Topic

Pool Equipment Buying Guides

Specs first, brand second. These guides tell you which specs actually change ownership.

29 guides on this topic

A pool pump on a concrete pad with a new black motor and pale gray drive box fitted to its almond housing, the old rusted motor set down on the concrete in front

EquipmentGuide

Variable-Speed Pool Pump Conversion: Is It Worth It?

What switching from a single-speed pump really saves, what federal rules now let you buy, and when a new motor beats a whole new pump.

11 minUpdated Sep 26, 2026

A newly installed almond pool pump on a concrete equipment pad, plumbed in gray PVC with flexible conduit running to an electrical disconnect box on the wall behind

EquipmentHow-to

How to Replace a Pool Pump

Whether you need a whole pump or just the motor, the port size that catches people out, and the two mistakes that turn a two-hour job into a plumbing repair.

7 minUpdated Sep 14, 2026

A black pool pump on a concrete equipment pad, plumbed in white PVC to a multiport valve and filter tank, with the pool behind

EquipmentExplainer

Pool Booster Pumps: What They Cost and How They Die

A pressure cleaner needs a second pump running just for it. What it adds to the bill, the wiring rule that decides its life, and how a dying one sounds.

6 minUpdated Sep 13, 2026

A pool light fixture lifted out of its niche and resting on wet coping beside a full pool

ReviewsBuying guide

Best Pool Lights 2026: Retrofit Bulb or Full Fixture

Whether a dead pool light takes a new lamp or a whole new fixture, the three fixtures worth buying, and why this stays an electrician's job.

7 minUpdated Sep 26, 2026

Three plain unbranded chlorine containers in one row on wet coping at the same scale: a stack of white tablets

Water ChemistryComparison

Chlorine Tablets vs Liquid vs Granular: Which to Use

Every chlorine product adds something besides chlorine — stabilizer, calcium or salt. Pick the one whose leftovers your water can still absorb.

5 minUpdated Sep 6, 2026

A row of plain chemical containers on a shed shelf, one bucket among them visibly swollen and bulging at the sides, its lid domed upward

SafetyGuide

Pool Chemical Shelf Life: What Goes Off and When

Liquid chlorine is perishable, tablets pressurize a sealed bucket, and cal hypo cakes without losing its bite. How long each product lasts and how to tell.

5 minUpdated Sep 6, 2026

A short row of plain white pool chemical buckets and jugs on a garage shelf, lids seated, every label turned away

GuidesGuide

Pool Chemicals Worth Keeping on Hand

Eight products cover a season. Two of them are sold at four times the price under a pool label, and most of the rest of the shelf treats symptoms.

5 minUpdated Sep 13, 2026

A small blue cylindrical mineral cartridge held in a gloved hand above an open pool skimmer, the empty basket visible in the throat below

ReviewsReview

PoolRx Review: What the Mineral Cartridge Actually Does

A chelated copper cartridge that genuinely suppresses algae for months. Here's what it does, what it doesn't, and the chlorine advice to ignore.

7 minUpdated Sep 13, 2026

A salt chlorinator cell unbolted from its unions and held horizontally

ReviewsBuying guide

Replacing a Salt Cell: Genuine, Aftermarket, or Neither

Cells are not interchangeable, and half of them get replaced while still working. What to check first, and how the warranty math actually falls.

6 minUpdated Sep 13, 2026

A round above-ground pool with a steel frame and wide top rail standing on a level lawn, the wall and uprights seen from outside the pool

ReviewsBuying guide

The Best Above Ground Pools in 2026

Frame pools and steel-wall pools are different products with different lifespans and prices. Which you are shopping for, and what the set leaves out.

6 minUpdated Sep 12, 2026

A floating surface wave alarm sitting on calm pool water, its buoy and sensor arm sharp against the blue, the pool otherwise empty

SafetyBuying guide

The Best Pool Alarms in 2026 (and Where They Belong)

An alarm is the last layer, not the first. Which type covers which gap, what ASTM certification means, and the failure that makes all of them useless.

6 minUpdated Sep 13, 2026

An open plain white tub of chlorine granules with a scoop standing in it on wet coping, the granules coarse and bright

ReviewsBuying guide

The Best Pool Chlorine and Shock in 2026

What to actually keep in the shed. Which chlorine to buy for daily dosing, which for shocking, and the two you should never store side by side.

5 minUpdated Sep 6, 2026

A tall cartridge filter tank on an equipment pad with its lid set aside and the pleated element lifted halfway out of the housing

ReviewsBuying guide

The Best Pool Filters in 2026: Buy Bigger Than You Were Sold

Filter area decides how often you clean and how hard your pump works. Real models compared, and why the one your builder fitted is probably too small.

6 minUpdated Sep 26, 2026

A gas heater and a heat pump standing side by side on one concrete equipment pad

ReviewsBuying guide

The Best Pool Heaters in 2026: Gas, Heat Pump or Neither

Gas heats fast and costs a lot to run. A heat pump is the reverse. Which one suits your climate and swim season, with real models and honest running costs.

6 minUpdated Sep 12, 2026

A manual vacuum head clipped to a telescopic pole and resting on wet coping, its brush strip and wheels, hose coiled behind

ReviewsBuying guide

The Best Pool Vacuums in 2026 (That Aren't Robots)

Suction-side, pressure-side and manual. Which one suits your debris, your pump and your plumbing — and when a robot is the cheaper answer anyway.

6 minUpdated Sep 13, 2026

Plain white tubs and a strip bottle grouped on the edge of a hot tub cabinet, the cover folded back, steam lifting off the water behind them

Spas & Hot TubsBuying guide

The Hot Tub Chemicals You Actually Need in 2026

What to buy for a hot tub, starting from your maker's own sanitizer list: chlorine granules, a weekly oxidizer, and bromine only if your tub allows it.

5 minUpdated Oct 1, 2026

A wall brush, a leaf rake and a telescopic pole laid parallel on wet stone coping, bristles and net mesh

ReviewsBuying guide

The Pool Cleaning Tools Worth Owning

Six tools cover almost every job a pool asks of you. Which to buy, which brush your surface actually needs, and where spending more genuinely pays.

5 minUpdated Sep 6, 2026

An automatic pool cover half-retracted across a rectangular pool

EquipmentGuide

Automatic Pool Covers: Cost, How They Work, and What Breaks

What automatic pool covers cost, how the tracks, ropes and drum work, what the makers' warranties cover, what wears out, and when one is a safety cover.

15 minUpdated Oct 4, 2026

Three pool cleaners laid out in a single row on wet decking at the same scale — a robotic unit, a suction cleaner

EquipmentComparison

Pool Cleaners Compared: Suction vs Pressure vs Robotic

How suction, pressure and robotic pool cleaners really differ on debris, running cost and what they do to your filter. Plus which one fits which pool.

9 minUpdated Sep 13, 2026

A large cartridge filter tank at a clean equipment pad

EquipmentGuide

Pool Filter Sizing: What Size Filter Do You Actually Need?

How to size a pool filter to your pump rather than your pool, what square footage buys you, and why oversizing a filter is nothing like oversizing a pump.

6 minUpdated Sep 5, 2026

A pool lit from within by a color LED light at dusk

EquipmentGuide

Pool Lighting: LED Conversion, Color and Costs

Why LED conversion pays for itself, what color systems actually give you, and the electrical rules that make this a licensed job.

6 minUpdated Sep 12, 2026

A weatherproof equipment enclosure open on a wall beside the pad

EquipmentGuide

Pool Automation: What's Worth Wiring In

What pool automation actually controls, when it earns its cost, and the features that turn out to be a login you never use.

6 minUpdated May 8, 2026

A gas heater and a heat pump installed side by side at a pool pad

EquipmentComparison

Pool Heaters Compared: Gas, Heat Pump, Solar and Electric

Which heater suits which climate and use pattern, how to size one properly, and where the marketing numbers fall apart.

7 minUpdated Sep 24, 2026

Several clear test vials and plain dropper bottles arranged on wet stone

ReviewsBuying guide

The Best Pool Test Kits in 2026

Real models and real prices. Why a $150 drop kit beats a $20 box of strips, and what each one can and cannot actually measure.

6 minUpdated Sep 12, 2026

A clear cylindrical salt chlorinator cell mounted horizontally inline on a white PVC return pipe

EquipmentExplainer

Saltwater Pools: How Salt Chlorine Generators Actually Work

A salt pool is still a chlorine pool. What the cell does, what it costs to run, when to replace it, and the myths worth ignoring.

6 minUpdated Jul 31, 2026

A sand filter, a cartridge filter and a DE filter grouped on a pool pad

EquipmentComparison

Sand vs Cartridge vs DE Pool Filters: An Honest Comparison

What each filter type actually catches, what it costs to run, and which one suits which pool. No brand preference, no hedging.

6 minUpdated Sep 13, 2026

A modern variable-speed pump photographed cleanly at the equipment pad

ReviewsBuying guide

Best Variable-Speed Pool Pumps in 2026

Real model numbers, real prices and the spec that actually decides which variable-speed pump you should buy. Hint: it isn't energy savings.

7 minUpdated Sep 24, 2026

A robotic pool cleaner climbing a pool wall underwater

ReviewsBuying guide

The Best Robotic Pool Cleaners in 2026

Dolphin's Nautilus robots carry one year of warranty and its Premier and Sigma three. Here's what that means for which robot is worth buying, with real specs.

6 minUpdated Sep 13, 2026

A variable-speed pool pump on its pad with the control panel visible

EquipmentGuide

Pool Pump Sizing: Why Bigger Is Almost Always Wrong

How to size a pool pump properly using turnover and head, why oversized pumps are the industry default, and what variable speed changes.

9 minUpdated Sep 24, 2026

This topic appears in these sections

Equipment Reviews Water Chemistry Safety Guides Spas & Hot Tubs