring Spa, has felt that the hot tub category in consumer products is grossly under represented. As a giant in this category they continually made industry innovations, and lead the way in market share. Despite these impressive accolades the hot tub industry still fell short in recognition when compared to other industries.

 Let's quickly look at why this puzzling phenomenon exists. OK, so you have a product that when mentioned generally evokes pleasure, relaxation and happy memories and yet most of the population does not own this product? Could it be most think it's too expensive? Well when the general population is polled on hot tub pricing, the consensus is that they are expensive. However when it is revealed hot tub pricing starts at $2999, consumers often respond with surprise at what they would consider an "affordable" starting price point. Consumers also have the impression hot tubs are tough to maintain. Depending on brand, some hot tubs are easier to maintain due to today's innovations, but over all the average hot tub takes a few minutes a week to maintain. This too surprised consumers.

So what is it? Frankly Watkins has no idea. However, they do have an idea about one thing for sure....HotSpring Spa customers are some of the best consumer evangelists on the planet. They love their hot tubs and they'd love to tell you about it! Watkins identifies these customers as "Hot Tubbers".

So what better way to get the message out there than by a large group of happy customers who love their hot tub. These Hot Tubbers are publicly professing their love for their hot tub by stating "I'm a Hot Tubber!" And guess what.....It's kinda catchy.  Watch this....."Hi, I'm Rob and I'm a Hot Tubber"  LOL!

Now for all you Hot Tubbers out there who want to stand up and tell everyone how you love your Hot Tub Watkins will give you a free Hot Tubber Gift Box. Go here for details:

They Are All The Same Right?

So I am at the gas station filling up at the gas station as I do frequently, and a gentleman gives me an engaging smile and says "I've been thinking about Solar......They are all the same right?" Being that I was in my unmarked personal vehicle, the first thought in my mind was how in the heck did he know I was involved in solar? Duhh...I'm wearing my Energy House Solar shirt! I returned the smile with a cliff hanging...."absolutely not....." He then gave me the tell me more "yeah?"

I started off with the analogy, most guys remember the first time they began to shop for a ring for their significant other and they thought they are on the right track until an experienced mind stops or "saves" you. They sit you down and explain that all diamonds are not created equal. This same analogy applies to Solar. Most of the industry is using inexpensive Asian manufactured panels rated at 14% efficiency. We use Sunpower Solar the worlds most powerful solar. Not to mention most Sunpower panel efficiency ratings start at 19%.  This means we can use less panels to do the same job as a competitor. Sunpower solar holds over 120 patents, last longer than other panels, and is simply a better built panel. They are a global company, but many folks are happy to hear there is US manufacturing of the panels in our very own Silicon Valley.

There are many ways to go solar and with Sunpower all of them are consumer friendly options. However the most popular is the Zero down leasing option. It's an easy way to go solar with no money out of pocket. It also addresses the many concerns consumers have about leasing with consumer friendly solutions.

Our short conversation left the gentleman wanting more info, so we exchanged info, shook hands and set up a time for him to see how Sunpower can harness the power of the sun to start saving..



I'm A Little Stressed

"I'm a little stressed".......This is what your pool is telling you through our current heat spell. Think about the reality of what your pool is saying....it's over 100 degrees, and chlorine is leaving your pool with the quickness, couple this with a lot of pool activity....and yeah I think I understand.

On a hot day chlorine leaves your pool at a faster rate than normal. As a matter of fact, the sun is the arch enemy of chlorine. This is why we have you add cyanuric acid which also goes by the name of stabilizer. As long as your CYA or stabilizer level is over 40 you are good. A good analogy is stabilizer is like sunglasses for the chlorine in your pool. Most chlorine has stabilizer in it so unless it's a fresh fill on your pool chances are you are just fine.

Pool activity also uses chlorine at a faster rate. During times of elevated temps or heat waves, pools generally get more usage. And with more usage this puts stress on the chlorine's ability to sanitize and thusly more chlorine is used. To combat this inevitability I highly recommend a higher dose of chlorine during this period.

So, since your pool can't actually tell you what's going on verbally, it's going to "sign" you. Here are the signs....cloudy water, high rate of chlorine usage, slightly green tinged and cloudy,  and a possible slight odor. One way or another, you will get a sign. Listen and react without haste because this is also know as a pre-algae condition. Once you get algae, the remedy can be expensive so prevention is the best policy. Any questions regarding this or any other pool or spa chemistry issue, give us a call 559.432.1500.

See ya soon..