Monday, March 26, 2012

Making Your Pool Eco-Friendly

Green and Eco-friendly ideas are touching every part of people’s lives today. There is always a way to make everything in your life more Eco-conscious, and your swimming pool is no different. Here are our top four ways to make your pool more Eco-friendly:

1. Upgrade Your Pool Pump. If you have a one-speed pool pump, you can switch to a variable-speed pool pump model. Despite being a higher initial upfront cost, these models run more efficiently and allow owners to see a 30 to 70 percent savings on electricity within the first month. These pumps can be programmed to run at lower speeds for circulation and a higher speed for the cleaning cycle. Or you can have them run at a low speed all day and night to help circulate the water during hot weather temperatures.

2. Switch to LED Pool Lights. New LED lighting for your pool not only provides superior brightness and appearance, but is also 80% more efficient than standard lighting. Combine superior style with energy saving efficiency at the same time.

3. Heat for Cheap. Supplement your pool heating system with solar power. Retain the heat in your pool’s water with proper pool covers or pool solar blankets. Remember that keeping a warm pool uncovered on a cool night is like leaving your refrigerator open all day.

4. A Smarter Filter. Many new cartridge style pool filter systems are simpler to operate and last for several seasons. Not having to replace sand each year not only saves time and money, it also saves the environment. Also, these filter systems are so efficient they require filtration less often, saving even more energy (and the environment!).

These are just a few of the ways you can enjoy your swimming pool and keep an eye out for the environment at the same time. So what are you waiting for? Dive in and check out the latest in pool accessories today.

Friday, March 23, 2012

Pools - Fun Facts

PoolsAndStuff.com has launched and is focused on excellent customer service and great products. We have in ground pools, above ground pools and many supplies and accessories to make all of your pool dreams come true.

Let’s kick it off with some fun and exciting facts on pools to lighten up the mood and provide some great talking points for those that question your decision to get a pool.

  • The Titanic was the first ship to have a heated swimming pool.
  • Swimming became an amateur sport in the late part of the nineteenth century.
  • Ancient drawings and paintings found in Egypt depicting people swimming date back to 2500 AD.
  • Elephants can swim as many as 20 miles a day — they use their trunks as natural snorkels!
  • Swimming exercises all of the body’s major muscles
  • President Franklin D. Roosevelt had the first indoor swimming pool put in the West Wing at the White House.
  • 65% of people in the U.S. don’t know how to swim.
  • An hour of vigorous swimming will burn up to 650 calories. It burns off more calories than walking or biking.
  • President Gerald Ford had an in ground pool installed near the tennis courts on the White House grounds in 1975.
  • Swimming became a part of the Olympic Games in 1896.
  • Most swimmers at the highest levels of competition train from four to five hours per day and five to seven days per week. They will typically swim about six to twelve miles per day along with weight training and flexibility training.
  • Water’s buoyancy make swimming the ideal exercise for physical therapy and rehabilitation or for anyone seeking a low-impact exercise.
  • The slowest Olympic swim stroke is the breaststroke.
  • The two-piece bathing suit known as bikini got its name from Bikini Atoll, a US nuclear test site in the South Pacific.
  • Swimming strengthens the heart and lungs
  • The first man to cross the English Channel swimming from England to France is Englishman Captain Matthew Webb in 1875.
  • An Olympic size pool depending on its size (50 meters X 25 yards or meters) can hold from 700,000 to 850,000 gallons of water.
  • Swimming helps reduce stress
  • The average person produces 25,000 quarts of saliva in his or her lifetime — that’s enough spit to fill TWO swimming pools!
  • Swim fins were invented by Benjamin Franklin.
  • Michael Phelps has won a total of 14 gold medals and 2 bronze medals in a pool.