Which Pool Cleaner is Best for You? — Suction Side, Pressure Side or Robotic?

Keeping a pool clean is no small task. Thankfully, today there are some great innovative tools that can make pool maintenance easier than ever before. You can buy a suction side, pressure side, or robotic pool cleaner, but the first step is to become familiar with each. Discover their pros and cons so that you can make the best possible investment in a pool cleaner that will help keep your pool sparkling clean.

Suction Side Pool Cleaners

“Suction side” refers to the pipes and fittings that bring pool water out to be filtered. A filter pump is literally sucking the water out of the pool. The cleaners attach to the suction side of the plumbing via a suction line. The cleaner is propelled throughout the pool by the suction. All the while, it is scrubbing the pool surface and getting rid of debris and dirt from your pool.

Pros of suction side pool cleaners:

• Lower cost
• Hassle-free maintenance
• Fewer moving parts

Cons of suction side pool cleaners:

• Requires pool pump to run
• Increases pressure on the filter

Pressure Side Pool Cleaners

Pressure-side pool cleaners attach to the pressure side or return of the circulation system in the pool. They are also sometimes referred to as booster pump cleaners. Water that is being pushed back into the pool is what propels these units. These cleaners are helpful in distributing clean filtered water throughout the pool. They have their own debris bag. This is helpful because it doesn’t compromise the pool’s filtration system. It doesn’t bring debris into the pool filter or the pump basket. When the bag gets full, the pressure still operates but it only stirs up the debris in the pool. Until the bag is emptied, no further debris is sucked up in the cleaner.

Pros of pressure side pool cleaners:

• Lower cost
• Easy maintenance
• Relieves pressure placed on the filtration system

Cons of pressure side pool cleaners:

• An extra booster pump may be required
• The pool pump has to run for it to work

Robotic Pool Cleaners

Robotic pool cleaners offer easy “plug-and-play” operation while delivering high-powered, superior cleaning performance. Robotic cleaners are run from power from your home, and they don’t utilize existing pool components. Using a robotic cleaner eases the amount of pressure placed on your pool equipment. These efficient devices do such a good job of scrubbing and cleaning the pool steps, pool floor, walls, and the water line, it often eliminates the necessity of cleaning your pool walls with a brush.

Pros of robotic pool cleaners:

• Superior cleaning
• Doesn’t add any wear on pool equipment
• Energy efficient

Cons of robotic pool cleaners:

• Upfront cost is higher
• The filter needs to be emptied periodically

Recommendation: Dolphin DX Series

At All Florida Pool & Spa Center, we recommend the Maytronics Dolphin DX Series for pool cleaning.  The DX series offers the range of pool cleaning options performed by high quality equipment.