Best Way to Reduce Pool Running Costs

Name: comparepoolquotes
Price range: $$$

Run the numbers before you buy equipment. A backyard pool costs $1,200 to $2,500 a year, and heating decides which end you land on: solar runs $96–$240 a season against $600–$1,500 for gas. The filtration pump is only $96–$216 a year. Buy the cover first — it cuts evaporation by 90–95%, and chemicals with it.

The short answer

The metric to compare your own pool against: $1,200–$2,500 a year, at 33c/kWh, whether the shell is concrete or fibreglass.
Heating is the lever. Solar $96–$240, heat pump $300–$1,020, gas $600–$1,500 over a six-month season.
The cover is the cheapest lever and does three jobs: evaporation, heat and chemicals all fall together.
The pump is $96–$216 a year. A 6-star unit uses 657 kWh a year against 305 kWh for a 9-star.
Chemicals run $360–$1,200 and are driven by sun, rain and bather load — which the cover also affects.

Levers ranked by how much each moves the annual bill, at 33c/kWh
Lever	What it can move	What it costs to pull	Pull it when
Change how you heat	Up to $1,400 a season between gas and solar	Capital cost of the system	You are heating at all, and paying gas prices for it
Fit a pool cover	Evaporation down 90–95%, about 3,000 L a month, plus heat and chemicals	Lowest of any lever here	Always. Nothing else on this list does three jobs
Shorten pump run hours	A share of $96–$216 a year	Free	Water stays clear — run time is a means, not a target
Upgrade the pump	657 kWh → 305 kWh a year between a 6-star and a 9-star	New pump	The existing pump is old or low-star and due anyway
Cut chemical demand	Part of $360–$1,200 a year	Free, mostly	You are chasing chemistry — usually a cover and shade problem

First, know the number you are trying to beat

Running a backyard pool in Australia costs roughly $1,200 to $2,500 a year. If you are inside that band, you do not have a problem — you have a pool. If you are above it, the cause is almost always heating, and if you are below it you are probably not heating at all.

Published estimates disagree, so treat the band as a band rather than a target, and calculate against your own tariff. The figures here assume 33c/kWh, the Australian Energy Regulator's benchmark default market offer for July 2026. The full breakdown is in what a pool costs to run per year.

The pump is not the villain, and chasing it wastes the year

Almost every conversation about pool running costs starts with the pump, and it is the smallest line on the list. An efficient unit costs about $96 to $216 a year to run. Halving that saves you roughly a hundred dollars — real, but not the difference between a $1,200 pool and a $2,500 one.

Where the star rating does matter is at replacement time: a 6-star pump uses 657 kWh a year against 305 kWh for a 9-star. Each additional star represents around 20% less energy. Buy the better one when the old one dies; do not replace a working pump to chase it.

Reducing run hours is free and worth doing to the point where the water stays clear. Run time is a means to clear water, not a target in itself — and cutting it far enough to grow algae converts an electricity saving into a chemical bill.

Heating is the whole argument

Over a six-month season the same pool costs roughly $96–$240 heated by solar, $300–$1,020 by heat pump, and $600–$1,500 by gas. That spread is larger than every other line on this page combined, which is why "how do I reduce my pool running costs" is usually a heating question wearing a different hat.

Gas is fast to heat and expensive to hold, which makes it a good fit for occasional use and a poor one for maintaining temperature. Solar is the cheapest to run by a wide margin and depends on roof area and sun. A heat pump sits between the two and is affected by ambient temperature and by whether the pool is covered overnight.

The decision rule: if you are holding a heated pool at temperature with gas, the cover and the heating method are the only two levers worth your attention this year.

Buy the cover first

A pool cover reduces evaporation by 90 to 95%, saving around 3,000 litres a month, according to SPASA. That is water you do not buy, chemicals you do not add to replace what walked off with it, and heat you do not put back in.

Nothing else on this list does three jobs at once, and it is the lowest-cost intervention available. If you do exactly one thing after reading this page, this is the one.

The catch is honest: covers are a habit, not a purchase. An uncovered pool with a cover folded beside it saves nothing, and the heavier the cover the less often it goes on. That is the real reason cover savings under-deliver, and it is worth weighing before choosing between a manual and a roller system.

What none of this changes

Running costs are not where a pool's money is. The build is $25,000 to $110,000 depending on type — from $25,000 for a plunge pool, $45,000–$85,000 for full-size fibreglass, $65,000–$110,000 for concrete — and the barrier, paving and landscaping around it are usually quoted separately.

If you are still deciding, the running-cost difference between pool types is smaller than the sales pitch suggests: we could not verify a credible Australian figure for the running-cost gap between a fibreglass and a concrete pool of the same size, so we do not publish one. Size, heating and whether it is covered dominate. See what a pool costs, or get quotes that state what is included.

Common questions

What is the single biggest saving available?

Changing how you heat, if you heat. The gap between solar at $96–$240 a season and gas at $600–$1,500 is larger than every other lever combined. If you do not heat the pool at all, the cover is the answer instead.

How much does a pool cover actually save?

SPASA states a cover reduces evaporation by 90–95%, saving 3,000 litres a month against an uncovered pool losing around 7mm a day in summer — see SPASA's pool water savings techniques. The chemical and heat savings follow from the same mechanism.

Should I run the pump at night on off-peak?

It depends entirely on your tariff, and only helps if you are on a time-of-use plan. Check your own bill for the rates before rearranging the timer — on a flat tariff it changes nothing, and the total is $96–$216 a year either way.

Is a variable-speed pump worth it?

At replacement time, generally yes — the star rating maps directly to consumption, with a 6-star unit at 657 kWh a year against 305 kWh for a 9-star. Replacing a working pump purely to chase that saving takes many years to pay back on a $96–$216 annual cost.

Sources

General information only, current at 2026-09-10. Pool rules differ by state and by council, and penalty amounts are updated regularly. Confirm your own obligations with your council or a registered inspector before acting.

The best way to reduce pool running costs