The Best Types Of Pool Cleaners For Easier Pool Maintenance

Pool cleaners are essential for having clean, clear water all season long. While a filter helps, a cleaner handles all the extra dirt and grime on your pool floor and walls.

Picking the right cleaner makes all the difference in ensuring you don’t spend all your free time on pool maintenance.

A great pool cleaner, also known as a pool vacuum, helps you save time, money and chemicals. Some even help you save water.

Manual Pool Cleaners

Manual pool cleaners are the least expensive of all your options, which makes them a popular choice. However, you’ll also need to use them more often. Plus, as the name implies, they’re manual, so you’ll be doing the work.

These attach to your skimmer handle. You then use a vacuum hose to connect to your filtration system. Depending on your filter type, you may also need to use your garden hose to prevent the water level from dropping too low.

Even with robotic cleaners, you may still need to use a manual cleaner sometimes to get rid of more stubborn problem areas. You’ll need to scrub and vacuum the pool manually at least once a week.

Pressure-Side Cleaners

While these cost more, pressure-side pool cleaners take some of the burden off your filter system. Instead of debris going into the filter, it’s stored safely in a bag. These work great for pool floors, but aren’t quite as effective on walls.

These attach directly to your filter pump’s pressure side. They use water pressure to then move around your pool. You may also need to invest in a booster pump to help with movement. After everything’s connecting, you’ll need to make some manual adjustments to ensure the cleaner reaches all over your pool and climbs the walls effectively.

These are a great mid-priced option that takes away much of the manual labor. Plus, you’ll use less water.

Suction-Side Pool Cleaners

Suction-side pool cleaners are kind of a mix between pressure-side and manual. Unlike pressure-side cleaners, suction-side cleaners attach to the suction side of your filter pump.

This also means debris is dumped into your filter, much like a manual cleaner. Using your filter to dump debris can make it wear out faster. The main benefit of suction-side is you have far less manual labor.

The suction helps the cleaner move around your pool in a random pattern. This may mean they miss spots and may not clean nearly as well as other types of pool cleaners.

Robotic Cleaners

Robotic pool cleaners are a dream come true when it comes to having a clean pool without spending all your time on manual maintenance. As you might expect, they’re the most expensive option. It’s a trade-off between budget and easier cleaning.

They’re the most effective of all the options and don’t rely on your filter system at all. The range is limited based on the cleaner’s cord, so you’ll want to choose one with a longer cord if you have a larger pool.

Once connected, robotic pool cleaners are completely self-contained. However, they’re not great at picking up larger debris, so you’ll need to handle that part yourself. Plus, the cleaner has its own filter system that needs to be cleaned, which is much easier than cleaning the entire pool.

The cleaner includes software that allows it to map out your pool to clean the floors, walls and corners. While it may miss a spot sometimes, overall, it’s the most effective low-maintenance option available.

You can still use a manual cleaner if you notice any obvious areas the robotic cleaner is missing. Since everything is contained, you’ll also save water and electricity since your filter pump isn’t running as hard to filter out debris.

How They Compare

Here’s a side-by-side look at what each type of pool cleaner costs and what you can expect:

The most effective way to save time on pool maintenance is to let professionals handle everything. Contact Koko Head Pool Service today to set a cleaning schedule for your pool and spend more time enjoying it and less time cleaning.