"Closing" a pool in Southern California

[fengshui]

As the weather gets colder, I'd like to "close" my pool in Southern California. I've certainly noticed the reduced chemical requirements in the winter, but I'd like to run the pump less in the winter as well. Normally I target one full turnover a day during the summer. In the winter in Southern California, how low can I go on filtration? Will 1/4 a turnover a day be enough to circulate the chemicals I do add and to suck up the leaves and debris? I have a suction crawler that is always in place.

Currently I run filtration for ~16 hours at 15GPM if the solar isn't engaged. I'd love to bring that down to 3-4 hours a day, as our electric rates are pretty high.

 

[jblizzle]

It takes very little run time to circulation the chemicals, so 3-4 hour is likely plenty. Another option would be to split the run times up so that the pool circulations twice a day.

This may not keep the pool free of dirt and crystal clear, but if you maintain the FC, it will not turn green.

 

[Richard320]

We don't really close here. Chemical usage goes way down when the water cools down below 60. I run my filter about 2 hours a day in the off season, plus whatever it gets when I vacuum or pump the level down before a rainstorm.

pH is critical. Green can be removed easy enough with bleach, but scale is not so easy, and you probably have hard water.