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Comment by codingdave | Hacker News Reader

We take the general concept of heating people, not the space, to heart for our outdoor swimming pool. While most other folks heat their pool, we go ahead and swim in the cold water... but we buy everyone in the family a wetsuit. A few hundred dollars on wetsuits each year is far better than many hundreds on propane every month.

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As a swimming experience, you're getting what you pay for.

That seems like it entirely defeats the purpose of a pool.

Is that enjoyable?

Totally - in some ways, it is more enjoyable. Easy to stay warm, and the suit give you some extra floatation, so we can play games in the deep water more easily. It also protects us more from sunburn, which is a nice added bonus.

I understand the appeal of a swimming pool on a sweltering summer day but if you have to heat it...

In many places, even on a warm summer day the pool may be uncomfortably cold. Lots of thermal inertia, and if it's shaded at all it may not get enough solar energy to warm up. Without a heater the swimming season can be very short indeed.

Also, it's pretty darn awesome to fire up the pool once a year in the winter, like for Christmas, and host a swimming-in-the-snow party. Wouldn't want to keep it heated, but for a couple days it's not too bad.

Honestly that sounds awesome. I come from a cold climate I could absolutely see the appeal of that.

Swimming in a hot spring or heated pool while it's snowing outside is really, really nice. If you haven't tried it, you should. That being said, I would never do that with my own pool because it would be far too expensive and the not great for the environment.

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