Chlorine Generators; Residential vs Commercial – Part 1

While reading through a recent trade journal a headline caught my attention

“Make more money selling Salt Chlorine Generators”.  The article started off with,” Salt chlorine generators can be one of the richest revenue streams in a retail operation”

Obviously this pertained to residential pools but it got me to thinking that if these devices are now so hot in the residential market – I have heard that they are now the most popular residential pool product in US history – why is there so much resistance in the commercial market? We can look at that a little later; first why is it that these salt systems are so darn popular; well I read on and discovered that

• Home owners do not want to handle harsh toxic chemicals
• Salt systems are more “convenient”
• The water is “soft & silky” & does not feel like it has chemicals in it
• Don’t need to use swimmers’ goggles
• Don’t need to shower after use
• The system is automatic, and does not mess with the water chemistry like traditional chlorine does

Yes, I did find stories about some of the concerns about these devices, but they all centered around obvious errors that were done during installation and/or operations, and a couple comments about how expensive they were. Like a pool is a budget item. Right? It’s all about the comfort of the pool owner and their family in the water

So why the resistance in the commercial arena? In my next blog I will discuss why I believe these systems ECG (Electrolytic Chlorine Generators) are not as ubiquitous in the commercial market (yet) as they are in the residential market.