When it comes to cleaning your pool, many pool owners consult professionals about which is better: automatic chlorinators or putting pucks in your skimmer? Many pool professionals stand divided on the answer, as both prove to be powerful methods when it comes to cleaning your pool. The reason it is so divided is also because there are so many individual factors to consider in what pool care option is best.

Let’s take a closer look the pros and cons of these two methods.

Chlorine Pucks in Your Skimmer Basket

There are many pros when it comes to adding chlorine pucks in your skimmer basket. Adding chlorine pucks in your skimmer basket is the least expensive of the two options. It is easy to tell if you need more chlorine pucks in your skimmer basket. Since they dissolve, once they have disappeared just add more. Chlorine pucks also allow you to manually control how much chlorine is in your pool’s water. It is usually 1 chlorine puck for every 5,000 gallons of water. Discountpoolsupply.com offers a great deal on stabilized chlorine pucks.

There are some cons to chlorine pucks in your skimmer’s basket. If you opt for this method you will manually need to place the picks in your skimmer, frequently. Some pool professionals recommend minimum twice/week. Chlorine pucks can clog your skimmer basket, leaving no room for debris. If you don’t run your system often, you may be prone to the chlorine dissolving without proper circulation, thereby leaking into the pool, and potentially bleaching your liner. On the other hand, if your system is running this added amount of chlorine can corrode the entire system.

Automatic Chlorinators

Unless you can dedicate the proper time and care to your swimming pool, perhaps an automatic chlorinator is for you. Automatic chlorinators automatically distribute chlorine into your swimming pool, allowing for a more hands-off maintenance routine. By pumping chlorine into your pool instead of running through your filter first can prevent future system corrosion. If you plan on being away from your pool for an extended period of time, you can add a lot of chlorine at once and control it with a dial. This is also beneficial if you don’t have the time to continually monitor the flow.

An automatic chlorinator is a more expensive option. In fact, quite a bit more expensive. Compared to chlorine pucks, chlorinators can also require a bit more work to get started. For instance, you need to open a chlorinator which is sometimes unpleasant and quite difficult, plus full of chlorine gas. Please proceed with caution. Automatic chlorinators require general mechanical maintenance like replacing o-rings. It also requires general mechanical care like winterizing and preparing it for summer use, therefore adding more steps when you open and close your pool.   Note that no matter matter what method you opt to use, this does not replace adding chlorine into your pool regularly. Regardless of what method you choose, you will still need to do this. You will need to consider a variety of factors when consider whether an automatic chlorinator or putting chlorine pucks in your skimmer is the best option for you. A big factor in discerning is how much you’re willing to spend, and how much time and effort you can put towards proper swimming pool maintenance.