If you or your family are active swimmers, you know that your pool frequently needs a good cleaning. For this, your initial choice is either hiring a cleaning service crew or doing it on your own. A pool vacuum is offered in different styles and configurations. The best pool vacuum cleaner choices are a manual type or an automatic pool vacuum robot that sucks up sediment or debris collected while moving around the pool.
Just like home vacuum cleaners sold in the marketplace, pool cleaners have different types and models too. Depending on your type of pool, you’ll first need to determine if you need an above ground pool vacuum or an in-ground pool vacuum.
Based on a few factors, this article can help you determine the most effective option for your home. Likewise, we have listed the type of cleaner by the way it cleans and works.
Best Pool Vacuum Cleaner Types: The Most Common
Generally speaking, there are various types of pool vacuums. Below we will discuss the way they work and the power they consume.
Suction Pool Cleaners
Suction cleaners use the pool’s filtration system. They are attached to a water intake outlet, and they use the suction power of the pump to suck in debris. These are also called suction-side pool cleaners and work while the pools filtration system is running. This means they can use quite a lot of power and will have high electricity usage costs. Nonetheless, they can work very well with pools that already have a functioning pump and filters. However, you will have to clean the filters more often as they will be collecting a lot more dirt and debris.
Pressure Pool Cleaners
Pressure cleaners use the power from the pool’s pressure pump to move along the surface of the pool. They do utilize their own power for cleaning and have wheels to make movement easy. The side pool cleaners also come equipped with filter bags so that there is no reliance on the pool’s filters. While they may be less powerful, an addition of a booster pump can make them just as good as other types of pool cleaners.
Pool Vacuum Robot
A pool vacuum robot is fully automated and are becoming increasingly popular because of their power, efficiency, and ease. They do not rely on any system inside the pool and work fully independently. Besides these qualities, the biggest advantage of using this kind of pool cleaner is that it is energy efficient as it will consume less power.
Essentially, a robotic pool vacuum comes with filters and motors for suction, but many different models offer advanced features. You can even control some with remote control. It does everything by itself, and you do not need to worry about the cleaning as they suck in even the smallest of the particles. Since they are so good at this, the price tag is equally high.
Battery Operated Pool Vacuum
As the name implies, these are a much smaller model that is powered by batteries and is perfect for a small pool or spa. For the bigger pools, the battery operated for a pool or spa can be considered an extension to the automatic cleaners. Once you are done vacuuming the bed of the pool with the automatic cleaner, you can utilize this battery powered pool vacuum to get to spots that are difficult to clean or reach.
Pool Cleaning Methods: Vacuum Reviews Comparison
It is a reality that most of us will always go for practicality, so we will not purchase items that we think are not necessary. However, is buying the best really impractical? Let us try to find out below.
In-Floor Cleaning System
You’re looking for the best pool vacuum cleaner, but did you know some pools have their own cleaning systems? An in-floor pool cleaning system is part of the pool that uses jets at the bed of the pool which is connected to the return line. The heads pop up when the system is on, and the booster pump produces a strong current. The water moves towards the main drain where it takes all the debris with it, and eventually, all this debris goes to the filters. You do not even have to worry about using the top model as the cleaning is done by the pool water circulation itself. However, this is usually installed when the pool is being constructed which means that it has to be included in the construction plan and can be quite expensive.
So, most people do not install this unless they have a spare budget for it. Thus, we can say that those automatic cleaning types are cheaper as compared to the in-floor cleaning system. The best thing is, even when they are more affordable, the latest models clean just as well as the built-in system, especially the robotic types.
Manual Pool Vacuum
There is another alternative to in-floor cleaning systems which are the manual cleaners like handheld pool vacuums, brushes, and telescopic pool skimmer poles. This method requires labor since you need to scrub off the walls and surfaces of the pool to remove the dirt and algae. It can be quite labor intensive if you have a larger-sized pool.
As can be denoted from above, the main benefit of getting an automatic pool vacuum cleaner as compared to a manual style is that there is zero human intervention which can save you a lot of time and hard work.
Also, the cleaning is more thorough as compared to doing it manually. That is because the filtration rate in most of the latest pool models is much more efficient as they filter down objects as small as five microns.
Additionally, the automatic style can clean up the bottom of your pool in a matter of hours. In fact, some of the more powerful models might just take about three hours to get a big sized pool clean.
Conclusion
Based on the above information you can determine the best model for cleaning your type of swimming pool. It is imperative to keep your pool clean not just for the pool itself but also for the health of people using it. Regardless of how often you take a swim, pools can get quite dirty with dust sediment and fungus on the surfaces.
There are plenty of choices, but keep in mind the price ranges vary too. If you have a limited budget, you can find an inexpensive manual pool cleaner that is functional, but the cleanliness is based on the amount of manual work you put into it.
However, if you do have the budget, the automatic style can be the best pool vacuum cleaner choice since it requires less manual labor to effectively clean your pool water.
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