Are you thinking about converting your existing chlorine or bromine pool to a saltwater-based pool system? There are a number of benefits to a salt water pool but associated costs along with it.
And if you’re thinking of converting an existing salt system to another brand, I’ll talk about my experience below, too.
Chlorine To Salt Water Pool Conversion Cost
The cost to buy a decent salt chlorinator system retail is around $1,200 and up to start with. I’m talking about a decent system from Hayward or Pentair for example. Before you start talking about costs you need to figure out which one you need and that’s based on:
Pool size
The big determinant. The water volume that your pool holds will determine the size of chlorinator you require. Hayward for example designs 15,000 gallon rated cell systems for around $900. A 25,000 gallon rated cell system is around $1,200. A 40,000 gallon cell system is around $1,330.
Which size do you need? Confirm the size of your pool and look at pricing the next size up chlorinator if you have the budget. So if your pool is 15,000 gallons, I’d price both the 15,000 and next size up, probably a 20,000-25,000 gallon unit.
For a few hundred dollars extra cost, you’re probably better off with the larger system as it’ll pay for itself in no time as it’ll be better able to produce the amount of chlorine required for a larger pool and won’t wear out as quickly.
A 15,000 gallon system means it’s rated to serve a 15,000 gallon pool with the system running all the time. I only run my pump 8 hours a day if that, so I bought a larger rated salt cell that my pool requires and I think from memory it was an extra $150 or so.
Functionality you require
Many newer chlorinator systems have awesome and helpful features that you might use. Some have more expensive options like automated chemistry features, equipment automation or remote control operation through your smartphone. Maybe you need these features, maybe you don’t. Don’t pay for features you won’t use but don’t have buyer’s remorse by picking a model and then realizing the next one up would have been better.
Other costs
When we got our Hayward AquaRite system installed, we had to get an electrician to hardwire the system and install another power receptacle. I elaborate on that below. When I first spoke on the phone with the electrician before he saw our pool, he said it was either most likely going to be a $400 job or a $2,000 one if we needed to upgrade our house electrical panel.
Fortunately we had enough space to add a new fuse on the existing panel and it cost closer to $400 all in for certified electrical work.
Salt Water Pool Conversion Pros And Cons
| Pros | Cons |
| Less maintenance than chlorine pools. | Expensive up front cost ie. $1,200+ for a good system. |
| Offers automated systems to monitor salt, pH, water temperature, pump and more. | Salt cells usually need replacing every 3-5 years @ $300+. |
| Produces chlorinated water without the strong chlorine smell. | Salt water can damage and corrode certain decks, metal ladders, concrete and more. |
| Salt chlorinated-water is easy on the eyes. | Still need to use some chlorine to open and close pool typically. |
| Water chemistry tends to be easy to maintain. | Modern chlorinator systems require some getting used to along with some troubleshooting abilities on your part. |
With a salt chlorinated pool, you get several water-based benefits but you are paying for the convenience of a system that tends to be easier to operate with less water balancing than chlorine.
Converting From One Salt Water Chlorinator To Another
When we bought our house in 2006, it had a 3 year old salt water pool already installed. It’s 18,000 gallons in size and came with a first generation Lectrinator salt chlorination system. It was very basic. It plugged into an electrical socket built in at the back of the house, had a plastic dial from 1-10 for salt production and several lights:
- One green light indicated that the cell was on and creating chlorine.
- Another green light told me that water flow was good.
- It also had a dreaded red-colored check cell light. I saw that red light a few times unfortunately. It typically meant I needed to check out the price of a new salt cell because the old one was dead.
After buying two new salt cells in about 5 years of owning the house, we decided to switch to a more modern Hayward AquaRite salt chlorinator system. We had already replaced the pump a year earlier, switching to a Hayward Super Pump.
I bought the AquaRite system from our pool company and they referred me to an electrician who also happened to install the system themselves which was handy. He checked our house out and determined that we needed to add a receptacle from the back of the house and run it all the way out to the pool pump equipment since the AquaRite system – unlike the Lectrinator one – was hardwired. That was obviously an extra cost to us.
I was able to swap the old Lectrinator salt cell in with the new Hayward T Cell with no new piping from memory. I did have to build a small wooden structure to actually house the heavy AquaRite box which weighs about 23 lbs. The old Lectrinator box weighed maybe 5 lbs from memory. It hung from a screw attached to a wooden panel that had been built before we bought the house. I happened to have a wood panel that almost perfectly fit so I attached it onto the existing wooden structure so that the electrician could attach the new Hayward AquaRite box which is much bigger and heavier than the old Lectrinator system it replaced.
He gave me a crash course in operating the new system, and we were up and running. It did take a bit getting used to as the new AquaRite system has an LED display with multiple pages and settings which the old Lectrinator system didn’t.
Can You Convert Your Pool To Salt Water Yourself?
In our situation, the work wasn’t something I could do myself. The Hayward chlorinator system we bought is hard wired and needed an electrician to do this work. I’m not going to try to do something like this myself and run the risk of a fire due to faulty electrical work. I had no clue how to do this work and given the extent of the hard wiring and adding another receptacle outside out house through the basement that was needed, there was no way I could do this.
On a side note, I took a course several years ago and met a woman in my class who also owned a pool that had been built before she and her family bought the house. She mentioned that the previous year, their pool pump had caught fire and the fire department had to be called to put it out. The cause of the fire was deemed to be improper electrical work most likely done by the previous owner. She mentioned that insurance covered the damage – which was significant – since the shoddy work hadn’t been done by her or her husband and they weren’t held responsible.
If you’re handy and know your way around your pool and don’t require hard wiring – or you happen to be a certified electrician – then I suspect you could do the entire installation yourself. Given that the cost of the install is most likely a fraction of the cost of buying the actual chlorinator system and related equipment, it’s an expense I was happy to pay to ensure the work was done correctly.
Want to learn more? Check out my post on Average Salt Water Pool Installation to learn more about install costs.