Hi, we are new to the in ground pool community. We purchased our home in July and immediately converted it from a chlorine pool to salt water. Best decision I ever made. We've had no problems, but live in central Indiana and understand we must eventually shut down our pool for the season. It is a heated pool and we have an automatic pool cover. We have a pool guy and he will do the tasks when we decide it's time. I guess these are my questions- when do I have to close my pool? Does the heated pool water damage the cover? Is it bad to keep the heater st 90 degrees? Our pool is like a hot tub... which is nice when it's 60 degrees outside, but does it damages the heater by doing this? Any advice for a newbie? When can I reopen it? Thanks!
First timer- when do I have to close by?
- Thread starter wagsreed
- Start date
when do I have to close my pool?
I am North of you, have a heater and an auto-cover. I have closed as late as Thanksgiving. They key to closing late is to watch the weather forecasts. A few light freezes are okay as the underground piping will be fine. Just keep your pump running. About a week or slightly more before deep freezes that could affect your pipes, it is time to start the closing process. I also have exposed piping above ground that feeds my slide, so I let that trickle during the light freezes.
Does the heated pool water damage the cover?
Nope
Is it bad to keep the heater st 90 degrees?
Nope.
Our pool is like a hot tub... which is nice when it's 60 degrees outside, but does it damages the heater by doing this?
Nope.
Any advice for a newbie?
Yup!!!
-Buy a K-2006C or a TF100 testkit ASAP. That is the most important part of pool ownership.
-If you get that kit, we can help you close balanced and with great odds of opening clear and ready to swim, minus a bit of clean-up.
-You will need to tell your closer that you are doing your own chemicals if you go that route.
When can I reopen it?
I open April 15, tax day. It gives me something to look forward to on an otherwise bad day.
Glad you are still enjoying your pool!!!!
I am North of you, have a heater and an auto-cover. I have closed as late as Thanksgiving. They key to closing late is to watch the weather forecasts. A few light freezes are okay as the underground piping will be fine. Just keep your pump running. About a week or slightly more before deep freezes that could affect your pipes, it is time to start the closing process. I also have exposed piping above ground that feeds my slide, so I let that trickle during the light freezes.
Does the heated pool water damage the cover?
Nope
Is it bad to keep the heater st 90 degrees?
Nope.
Our pool is like a hot tub... which is nice when it's 60 degrees outside, but does it damages the heater by doing this?
Nope.
Any advice for a newbie?
Yup!!!
-Buy a K-2006C or a TF100 testkit ASAP. That is the most important part of pool ownership.
-If you get that kit, we can help you close balanced and with great odds of opening clear and ready to swim, minus a bit of clean-up.
-You will need to tell your closer that you are doing your own chemicals if you go that route.
When can I reopen it?
I open April 15, tax day. It gives me something to look forward to on an otherwise bad day.
Glad you are still enjoying your pool!!!!
Thank you very much for the information. We swam tonight and it was awesome! You could see h.the steam coming off the pool, very cool. It's 47 degrees outside tonight.
I do do have another question thoiugh, what do you consider a deep freeze?
Thanks!
I do do have another question thoiugh, what do you consider a deep freeze?
Thanks!
Fun!!!! I love swimming and jumping into and swimming in a hot pool. It's better than a spa and is totally the best!
Deep freeze is when daytime temps stay below 32 for a 2-4 days or so. It's not precise. Depending on the depth of your pipes (assuming your pump is still on) the ground itself will stay above freezing even though the top few inches of soil are frozen.
I don't push the envelope too far as it takes several days to get the chemicals ready for closing and heaven forbid a strong cold front moves in. It's not worth the gamble.
Deep freeze is when daytime temps stay below 32 for a 2-4 days or so. It's not precise. Depending on the depth of your pipes (assuming your pump is still on) the ground itself will stay above freezing even though the top few inches of soil are frozen.
I don't push the envelope too far as it takes several days to get the chemicals ready for closing and heaven forbid a strong cold front moves in. It's not worth the gamble.
Wagsreed, welcome to TFP!
For me, historically, heavy leaf traffic has caused me to close by the third week in October.
BUT this year, I am getting a Dome enclosure and I am going to TRY to just stay open
Which is sort of crazy in Michigan...but we'll see what happens. The dome doesn't ship til next Thursday or Friday.
Last year, a poster up in Hamilton, Ontario, stayed open using some thermal techniques, without a Dome, until Jan 11th.
In his case, with his equipment being inside a heated shed, he found that leaving the pump off as long as possible preserved temp, then would heat in full throttle bursts.
In my case, if I decide the snow-deflation-pump-off-dome-roof cycle and heat bill makes it too rough come Jan/Feb, I will either just keep the dome deflated and drop my heat (but to well above freezing) and move the water OR go ahead and blow out the lines but leave the dome on as my winter cover.
The issue is heat cost and viability of staying open has a lot to do with your tolerance for high gas bills. Essentially, if you have a 266 btu gas heater that's 80% efficient, for example, it can only use about 2.12 CCFs an hour...whch in my area, carries a cost of about $1.50. So if you can recover degrees lost in a short time right before you swim, (eg right now I run heater midnight to 8 am) and leave the system still the rest of the day. With this method, my gas cost averages $12/day.
Here is mdrejhon's thread about his winter experiment:
FAQ: Cheaply Keeping a Pool Hot -- 90F,95F,100F -- How we ran till Jan 11th in Canada
Here's my thread of the experiment if you're interested: Anyone Have a Winter Pool Dome - Ameridome or Others? - Page 2
For me, historically, heavy leaf traffic has caused me to close by the third week in October.
BUT this year, I am getting a Dome enclosure and I am going to TRY to just stay open
Which is sort of crazy in Michigan...but we'll see what happens. The dome doesn't ship til next Thursday or Friday.Last year, a poster up in Hamilton, Ontario, stayed open using some thermal techniques, without a Dome, until Jan 11th.
In his case, with his equipment being inside a heated shed, he found that leaving the pump off as long as possible preserved temp, then would heat in full throttle bursts.
In my case, if I decide the snow-deflation-pump-off-dome-roof cycle and heat bill makes it too rough come Jan/Feb, I will either just keep the dome deflated and drop my heat (but to well above freezing) and move the water OR go ahead and blow out the lines but leave the dome on as my winter cover.
The issue is heat cost and viability of staying open has a lot to do with your tolerance for high gas bills. Essentially, if you have a 266 btu gas heater that's 80% efficient, for example, it can only use about 2.12 CCFs an hour...whch in my area, carries a cost of about $1.50. So if you can recover degrees lost in a short time right before you swim, (eg right now I run heater midnight to 8 am) and leave the system still the rest of the day. With this method, my gas cost averages $12/day.
Here is mdrejhon's thread about his winter experiment:
FAQ: Cheaply Keeping a Pool Hot -- 90F,95F,100F -- How we ran till Jan 11th in Canada
Here's my thread of the experiment if you're interested: Anyone Have a Winter Pool Dome - Ameridome or Others? - Page 2