Women Designing Pools

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we now continue our discussion on women
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in the pool industry with Kelly and Dan
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I guess you could say I'm trying to
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figure out a way that when I'm too old
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to be out in the field you know
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bending up bending over you know those
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filters and the pipes and cutting things
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ways I could sit at home so things like
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that and then uh I want to start taking
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um the phca and Genesis classes for
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building and Design
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yeah not necessarily because I want to
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be the Builder but mainly because I want
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to be the designer
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yep
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that's something there's there are a lot
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of people that do just that and and with
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that you know it's it's interesting that
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you you take that approach because
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um a lot of designers and this goes for
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Architects as well
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um they're good at drawing pretty
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pictures but the reality of trying to
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construct what they draw oftentimes is
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just not possible yeah um so
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understanding the the what it takes to
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build the structure uh by going to like
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you said the Genesis courses are great
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great sources for that
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um water shape also has fantastic
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courses for that there are a lot of
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opportunities that give you some some
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background so as you're drawing those
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fantastic 3D designs you know it's it's
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something that can be reality uh as
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opposed to just a pretty thing so when I
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first started doing pools obviously I
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already knew I did not want to clean
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fools forever
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hated it as a kid knew it hated as an
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adult but that's how you that's the way
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I think people most people should get
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into pools is starting from like a
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service side so that you can understand
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how the Pool Works
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and what doesn't work
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um and then I wanted to at that point I
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wanted to become a builder but I wanted
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to become a builder who built pools that
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Not only was what the customer wanted
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but was also for the service person
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you know that that's how I I started in
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the industry just that way doing service
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um
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and everything that I do today uh you
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know everything that that I have our
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team
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it all revolves around the the longevity
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and the serviceability and without the
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service background I I think a lot of
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people that jump into building either
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from other Industries or or from other
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even sectors within our our industry
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without the service background that's
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where you end up running into these
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nightmares right you've seen them we've
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all seen them I'm sure our listeners
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have seen them where you know you you
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just walk in the yard and go
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who did this
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what were they thinking
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um why is the the cleaner line on the
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other side of the pool where the
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Negative Edge is for a 20-foot drop yeah
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all all different crazy uh crazy things
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that that were um just not really
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thought of in terms of the
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serviceability or longevity because uh
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you know we've seen it from from our
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infancies by dealing with it so let's I
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think another thing
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when uh it comes to builders I think
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I want to phrase this correctly
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when you have a builder that doesn't
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have a lot of experience within the pool
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industry or does or you know they're
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just like I'll just hire subs for
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everything
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if you don't understand what each sub's
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job is and how it should be that's where
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these pools become nightmares
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because maybe that sub that might be the
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best buck
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sometimes even when they're most
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expensive but they did it wrong you know
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the gunite's not level uh I had a pool
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where the Builder abandoned the job went
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to it and and in the spa they put a jet
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where there's no bench
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right where the you know the dam wall is
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to go into the pool and the customer
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calls the jet now the kinky jet
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because of where it is placed when you
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stand up buy it well maybe that was the
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intent you know
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thank you
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they say the the Disney cartoon artists
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always had some uh some interesting
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things hidden in all of the cartoons
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maybe maybe that was that golden way of
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the customer didn't even know what it
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was until my dad was like that's a jet
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and why is it there and so the customer
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gets in because they're we're also
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making looking at the benches to see if
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they're right which they weren't either
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and they stand next to the chat and
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they're like oh this is the kinky jet
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dude but if if you don't know you how
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are you supposed to be like hey that's
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wrong or like you know I've had it where
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I go in and I'm gonna put the the Jets
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in after everything's been plastered and
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built and it doesn't line up like it
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should because the pipe went down after
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gunite or you know all those things or
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um I went to a warranty recently and I
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don't have experience getting lights out
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once they're plastered into the plaster
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because they cut the pipe this is a 320
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light so an inch and a half light they
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cut the pipe Too Short when they
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installed it so then when the plaster
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company came in did a bowling effect and
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Pla and they ended up Plastering the
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Garment so we had to figure out a way to
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not damage the plaster job but get that
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light out and you know those are things
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that are going to happen if the Builder
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is one just too busy and not seeing
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what's going on or two they just don't
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know at all yeah exactly exactly and
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that's you know good Builders if it's a
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builder who's subbing out uh a lot or
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even all of the project if if they don't
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have that that solid foundation and and
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aren't committed to going out and
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inspecting every phase of the
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subcontractors work before the next
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phase and subcontractor comes in then
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unfortunately that's what homeowners end
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up with right kinky Jets so
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kinky Jets and uh what was the other one
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I had all the returns to the pool were
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the in-floor system
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there were no return so
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that means floor system was going to be
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on
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all the time when the pool was on it was
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on instead it was supposed to be
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designed where it had its own pop
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okay but because there was no other
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return
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that's what they had
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yeah you know in the midwest that's
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actually not very uncommon that really
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the the filter pump is the the
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circulation is all through the in floor
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cleaning one in floor cleaning is done
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the builders do them different ways but
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it's it's not that uncommon to run into
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that around our neck of the woods it's
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and I I don't have any reasoning for it
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other than the fact that the uh the most
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in-floor cleaning is on gunite pools we
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see very very little on vinyl pools
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fiberglass I never see any but the and
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gunite pools are not overly prevalent in
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the midwest uh compared to where you're
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at and you know in the Sun Belt and
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everything else so the I I think it has
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to do with a little bit more experience
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when dealing with those types of things
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just like we're talking about you know
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right so someone's just doing what they
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think is the way to do it
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um but you know yeah there there's all
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kinds of different things that if you if
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you had to look at from a service
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standpoint you you would certainly do
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things a little different
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yeah
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it's interesting I like that we're from
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two different areas so I can hear how
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you guys do things compared to us and
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probably vice versa yeah and you know
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like we've said before I've I've never
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had uh
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buyers deal with and you know everything
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else you got earthquakes mudslides
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all the the beautiful part of California
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that I I don't have to deal with and you
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don't have to deal with the flat land of
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Illinois that is boring as I'll get out
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and uh although we do have similar I
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guess
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um sort of political environments and
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things like that but uh the natural
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environments are definitely different
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yes
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I I will agree with that one you know we
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can have um
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go to a pool with a bunch of pine trees
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around it within 30 minutes
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yeah
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that's I would love to live in
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California because of that you know you
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can be in an hour and a half two hours
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any direction you're in a different
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place that's oh yeah it's really nice
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I'm very very lucky about that I think
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that's one of the reasons I don't mind
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living where I do and paying what I pay
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uh because I get those luxuries now when
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my sister and my best friend try to
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convince me to move to Texas
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well now I have my definite reason of
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why I'm not coming here
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I can't breathe when it's humid yeah my
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hair gets oily because it's humid
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um I also noticed that the parking lots
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are very massive
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well there's plenty of space for it
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right yeah
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uh but
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I mean but I'm used to the cost of
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California
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yeah and so it doesn't faze me they're
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like oh it's so much cheaper here I'm
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like yeah but you're hourly rate you
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know in some departments I've learned
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pools you make great money out here but
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you have to look at those things and I
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was very fortunate that I have a house
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that I rent for dirt cheap
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but super nice and plenty of room for me
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and the boys and my dogs and
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but
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and pools are there's in my area there's
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too many pools and not enough qualified
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people
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yeah that's a great a great position to
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be in
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one two three
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all right
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[Music]
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foreign
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10:58
[Music]
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foreign
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[Music]
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with the talking pools podcast
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for information on sponsoring the
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Tuesdays with Kelly and Dan show contact
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us at talkingpools gmail.com
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foreign
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[Music]
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at certainly different markets you know
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like you're saying have different
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um
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values I guess in our industry and
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different costs and different uh
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you know
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I don't know how I would ever survive in
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Florida uh as a pool company oh I know
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trying to do what we do and also I think
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it's difficult you know we we do
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you know we're kind of like all facets
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construction service retail and you know
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when you get down to Florida especially
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it's it's not very frequent that you
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find somebody that's doing everything
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everyone is very much more specialized
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and
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um and it's obviously much more
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competitive
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um so it drives the cost factors
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totally Askew from what we're used to in
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the Midwest
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yeah
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um
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it seems like down there they're
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improving on prices but the prices that
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we hear people say like on social media
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or during conversations it seems like
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it's very cheap for full service
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um yeah you know it's it's funny pool
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service and we probably have a whole
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other podcast on that but you know we
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people in Florida when when they hear
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what we are able to achieve in that
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regard I'm amazed they're not all
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migrating up here because
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I mean we we truly are getting upwards
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of 500 a month plus chemicals where you
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know that would be a whole year in
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Florida
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yeah well in Texas uh my sister said
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that she starts for full service I
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believe about 2 30 a month
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and that includes limited chemicals
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and where I'm at it's now
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I want to say it's starting for full
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service is probably about 150 175.
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um and it varies so some people include
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limited chemicals some people chemicals
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are extra on top of that
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um filter cleanings in my area are all
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extra
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um now compared to Florida we don't
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clean our filters as often but we also
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oversize our filters
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right yeah yeah I I we we have some
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especially in the recent years with the
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the crazy boom that's been going on and
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all of the the what I what I kind of
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classify as non-pool people that jump
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into our industry and all of a sudden
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are building pools
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um putting the you know 50 and 75 square
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foot cartridges on pools in our Market
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where the the standard in our Market is
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four to five hundred square foot on a
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pool so
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I mean I've my own pool is 32 000 gallon
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pool
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uh it's about 1100 square feet of
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surface area and I've got a 420 square
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foot cartridge on it that most years I
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started up early April and close it down
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late October early November and I never
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have to clean that filter all year long
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so you know and and that's to me that's
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the way a pool should operate when when
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we're dealing with homeowners that want
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to have low maintenance and things like
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that and in our Market where maintenance
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is four to five hundred dollars a month
15:12
plus chemicals not you know in in a lot
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of the the warmer Sun belts you know
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almost everybody has a pool person come
15:19
and take care of it for our our Market
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isn't that way it's it's definitely a
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luxury to have someone come and take
15:26
care of your pool so we try to oversize
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like like you're saying and make it that
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it doesn't need
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to be another you know lawn to mow for
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for the pool owner to try and make as
15:37
maintenance free as possible
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now I do find it interesting is you'll
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see online where they you know they want
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a certain PSI on their filters
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but where I'm at it's not uncommon to
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have zero PSI because of the variable
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speed pumps and these filters being a
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bigger size
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and the pool still stays beautiful you
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see great flow through it and there's no
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problems
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do you find when you eventually do uh
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pair those filters down the clean them
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that not the full height of the filter
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is actually being utilized though
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sometimes yes
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especially if they have like a 15 000
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gallon pool and they put you know uh
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like 500 square foot filter or whatever
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is close to that on it
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and there's no trees and nothing it's
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just pretty bare
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well and I guess that makes it easy for
16:30
maintenance too instead of cleaning them
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you just flip them over and continue on
16:33
right
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no there's a you can't go
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bottom is not up
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uh but yeah they still I
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they still can filter perfectly fine as
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long as I think as long as you can see
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that there's flow in the pool staying
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clear it's not that big of a deal
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now yeah if it's one of those single 150
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200 square foot filters yeah Zero's not
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going to cut it
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yeah zero would be something that would
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bother me I I would change parameters
17:09
around to even with variable speed I
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think I would be increasing speed
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reducing overall run time or something
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so that I'm showing you know five or
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seven pounds at least on the filter to
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to get better better use of the filter
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and and instead of running 24 7 on this
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thing drop it down to half that or
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whatever to get there but when it comes
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to my area we're especially like the of
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California we're very mindful of our
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energy costs because especially during
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the summer time uh after four o'clock
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it's very expensive
17:44
yeah and even with variable speed pumps
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yes they're very energy efficient but
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at the rates we're paying we try to have
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everyone either run their their
17:54
equipment at night
17:56
or run it before four o'clock
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what did you know off top of your head
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what you are paying a kilowatt hour
18:03
there oh
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god let's say a peak is almost 50 cents
18:08
yeah okay
18:10
we're it's pretty bad I complain about
18:13
Illinois but our Energy prices in terms
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of gas natural gas I should say an
18:17
electricity are
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I want to say among the lowest in the
18:21
country we're about 13 cents overall a
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kilowatt hour
18:26
um you know when you're taking all the
18:29
fees and taxes and all that kind of
18:30
stuff it comes out to about 13 cents a
18:31
kilowatt hour
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so actually looking it up
18:35
it's it's very reasonable to to run
18:37
pumps here and especially variable speed
18:40
pumps it's uh okay it's not 50 it's not
18:44
50 cents but it says Peak is almost 30
18:47
cents
18:51
significantly more than we're paying for
18:52
sure
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so yeah people believe me they're on our
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asses about running it I have a lot
18:59
they're like no we only need to rent six
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hours no you don't
19:04
um but variable speed pumps in our
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Marketplace for themselves within two
19:07
years probably because of that
19:09
we say two years but it's usually the
19:12
first year
19:14
yeah around around here it's uh well on
19:17
my own pool uh I built this pool in 2006
19:21
and I hit just single speed on it and
19:24
about six years in switched over to
19:26
variable
19:27
and metering the pump into independently
19:31
the the last year the single speed and
19:33
the first year variable speed in my six
19:35
month season it saved me a about 450
19:38
dollars
19:40
um at 13 cents a kilowatt hour so you
19:43
know for me it was a huge savings that
19:46
back at that time would have paid for
19:48
that pump in about three seasons and
19:50
again our Seasons depending are four or
19:53
five maybe six months
19:55
as opposed to year round so
19:59
definitely something worthwhile
20:01
oh yeah
20:03
but like we had mentioned before you
20:05
know that's where we need to have that
20:07
education about how to run those
20:09
variable speed pumps
20:12
um so that it's enough and knowing it's
20:14
enough and not overrunning it but not
20:16
under running it
20:18
yeah it's it's definitely a
20:22
different animal than single speed stuff
20:24
and there's definitely a lot more of
20:26
them being done wrong than than right I
20:28
feel
20:29
um yeah I go to pools where it's 300 or
20:33
3450 RPMs running for six to eight hours
20:36
a day
20:37
and I'm just like you're not getting
20:40
what you can get out of this pump so
20:43
let's you know change that also if
20:45
you're running it like that um I would
20:48
feel you're not going to get the same
20:49
life expectancy out of it
20:52
yeah anything that you're running hard
20:54
is is going to be much
20:56
much shorter and and also with the the
20:59
start stop as opposed to putting it on a
21:02
lower speed and having it run
21:03
continually
21:05
um you know the start stop on anything
21:06
is where the heaviest part of the wear
21:08
and tear comes and
21:14
so and now my phone rings because
21:17
someone's having problems connecting to
21:19
their controller
21:23
well I guess that's a good reason that
21:25
we should that and uh
21:28
it's and it's probably time that we
21:31
should sign off for today and
21:35
I time goes by fast with you
21:38
yeah well uh it it's it's fun I'm having
21:42
a good time I hope you are I hope our
21:44
listeners are and uh I would certainly
21:47
love to see some some listeners throw
21:48
some comments or emails talkingpools
21:51
gmail.com with some ideas as to topics
21:53
that they'd like to hear us touch on as
21:56
we're visiting with them every Tuesday
21:58
so yeah we're getting up get an
22:01
opportunity to do that please do reach
22:03
out to us let us know
22:05
um what what you think and how how we
22:08
can talk about things that might help
22:10
you so that'd be great
22:12
well thank you guys for listening again
22:15
to Tuesdays with Kelly and Dan we will
22:18
be back next week with something
22:23
I'll talk to you again have a good day
22:26
bye everyone bye-bye



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