The pool equipment worth buying in Australia in 2026

Every guide on this site is written for Australian pools and Australian shops. Prices are what we found at Bunnings, Clark Rubber, Pool and Spa Warehouse, Mr Pool Man, the makers’ own stores and Amazon Australia on the date above, in Australian dollars. We compare maker specifications, retailer listings and warranty terms; we have not installed this gear in our own pool.

How to choose

Start with the job you want done, not the product. Pool equipment solves four separate problems, and the cheapest fix is not always the obvious one.

• Water and heat disappearing. This is a cover’s job. The Northern Territory Government says up to 300 litres can evaporate from a pool in a day, and a solar bubble blanket also holds in the warmth the sun puts in during the day. See the solar pool cover guide.
• Leaves and dirt on the floor and walls. A robotic cleaner carries its own motor, filter and power, so it works with the pool pump off and does the walls and waterline that suction cleaners mostly miss. See the robotic pool cleaner guide, and the cordless guide if you never want to manage a cable.
• Dosing chlorine by hand. A salt water chlorinator makes chlorine from salt in the water every time the filter runs. See the salt water chlorinator guide.
• Water too cold to swim in. A heat pump extends the season, at a price. See the pool heat pump guide.

What each one costs

Buy in this order

Cover first. The Queensland Government says a properly fitted cover can stop up to 97 percent of evaporation and reduce the chemicals needed, and energy.gov.au says a bubble cover can cut heat losses from a heated pool by as much as 75 percent. A cover also changes what you need next: ABGAL recommends turning an automated chlorinator down by half once a cover is fitted, and fewer leaves land in a covered pool.

Then the cleaner. A robot saves the most weekend time for the money. The Aiper Scuba S1 at $799 cleans the floor, walls and waterline and is our overall pick. If you would rather never charge a battery, the corded Dolphin S 1000 is $1,699. Above-ground pools can get away with a $238 floor robot. The Aiper vs Dolphin comparison covers the two brands most buyers end up choosing between.

The chlorinator when the old one dies, or if you are converting. Size it on grams of chlorine per hour, not the pool size on the box: makers rate 25 g/h units for anything from 40,000 to 96,000 litres. The replacement cell is the real running cost, so read the cell warranty, not the headline one.

The heat pump last. It is the most expensive item and the one most affected by everything above. Fairland’s own sizing assumes the pool is covered and filtered at least 15 hours a day, and output falls as the air cools: its 13.5 kW unit makes 9.0 kW in 15°C air. Buy the cover, then size the heat pump.

Electrical work and safety marks

Robots and covers need no installer. Heat pumps and chlorinators connect to mains power next to water, so check the plug before you buy: some come with a 10 A plug, the Onga Pantera has a 15 A plug, and the Fairland is hard-wired. Any new outlet or circuit near the pool is work for a licensed electrician. Anything that runs on mains power should carry the Regulatory Compliance Mark (RCM), the electrical safety mark used under the Electrical Equipment Safety System; our research method explains what else we check.

The one trap

Buying the big-ticket item first. A heat pump on an uncovered pool pays to heat water that loses its warmth to the night air and its volume to evaporation, and a chlorinator in an uncovered pool works harder, because sunlight uses up chlorine. A cover costs a fraction of either and makes both cheaper to run, so it goes on before anything with a power cord.