Does anyone have an “endless pool” / “jet pool”?

[user143677433]

We’re building a house, and I half-jokingly looked up how much, and how much space, for a pool. Then DH suggested a jet pool.

Does anyone here have a jet pool / endless pool? If so, is it worth it and do you use it? Any pros/cons?

(For anyone curious, it’s like a very small swimming pool where you swim in place against a jet of water. Some of them double as very large hot tubs. They seem to take up about the same footprint as a large car)

I’ve used them a few times - the leisure centre in the town we stay in when we go skiing has a couple. To me, they feel like the swimming equivalent of using a spin bike or running on a treadmill: you get the exercise and the motion but lose all the things which are most enjoyable about running / cycling / swimming and I think you have to see them as more of an exercise machine than a pool. If you want a pool, you need a pool.

I don't but I did have a regular pool.
Was a flipping nightmare tbh and o wasn't sad when we sold our house and got rid of the hassle!

Thanks both.

@ComtesseDeSpair yes I suspected that, and it’s why I am in two minds about it. I did think it’s like a big hot tub if not in use for swimming, but then maybe I should just get a hot tub.

@Horehound what didn’t you like about the pool? Was it a lot of maintenance? There’s no way I have room for a pool on the current plot, but we are planning on building again in 10 years and I liked the idea of having a decent sized pool then.

@user143677433 well, in the first year we had water build up behind the liner (it was not a tiled pool although looked like it) and so we had a big insurance job to fix that...and actually insurance weren't going to pay out initially but after a series of events that landed in our favour they paid up! Thank god cause it was about £18k worth :O
Next up was the pool cover the previous owners had installed. It was a really heavy duty greenhouse effect type cover. Very, very heavy to move on and off the pool but I hated swimming with the cover on (it was a high dome shape) because it was always covered in condensation and dripped on you!
There was also moss growing up between the perspex covers.
So we bought a brand new roller cover for summer and used the big perspex cover for winter. In high winds the cover blew off where we had it on the patio and flew up hit the house and damage the guttering and rendering.
Constant cleaning.
Installed an air sourced heat pump which was actually pretty good but did increase the costs of heating the water. That was the really good benefit of the perspex cover - it really heated the water up well.
So we bought a robot cleaner which I think was £1.5k, the summer roller cover was roughly the same, the worry of what else was going to happen with the pool...
The fact we really only used it about 6 or 7 times a year. Honestly was not worth the hassle!! But, it did look awesome and was great fun in got days. Not often in NE Scotland I can tell you! Hehe.
I'd rather just go to the beach or hotel or council swimming pools tbh!

It's like people having yachts. My brother has a yacht and we joke that the best thing is for someone else to have a yacht and you just get the benefit of it. Otherwise the whole thing is just another expense on top of expense.

Ideal world pool vs Reality of pool

Oh my goodness! I can see why you were glad to be rid of it!

So ... what I need is a nice neighbour with a pool

I love swimming and used to swim in an endless pool. It wasn' nearly as enjoyable as swimming in a big pool - it was hard to get the current right and hard to stat in place without drifting.

I don't have one, but have swum in them for coaching. It really is like a swimming treadmill - you get the exercise in, but its really boring. So if you are into swimming and need to train, great. Otherwise I really don't think you'd get any value. But they are more like a posh jacuzzi to run rather than a full pool

@user143677433

Oh my goodness! I can see why you were glad to be rid of it!

So ... what I need is a nice neighbour with a pool

Exactly!

My friend has a swim spa - it is amazing... part jacuzzi but part endless pool, and it is warm... I love it

Yup. It’s great.

We’re both swimmers and it’s amazing for training.

It’s a treadmill. If you’re serious about swimming and are you keeping the levels of chlorine and pH right - needs monitoring once a week if you’re using it most days - go for it

Although I know the installation time for EP orders booked now will be some time next year.

@BlueyandBingo

My friend has a swim spa - it is amazing... part jacuzzi but part endless pool, and it is warm... I love it

See op...they love their friends one! Haha

@Horehound I am WhatsApping my friend right now to persuade her 😉

Those who have used the EP or similar ... I am very much a middle aged mum leisure swimmer. A half hour of breast stroke, getting mildly out of puff - 120 bpm heart rate - definitely not a super slick triathlon trainer. Do you think it’s suitable?

I don’t mind it being a “swimming treadmill” - I really enjoy my cross trainer and the rowing machine. I guess I’m worried the jets might not go slow enough for me, or maybe it’s not wide enough for breast stroke?

In terms of dimensions, the width of the EP is good, loads of space. The speed on lowest setting equates to about 100m in 4 mins so imagine a fairly slow kick, no arms and you’ll keep pace with it at that speed so you’d find a pace that suits for sure.

From your update though, I’m not sure it’ll be worth the outlay.

You can get an awful lot of swimming sessions, for £20k+ PLUS installation PLUS conversion or creation of whatever structure it’d go into assuming it’s above ground PLUS monthly running costs to heat it and the space if in a garage or similar.

And yes... mentally... it’s a tough haul to stay focussed

You don’t get the same sense of grace, no glide, no kick out, no break out.

Both oh and I are swimmers and swim together when we’re in the squad pool, the EP is single use, so there’s just you and the flow

The EP is the best machine for replication of swimming on the spot, no bubbles, just flow

It’s a very good way to train on swimming, but a lot of competitive swimming relies on things you can’t do in the EP.

Don’t get me wrong, I love my EP. I love the big pools too though and couldn’t give up going to a 25m or 50m pool.

My oh says different tho.

Yeah, but the only nice pool near us shuts in the evenings, which is when I normally exercise.

But yes, still very much a “what if” at the moment. Also £30k-£40k compared to the cost of the house we’re building ...seems reasonable (but then ... I could more sensibly put that money into a pension instead).

If you’re building it into something, you’re looking at more like £60k to £80k

You also have to factor in what the pool and it’s cost will do to the resale of your house.

We already have built in the potential to take the pool with us and reinstalling it if ever we were to move as we know it’s not something everyone would want to take on.

I suppose I’m lucky, outside of Covid I have options of pools to go to. And joining a squad means I get 5 hours of ‘big’ pool time weekly normally as a minimum

Good luck with the house build! :)

Also £30k-£40k compared to the cost of the house we’re building ...seems reasonable

@Smile2Late2Run explains what these pools are like very well indeed and I won't try to repeat the points she makes.

We got one as I absolutely hate things like running or rowing but am quite happy to spend time swimming. More than happy with ours.

The reason we went for one rather than an ordinary pool is that we just don't have the space for eg a 20m - 25m lap pool on our property. If we did have the space I would have much preferred a lap pool to an "endless pool". A lap pool is typically about 2m wide.

There are a number of suppliers - although, you've no doubt already done your homework.

You're looking at about £17k-£28k (inc VAT - so obviously cheaper if this is a new build) for the actual pool plus, if it's not going to be in the main home, whatever the cost will be of building the external space it will be in.

Although, if you're currently building a house then the space to incorporate the pool (anywhere from 3.5m x 2.25m up to 6m x 2.25m) can obviously be designed in to the build.

Here is one example:-

A Guide to Endless Pools: FAQs, Tips and More

I have also heard good things about a US manufacturer called Swimex although I don't know what sort of support they have here in the UK:-

www.swimex.com/residential-lap-pools/triton-residential-swim-spa/

A friend had one put into her garage

She has to climb up into it , it isn’t sunk in

We have a small swim spa in an outbuilding ( old barn). We bought it many for our autistic son ( young adult) who has sensory needs.it is however more used as a therapy pool to keep DH and I moving! I’m not a very strong swimmer so struggle to stay tidily in the jet stream.there is a harness set up but I’ve never used it. For serious swimming I think the bigger size would be better because I find our pool only just big enough ( sometimes my feet get too close to the sides or end) and I’m rather short! It has of course been invaluable over lockdown ! We keep it a bit warmer than a pool but not quite as warm as a hot tub. Ours is a low chlorine pool ( Canadian swim spa) and does not need a lot of maintenance- weekly chlorine checks if it’s just our family using it.

I meant to say- I’m glad ours is located in a barn - not open to the elements. It has a thick insulating cover which reduces the heat loss between swims ( and keeps dust/ leaves out). It is above ground but we have a raised walkway around part of it which can be removed for maintenance if needed. The jets can be redirected for therapy. The jets can be a bit noisy if you have neighbours.

Thank you all so much for your help. I’m going to do some reading up (thanks for the link!) and will come back when I have more questions.

MN is the best!

I considered an endless pool, but then bought a house that had a bigger garden snd put in an inground pool. At 4x8m not great for swimming lengths though I do do that. It has liner and air source heater for April to October use.
Maintenance is not bad at all. Onve a week skimming any leaves off and I have a robot (£250) that does the finer stuff on the bottom. Chlorine tabs once or twice a week and that's it (plus £120 twice a year to open and winterise it). Cost me about £25,-30,000 including landscaping around it 8 years ago (SE).

After a year and a half of no swim, we have decided last month to look at some swim spa to put in the garden. We did a few wet trials and decided we want a Master Spa's H2X Challenger (we are quite good swimmers but the different settings also allow for slow swim and the spa jets / sound system included is amazing. If you are a leisure swimmer, a H2X Trainer might be enough). The brand is considered a premium brand in America but somehow it is the same price here in the UK as Endless Pool (I was attracted by the list price of EP initially but soon realised nothing is included, no workout equipment, sound system, not even the lid!). We went to The Hot tub superstore in Blackpool which sells the full range and because we have used the shop for 9 years, we know the service is good. I know there are other dealers that sell the H2X across the country, I would definitely recommend you give it a try before you decide!

PS I grew up swimming both open water (in Hong Kong) and in a large Olympic sized local pool. The EP 13 we tried did feel like a large hot tub but the Challenger 19D definitely has a swimming pool feel plus it actually has a separate hot tub section (The One Stop Spa Shop in Nottingham has one for wet trial). Also, all our friends who has had 'real' swimming pools warned us about the cost and trouble but swim spa owners seem quite happy with their purchase. That's why we are going for one. Our spa's lead time is 20 weeks so hopefully will get ours around Christmas.