It hasn't gotten real cold yet here in Pensacola, but tonight the low is forecast to be 32. We are not under a freeze warning though so I imagine it wont be 32 for too long. Anyway, this is the first time I have had a real cold night on tap with my pool. I normally run my pump in the day hours. Should I have the pump running tonight with this forecast? I know that you are supposed to run the pump on nights when its below freezing but I don't think its gonna be any kinda hard freeze tonight. Mine is a 2 speed that I run on low(I assume that is enough flow to combat a freeze?) Also the pool is not covered.
Low tonight 32....pump?
- Thread starter budysr
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If you think it might freeze the water in the pump. I would run the pump tonight to keep the water moving so It does not hurt the pump or pipes. Better safe the sorry.
There are two issues to keep in mind. First, the pipes won't actually freeze till somewhere in the mid to lower 20s in typical above freezing during the day weather. But second, the weather report isn't always right. Every now and then they can predict temps around freezing and it will actually get much colder. I think it is best to run the pump any time it is predicted to be below freezing so you are sure to catch the days when it is actually much colder than they predict. But if you want to live life right on the edge then you can wait till it is actually noticeably colder than that before running the pump.
So what you are saying Jason is that it has to get down lower than 32 before it can become a problem? This is what I thought if true. Basically, I guess a hard freeze warning is what I would need to watch out for. The weatherman has been wrong many times but I don't think it gets lower than probably 30 tonight(if that). We are too close to the coastline.
The pipes are under pressure. I can't imagine freezing to be an issue until around 28 or so and only if it stays that low for more than 8 hours. And if you have a 2 speed, then wouldn't you be running it in low speed all the time? If I had a low speed on my pump, I wouldn't worry about freezing until the it got so cold that I actually had to blow my pipes out with air and winterize.
Greetings--
My previous house's pool timer (Intermatic) had a thermostat unit option. I would it set at 30 degrees. It turns on the pumps at that temp. Now-- it very very rarely got that cold there (East Texas) but just in case eh---
My previous house's pool timer (Intermatic) had a thermostat unit option. I would it set at 30 degrees. It turns on the pumps at that temp. Now-- it very very rarely got that cold there (East Texas) but just in case eh---
At 32 degrees I wouldn't worry about anything freezing unless I had solar panels. BUT.. better safe than sorry. It will cost you a lot less to run your pump for a few hours in the middle of the night than to replace something if the weather is colder than the weather 'guessers' predicted.