What is best – a swimming pool or a swim spa?
Choosing between a swimming pool and a swim spa depends on several factors, including your space, budget, intended use, and personal preferences.
Let's look through the advantages and the considerations for both choices:
Swimming Pool
Pros:
Size and Space: Swimming pools generally provide more room for swimming laps, hosting parties, playing games, or lounging. They offer ample space for multiple users at once.
Traditional Experience: A conventional swimming pool can provide a more typical aquatic experience, including diving, floating on inflatables, and varied water depths for different activities.
Visual Appeal: Pools can be aesthetically pleasing and enhance the outdoor environment, potentially increasing property value.
Customisation: You can customise a pool with features like diving boards, slides, waterfalls, and lighting, adding to its appeal and functionality.
Swimming Pool
Cons:
Space Requirement: Pools require a significant amount of outdoor space, which might be a limiting factor for some properties.
High Maintenance: Maintaining a pool involves regular cleaning, chemical balancing, winterising, and general upkeep, which can be time-consuming and expensive.
Higher Cost: Installation and maintenance costs of a swimming pool are generally higher than those for a swim spa.
Planning Permissions: Most domestic swimming pools and hot tubs do not require any form of planning permission or local council building control involvement, providing the pool is no less than five metres from the house and not within one metre of the dwelling boundary.
Swim Spa:
Pros:
Compact Size: Swim spas are more space-efficient, making them suitable for smaller gardens or even indoor spaces.
Exercise and Therapy: Swim spas are designed for exercise and therapy, with features like adjustable currents for swimming in place, hydrotherapy jets, and often warmer water.
Year-Round Use: Many swim spas can be used year-round, even in colder climates, due to their smaller size and efficient heating capabilities.
Lower Maintenance: Swim spas typically require less maintenance than full-sized swimming pools due to their smaller water volume.
Swim Spas
Cons:
Limited Activity Space: The compact size may not accommodate as many users or allow for varied activities beyond swimming and soaking.
Less Traditional Pool Experience: If you desire the open space and traditional features of a swimming pool, a swim spa might not fully meet your expectations.
Possibly Less Aesthetic: While functional, swim spas may not have the same aesthetic appeal as a well-designed inground pool.
In Summary
Consider a swimming pool if you have sufficient space, are looking for a traditional pool experience, and want to enhance the visual appeal and value of your property.
Opt for a swim spa if space is limited; you prioritise exercise and therapeutic benefits or prefer lower maintenance and year-round usage.
Your selection should match your how often you plan to use it, your lifestyle, budget, available space, and how you envision using your aquatic setup.
