Before you buy a swimming pool enclosure, ask yourself... a few simple questions. Hopefully they'll help in making sure you get the best value from your pool enclosure.

Is it more important that it looks good, or that it performs well? The aesthetics of a pool enclosure are important, to a certain extent. As you've invested in a swimming pool, you don't want your enclosure to detract to much from the open pool feel. Having said that, the enclosure has to function and perform well, if it to meet your expectations in delivering on its promised benefits of warmer water and saving energy.

A quick refresher on the key benefits of a swimming pool enclosure;

* Reduced heating costs * Pool safety & security * Year round swimming * Maintenance free cleaning * Reduced water evaporation * Reduced chemical usage

So how important is aesthetics, compared to performance? The better the enclosure performs in terms of heat loss and evaporation, then the more you will save, which is not only better for your pocket, it's also better for the environment.

What will perform better ? If you want performance, then go for a low profile enclosure. You can still swim with the enclosure on, but you've got the added benefit that you're not trying to heat a huge airspace above your pool. Also when the sun's shining, and you've got the enclosure on, then the heat build up is much faster as the warm air circulates in a much smaller space, therefore more heat energy is going directly into your pool.

Does it have to be custom made? There are some standard sized products the market, which will undoubtably offer you the best value for money, so check these out first. These are typically for pool sizes from 6mx3m, up to approx 12mx5.5m. Buying a custom made enclosure is, however considerably more expensive, not only in the enclosure itself, but also is delivery and installation. Many of the full height enclosures (rather than low profile) are generally made to order, and consequently are rather expensive.

You can actually buy a low profile telescopic pool enclosure for a 10 metre by 5 metre pool for under £6,500!

Do l need Planning permission for my pool enclosure? The simple answer is no, as a pool enclosure is a temporary structure. However this may not apply for some of the larger enclosures. Also, as with anything to do with planning departments, these things can often be viewed on a case by case basis, and certainly differ from one Council to another. The best answer is to contact the planning office, who will usually send you a letter confirming that you do not need planning permission.

Where to go to buy one? There are many specialist swimming pool enclosure companies around these days, particularly for the larger enclosures. However it is only more recently that the low profile enclosures have become more readily available. It's probably always good to start by asking you pool maintenance company or supplier, before trying the search engines, but once you've got a feel for what you want then Google or Yahoo will give you a list to start and contact. It also helps to be specific in your searches, for example by typing in 'low profile swimming pool enclosure' into Google or Yahoo.

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