83°F is the perfect temperature for a backyard pool.

For general swimming, lounging, and cannonballs, that’s your sweet spot. Any warmer and you start feeling like soup; any cooler and the initial shock turns people into whiners.

Lap swimmers like it colder, usually 78-80°F, because they’re working hard and overheating is the enemy. Therapy pools and seniors often want it at 86-88°F. But if you’re just hosting normal people who want to swim and float? 83°F. Set it and forget it.

Don’t go over 85°F unless you’re running a hot tub. That’s how you get a pool that feels like bathwater nobody wants to move in.

Your guests might still complain. That’s just what guests do.