The total cost to buy and have an above ground swimming pool has a wide range. Thousands of people get Intex/Coleman pools from Walmart for a few hundred bucks, while many others go for the more permanent, longer-lasting metal walled above grounds that run between $2K to $8K. Add installation and a deck to these and you can easily go well over $10,000 for the entire project.
Part of the cost of setting up and running an above ground pool is running electricity for the pump. And depending on how much is spent on the pool usually decides how they run the electric.
Above ground pool owners run electricity to their pool pumps ranging from just an extension cord all the way to hiring an electrician to do the job up to code.
THE TWO BIGGEST FACTORS DETERMINING HOW TO RUN ELECTRICAL FOR THE PUMP
1 The overall cost of the pool project – As mentioned above, above ground pools vary in cost. And since electricity is absolutely necessary to having a pool, the cost of running electric cannot be avoided. Fortunately, the price to get electric to the pump varies too.
Most people who get the cheaper soft-sided pools (Intex or Coleman type) will just use an extension cord for their pump. This is mainly because they don’t have much in the pool itself and can’t justify spending more than the pool cost to run the electricity for it.
This works in reverse for those who spend a lot on their above ground pool. Someone who spends thousands on their pool will have no problem paying $500 and up to have an electrician do the job to code.
This is the case for most things and most people. A person with a twelve-year-old Toyota Corolla that needs a paint job won’t want to spend more than a thousand bucks for it. But if they have an expensive old corvette as well, that same person won’t blink an eye at spending over 10k to have that car painted.
2 Safety – It has always amazed me in how different people are when it comes to safety and risk assessment. Some are cautious and scared to death about any little potential thing that can happen while others are careless and fearless about even really dangerous situations.
Here’s an obvious statement we all know: “Water and electricity don’t go together well”. And even though we all know this well, some are more concerned about this than others.
Because of this, even though someone may have only paid $300 for their pool, some will easily opt for the much safer option of having an electrician run their pool’s electric over using just an extension cord.
In terms of having a swimming pool, drowning is, of course, everyone’s primary concern in terms of safety. Number two though is easily the concern for electricity near the water. Both dangers are extremely rare (especially for above ground type pools), but are nonetheless strong motivators to making sure things are safe. Even if it does cost a lot.
Regardless of how the electricity is run to an above ground pool pump, it’s a really good idea to include a GFI to the line.
THE SEVEN WAYS PEOPLE RUN THE ELECTRICITY FOR THEIR ABOVE GROUND POOL PUMP
1) They just use an extension cord
This is the most common method. People will plug the cord into whatever outside receptacle they have at the back of the house or on the patio and run it out to the pump at the pool.
Many will do this only temporarily until they can run something better, but some use an extension cord for years. The extension cord will plug right into the cord from the pool pump. That connection will be outside in the elements.
Just plugging two cords together isn’t waterproof. Since where the extension cord plugs into the pump is outside, people will waterproof or protect that connection by either covering it (from rain) or wrapping it with something like electrical tape.
Also, if using an extension cord to run the pool pump, make sure it’s a thicker cord made with at least #12 wire. This will prevent the wire from overheating as bigger wire has less resistance. Too small of an extension cord will cause the pump to stop working.
2) They bury an extension cord
This is the same as number one, but instead of just leaving the extension cord running on top of the ground, they bury it.
Burying the extension cord is nicer because you don’t have to worry about anyone tripping over it, or the dog chewing it, or the lawnmower hitting it.
3) They bury an extension cord in the ground in conduit
Ok, now we’re getting a tad bit safer. Some will go the extra step and cost to buy and run an electrical conduit in the ground, then run their extension cord in it.
This takes more work and at least one end of the extension cord has to be cut so the cord can fit through the conduit opening. The cut end then has to be either re-spliced together or used to hardwire directly into the pump or a timer.
Using a conduit has two benefits. One is it’s safer if someone is digging in the yard with a shovel or something metal. The conduit will help protect the wire from getting cut and shocking the digger (and damaging the wire).
The other benefit is that the extension cord will last a little longer being in conduit instead of just laying it the earth.
4) They do their own electrical, run, and bury the wire just under the grass/sod
This is more common than you might think. Pool owners go to Home Depot or Lowes and get the electrical materials needed to do the job. They will install a breaker in the home’s electric box and run a properly sized and rated wire out to the pool pump.
With this, just about the only thing pool owners don’t do that an electrician would is to bury the wire deep. They instead elect to bury the wire just under the grass or maybe a couple of inches deeper.
By code, an electric wire (without conduit) has to be buried a full 24 inches down. That’s a lot of deep, potentially hard digging, so I get why homeowners choose not to go down that far.
5) They do their own electrical, run, and bury the wire in conduit just under the grass/sod
This is exactly like number four except they run the wire in conduit. This is a very safe method but the wire is still prone to getting dug into and damaged.
By code, electric wire in conduit doesn’t have to be buried as deep as if it didn’t have any, but it still has to go down a full eighteen inches. And that’s pretty damn deep.
6) They do their own electrical to code
This is rare, but those who are handy, knowledgeable, and have a need to do things right and super safe, do this. This will save the pool owner the cost of an electrician, which can be a few hundred dollars depending on how far the electrical run is.
7) They have an electrician do the job
This is obviously the best BUT the most expensive option for setting up the electrical for your above ground pool. Those with the money and concern for safety will easily opt for getting a professional to do the job.
Money-saving tip: Electricians hate digging!! If you are willing to dig the deep trench, most electricians will give you a big price break for the job.
FOUR THINGS TO CONSIDER WHEN RUNNING ELECTRIC FOR YOUR ABOVE GROUND POOL
Here are four of the most common things that new pool owners either don’t know about or don’t consider when it comes to the electrical portion of the pool.
1 The pump should have a dedicated circuit
Pool pumps can take a lot of electricity to start up and run. Because of this, they don’t like to share the electric with anything else. Having a “dedicated” circuit means that the power coming from the electric box is solely going to one place. In this case, it’s the pool pump.
Some who run an extension cord from their home’s outside receptacle may have the electric breaker “trip” because that receptacle is connected to other receptacles in the house. So, when other things are on while the pump is on, it may be too much electricity usage for that line, resulting in the breaker for that line to trip or turn itself off and the pool pump not working.
2 The electrical line used for the pool pump should have a GFCI (ground fault circuit interrupter)
This is just an added protector for any electric line that could come in contact with water. It’s like having a more sensitive breaker in the line than the one at the power box.
By code, all kitchen and bath receptacles have to have a GFCI for this reason. This is to protect you from getting badly shocked if water comes into contact with the electricity. So, it stands to reason why you want and need that for powering your swimming pool.
Fun fact: Most will call this a “GFI” instead of “GFCI”. This is just to confuse you. The two terms are exactly the same thing.
3 Swimming pool pumps should have automatic timers
This is commonly overlooked and not spoken about when getting an above ground pool. The vast majority of above ground pool pumps do not come with timers, so you’ll have to get one.
A pool pump does not run continuously. Most pumps run 8 hours a day, which means the pump has to turn on and off at least once every day. This can be a pain to do manually every single day at the same time. If you have a timer on the pump though, it can be set it to automatically turn on and off every day. Yeah, you want this.
4 When running the pool pump’s electrical, consider the other potential electrical needs of the pool
There are some add-ons for an above ground pool that needs to be plugged in. These include salt chlorine generators, ionizers, pool lights, etc. Some will need to put a quad receptacle to accommodate some of these other things.
Also, it’s nice to have a separate receptacle at the pool deck for anything that swimmers may use like a radio or TV or plug in lights and such.