Everywhere you look the rush is on to simplify our lives with mobile apps that control our homes, cars, TVs, entertainment, shopping, you name it. There’s “an app for that” for just about everything … except, of course, most backyard pools.
True, a handful of pool owners do enjoy remote control freedom with advanced pool automation solutions like the OmniLogic® system from Hayward. But sophisticated systems can be complex to install. They require an electrician and are chiefly aimed at new pool installations, not the more basic needs of existing backyard pools.
What about the vast majority of current pool owners? For now, the digital revolution for an estimated 4 million pool owners is stubbornly out of reach. Their ‘remote control’ is the on/off timer switch out in the backyard.
The industry looks primed to tackle the issue, with at least one major industry name introducing a smart control system aimed at the retrofit market. The product is a family of variable-speed pumps with smart control built-in for a complete pool pad. It allows the pool owner to remotely operate up to 4 pieces of equipment, such as the variable-speed pump, heater, pool lights and booster pump. The new line-up from Hayward, called VS Omni Pumps, is being readied for market release as early as the first quarter of 2018. The new smart control system opens the door to pool owners who thought automation had passed them by or assumed the upgrade was beyond their budget. It also plays well with the pool professionals: No electricians are required for installation unless mandated by local code.
Greg Fournier understands the pent-up demand. “People want smart control for their pool,” he says. Fournier is the Global Product Manager for Automation Systems at New Jersey-based Hayward Pool Products. Fournier and Scott Petty, Global Product Manager for Pumps at Hayward Pool, helped lead the charge for the VS Omni Pumps. “More and more homeowners take for granted remote functionality for their homes, cars, and TVs. Why not their pool and spa? Why put up with trudging back and forth, shutting off lights, pumps, and filters when all that should be required is a quick tap, swipe, or voice command?”
The manufacturer expects the combination to time well with the Department of Energy’s recent mandate to require variable-speed pumps to power a pool or spa’s filtration system and other applications by 2021. Homeowners, in effect, will have to ask themselves, “If I have to upgrade to a variable-speed pump anyway, why not add a smart control system while I’m at it?”
According to Gary Fernstrom, an energy consultant who participated in the DOE committee that wrote the new regulation, the financial sting of that upgrade is dramatically reduced by the variable-speed pump’s quick payback, likely within two years. Throw in a possible rebate from the local utility and the days of night-time walks to the pump are over.
Smartphone and smart home device compatibility also factors large in a smart control system upgrade. Hayward’s VS Omni solution, for example, works across all popular mobile devices and is also compatible with voice-activated Alexa.
“A control system like the VS Omni Pumps are a win-win-win for the retail aftermarket, the trade, and the consumer,” says Petty. “Pool and spa retailers and their customers have waited too long for an affordable, common sense smart control system, especially when it pays for itself.” To learn more, visit here.
Presented by Hayward Pool Products
