For those that dont close and swim season is over

[mynewpool]

Do you find yourself testing less now vs during swim season. During sim season I would test everyday. Now that it is cold, I find myself just adding a big jug of bleach every 3 days or so. My temps in my pool have not gotten above 70 or so. I know under 65 or from what I have read algae does not grow as fast.

I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS TO PEOPLE NEW TO TFP IN THE EVENT YOU THINK THIS IS THE WAY TO GO.

 

[kal2002]

This is the first winter that we have to take care of the pool ourselves. I have been testing FC every day and PH once a week since the water temperature went down to 62 or 60 degrees. I want to get an idea how much chlorine the pool uses in the winter months. Chlorine usage has decreased but it depends on the weather. When it is sunny all day, chlorine usage is still about 1 ppm per day. When it was raining and cloudy, it was 0.5 ppm per day. I have been adding half a gallon of 10% chlorine every other day or every 2 or 3 days. When it gets colder and more rainy, I think I will test once a week and maybe use some chlorine tablets instead.

 

[LauleaHere&There]

I'm still trying to find that balance for myself. I've gone from swimming every day to swimming twice or three times a week, depending on the weather. Since I cover the pool when I'm not in it, or not planning to use it, I'm not running the pump and SWG as often either. At this point, I'm testing a couple times a week and seem to be doing ok.

I'll be interested to see what others have to say.

 

[Poolschoolgrad]

We don't close our pool.

I kept a notebook and then a spreadsheet listing water temps and test results for a couple of years.
With experience you will not need to test as frequently. I now only test every 2 or 3 weeks during the off season and adjust the SWCG accordingly. When the water temps are below 50 I turn off the SWCG and add a little bleach every week or use a tri-chlor floater for a couple of months. CYA levels have never been a problem as they are usually diluted with Winter rains. In fact, I usually need to add stabilizer each Spring.

 

[acroy]

I have a nice big gunite pool, do not 'close' it here north of Dallas. Under 70F CL demand seems to go way down. COmbination of less load, less temp, and less sunlight I suppose. I test maybe twice a week off season just to avoid surprises.

The pump runs 6hrs a day mostly for skimming action (lots of leaves). SWG is left on lowest setting and maintains 5-7ppm FC with no issue. Have to keep an eye on pH and manually dose a little acid once a week or so. During the 'season', with temps 80+ and heavy load, we run a homebrew auto acid dosing rig.

 

[DesertJon74]

1)I do test less. Probably once every 2 weeks. However, this is after about a year of obsessive testing so I feel like I "know" the chemical levels better now. That being said, it'll prob bite me in the behind one of these days.

2)I live in the southern california desert, with daily highs in the 70s and lows in the 40s/high30s generally this time of year. Water temp is currently around 50 degrees. I believe I read in several places that algae grows very slowly if at all below 50 degrees?? Can anyone verify this?

3)During the summer I use chlorox and a tablet or two in the floater to maintain FC as our water temps push 95 degrees, but during the cold season I put 2 pucks in the floater and let it be and they seem to last a few weeks. I've never had CYA over 40-50 ppm but I still watch it pretty diligently. I don't seem to build up CYA as fast as some others.

4)I run my pump 4 hours currently (down from 9 hrs at height of summer heat), although without knowing exact gpm yet I don't know how many water turnovers I'm getting, but the water still looks good . I'm considering dropping it down to 2 hours or even less when the water temp drops into the 40s. I figure the algae is not growing quickly, and if I vacuum weekly that should keep the debris to a minimum. I run a 2 hp pump so my power bills are not unsubstantial so if I can get away with it I will.

Has anyone in a warmer climate just turned off the pump completely during the cold weather? Is there any reason not to do this? Maybe I will make this a new thread as it could help save a substantial amount of $ in the long run.

 

[257WbyMag]

I will continue to test every couple of weeks as needed. Since I have had the pool now for some years, I have gotten fairly good at predicting what is needed. I just test though to make sure that I always have some FC in there because even with the pool water being cold, I never want to be without FC in there.

My pump run time is shorter for the most part. This is to run the baracuda so that leaves and stuff can be picked up off the bottom. The pump does kick on extra when the freeze guard turns it on. If you aren't closing your pool, then you are going to need the pump to run some in order to mix chemicals and such.