We had a telescopic polycarbonate pool enclosure from South Pacific Pool Enclosures installed 12 months ago at our property at Muriwai Beach, north-west Auckland. The pool is 25m x 7.5m and the enclosure is 30m x 12m. It has been a very worthwhile investment as it has enabled us to run our Swim School throughout the year, rather than just the summer months. There have been many additional benefits, as discussed below.
Heating – savings
We did not need to use our heat pumps from Oct 2010 through to April 2011 at all. We maintain our pool temperature at a minimum of 26.5C, and the enclosure enabled us to keep this temperature purely through solar gain. Throughout this period we closed the enclosure at night and opened it up during the day when the weather was nice. We did not have to use the thermal covers throughout this period either, so it was great not to have to take them off each morning and put them on each evening.
Throughout the winter time we need to use the heat pumps at night time for a few hours and then about two hours before swim school starts in the afternoon when the weather is cooler. We often see the temperature of the pool rise through solar gain during the daytime when the sun is out, which means we don’t use the heat pumps during the day when it is sunny.
Maintenance saving – less cleaning required
As we can close the enclosure up at any time the amount of debris that enters the pool is much reduced. The pool is far cleaner than it used to be and the amount of time spent vacuuming it is reduced. We don’t get any leaves in the pool now, and we don’t get the same amount of pollen in the pool either. We live near Woodhill forest and the yellow pollen from the pine forest could turn our pool green overnight if there was a lot of wind.
Health aspects
The enclosure offers UV protection for both swimmers and spectators, which is great from a health perspective.
This type of enclosure has many benefits over other indoor aquatic facilities. As it is so easy to get fresh clean air into the enclosure the amount of toxic gas build-up in the air is vastly reduced, making it a safer and more pleasant environment to be in than most other indoor facilities. There is a constant supply of fresh air into the enclosure from each end underneath the brushes also, which helps to keep the air fresh all the time. If it does get stuffy it is quick and easy to open up a segment, or the windows/doors at either end to get fresh air in quickly.
Ease of use – opening and closing enclosure
We have been extremely impressed at how easily the whole enclosure is to open and close. We can open just one or two sections if we want, or move all the sections to the end. It’s very flexible and one person can easily move the sections around.
Fully lockable for added security
We had locks installed on each section of the enclosure, as well as on each door to give us full flexibility regarding safety and security. It is great to be able to fully lock the enclosure in the evening to prevent anyone coming into the pool at night time – particularly as we have accommodation and functions on site too.
Comments from clients
Our customers love the enclosure and our casual swimming side of the business continues to grow – even through the winter. The parents who bring their children to swimming also enjoy sitting in the warmth every week, rather than braving the elements.
General comments
We are extremely happy with the quality of the enclosure. It is impressive how well everything fitted together when it was assembled, and how well each of the sections moves. The design of our enclosure was done specifically for this site, and it works really well. After 12 months it would be hard, even now, to identify things we would change with the design.
It is always warm inside the enclosure, which makes it extremely pleasant even in the middle of winter. It has a lovely feel to it, and our customers just love it too. It is quite a talking point in our area, and every new person who sees it is impressed with it’s simple but effective design.
Aesthetically it is very pleasing to the eye too, and looks very attractive when either open or closed. We have lovely gardens around our pool, and wanted to be able to use appreciate these while sitting around the pool in the summer. This design has allowed us to have an outdoor pool for the heat of the summer, and an indoor pool for cooler weather too, so it has really ticked all the boxes for us.
This enclosure has made a huge difference to our business. We are now able to operate 12 months of the year, and even on the coldest day it is pleasant to swim. While our Swim School numbers do drop off during the winter compared with summer, it is still viable to run through the winter, which is something we could not do without the enclosure. Our business continues to grow, and our repeat business is very high.
Overall we have found the team at South Pacific Pool Enclosures very professional to deal with, and would not hesitate in recommending them.
Brad and Jen, Fools Pools Swim School, Muriwai
