Should I close?

[Nod]

I am in the eastern part of NC, and have a new IG vinyl pool. The water temp is around 60-65 degrees. I am down to running my pump about 2 hours a day and don't even run the polaris cleaner. I have no leaves or debris I need to worry about. There are a couple of worms on the bottom and some sand I can see. Should I even bother with a full closing (blowing out the lines, etc?) or just leave it open? I have no main drain, and was thinking about draining below the 1 skimmer. Any thoughts?

 

[waste]

How cold can you expect it to get over the winter? If you'll have successive days below freezing, you probably should close the pool and protect the lines. If it's a few nights per year that get below 30* you could easily keep the pool open - just remember to run the pump when the temps will be that low - if you have a 'freeze protection' function on your timer that would be ideal

As you've experienced, the pump run time is greatly reduced with colder water as is the chlorine demand.

If you decide to keep the pool open year round, please remember to run the pump when the temps are below freezing!

Have a good winter, hope to still see you around during the cold months, but if not - we'll see you in the spring

 

[tcpiii]

I'm in Charlotte - pretty similar winters to yours. I kept my pool open one winter, and decided not to do it again. There were times when I had to keep the pump running 24 hours a day, and I worried about the possibility of losing electricity and then having to go out and deal with the pool in the middle of an ice storm. I sleep better with the pool closed.

I'll lower the water below the returns, drain the filter, and open up the pump. I personally don't blow out the lines - with my setup, if there's any pooling of water in the lines, it would be below frost level.

I'm still debating whether or not to cover the pool this winter - I like to sit out beside the pool on sunny winter days, and sitting beside the open pool is more pleasant than looking at the ugly cover. But dealing with debris is a lot easier with the cover on. And I did fall in one January day after slipping on some ice when when scooping out debris . . .

 

[Riles_J]

I will weigh in on the other side. I am in Nashville, which is probably pretty similar in temp., and do not close my pool. The pros are you get to look out at your pool water instead of a dirty cover and you don't have to fool with the closing/opening procedure. I will run my pump on nights where temps are forecasted to get below freezing and leave it on until it warms up. Thats about all there is too it. I have not had any extended power outages and I guess if I ever did, it could do some damage but it would have to be a very severe storm for these parts. I do not have a freeze protection timer, but would like to get one someday.

Riles