To Close? Or Not to Close?

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wjaneala

wjaneala

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LifeTime Supporter
May 17, 2015
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Cullman, AL
I know that some people in warmer climates leave their pools open year-round. What is the criteria for this decision? I feel like we could go either way, being in north AL. What are the pros and cons of doing a full close vs. leaving the pool open and using a mesh cover for leaves, etc.?
 
I would think in Alabama you could go without closing entirely but covering to limit chlorine loss and keep the leaves out. You'd only have to make sure that the pump was running when/if the temps dropped below freezing but it would even take quite some time at say... 20 degrees F to risk freezing. Looks like in your area, November through February would be the only times you'd usually be even close to a risk of this situation of being below 30s. You'd still want to likely circulate a couple hours per day and maintain at least some free chlorine levels during this time, perhaps using a Polyquat-60 algaecide to help keep things at bay if FC levels should drop. Any time water temps are below 60 degrees regularly, there's limited risk of developing algae. If you did do a full close by blowing out return lines and and air locking your main drain and skimmer lines then do so only when water temps are firmly below 60 degrees. You'd for sure want to think about a good algaecide with a full close. Perhaps more folks at your latitude/region can chime in with their thoughts.
 
The concern is mainly one of plumbing freezing, for your area I expect you would be ok most winters, it is that freak once in every 50 year winter that would be the only real worry, this assumes that you can keep the pumps running and the water flowing during prolonged freezes. Of course we had one of those once in every 40-50 year extended freezes winter before last and we had members as far south as Dallas TX and Atlanta GA with freeze damage to their pool plumbing, etc.

Ike

ps I know your climate fairly as I lived in Birmingham for 5 years back in the 80's
 
I think generally is to close where it isn't reasonable to expect you can keep things running without freezing. The only dance of staying open in the south is a significant amount of time without power. It takes a while of quite low temps for pool plumbing to freeze and burst, so generally it's a reasonable risk for more southern parts of the country.
 
I won't say we didn't have a few worries this past winter when it got so cold in Georgia, but we kept the pool running overnight on the coldest and record icy of nights and wrapped all the equipment under heavy tarps and moving blankets with a hanging auto light for a bit more warmth. We had no problems.

I just can't imagine the hassle of winterizing a pool. I feel sorry for folks who have to.
 
So YS, are you OTP? As you can see, I'm OTP North. What are your thoughts regarding the need for me to close my pool? I know the previous caretakers did, but they did a very poor job of it. Mo plugs in anything, the SWG cell was still in place, a plain old tarp that didn't even fit the whole thing. You get the picture.
I do plan to drain down the filter and stuff so I can completely remove the heater that is not working and I plan to ditch. But I'm wondering if I should just leave it down or keep it full through the winter.
 
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