Do you need to cover the pool after all the leaves have fallen. I know that I will need to have a cover on in the fall but why bother in the winter?
Do you need a cover for the winter
- Thread starter 1380ken
- Start date
- Jun 22, 2014
- 47,798
- Pool Size
- 17888
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-45 Plus
Do you really need to have a cover? Not really. For the most part, it appears to be just a personal preference. Many folks in northern tier areas leave their pool uncovered with no ill effects to the water itself. As you stated, controlling the leaves is the biggest part, after that, it could go either way. Also following the TFP closing procedures page for your type of pool will help to reduce or prevent algae from growing anyways once temperatures are below 60.
What part of the country are you in? Please add your pool info to your signature by going to the top of the TFP web page (just under the Pool School button) and select "SETTINGS". On the next page look to the left for a menu bar that says, “MY SETTINGS” and go to "EDIT SIGNATURE" to enter your pool and equipment info there. It will help us later.
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Also, if you do live in a northern part of the country and are worried about excess water rising or overflowing in the pool after closing, some AG pool owners chose to disconnect their skimmer/return from the pump and simply use it as an overflow to let water drain away from the pool. Just a thought.
What part of the country are you in? Please add your pool info to your signature by going to the top of the TFP web page (just under the Pool School button) and select "SETTINGS". On the next page look to the left for a menu bar that says, “MY SETTINGS” and go to "EDIT SIGNATURE" to enter your pool and equipment info there. It will help us later.
- - - Updated - - -
Also, if you do live in a northern part of the country and are worried about excess water rising or overflowing in the pool after closing, some AG pool owners chose to disconnect their skimmer/return from the pump and simply use it as an overflow to let water drain away from the pool. Just a thought.
You don't need one but it helps emensly when opening the pool. It keeps it a lot cleaner.
When I see the damage done by snow and ice on a pool with a cover after a leak in the liner, I think I will pass on using a cover when I get a permanent AGP.
I prefer to keep my pool uncovered but I don't have a bad leaf problem. I like to see it clean year-round with no additional effort to officially "open" my pool in the Spring.
I don't have a leaf problem but I do have a pine needle problem from the neighbor's pine tree and I am not baby sitting a DE filter in the spring during a SLAM when I can cover the pool every year like I always have and open to this every April.
This will all come down to personal preferences but I've never had an issue with covering any of my pools or my brother's pool every fall.
For me, the only reason that I would even begin to think about not covering my pool is because a cover costs money.
Other than that, there is no reason not to. It takes me all of about an hour to winterize my pool. The cover keeps everything out of the pool. I take any water off the cover as it collects. I remove leaves from the cover as they collect. That really is not a big deal. 10 min a few times a week.
When I open my pool, it takes about 30 min to remove the cover, clean it, and store it. I honestly could open my pool, and not even SLAM it. I opened this year to clear water, with 1.5 PPM of CL and 0.0 CC. I SLAMed it anyway, just to be sure, but it passed OCLT with no issues.
Other than that, there is no reason not to. It takes me all of about an hour to winterize my pool. The cover keeps everything out of the pool. I take any water off the cover as it collects. I remove leaves from the cover as they collect. That really is not a big deal. 10 min a few times a week.
When I open my pool, it takes about 30 min to remove the cover, clean it, and store it. I honestly could open my pool, and not even SLAM it. I opened this year to clear water, with 1.5 PPM of CL and 0.0 CC. I SLAMed it anyway, just to be sure, but it passed OCLT with no issues.
Last year my cover for my 30' round pool (which was only 33' wide and really too small for the pool) kept coming off on one side. I had to go out almost every day to fix. Finally in early March we had a heavy wind that blew half of the cover off. I gave up and uncovered it. Once the water hit the 60's in April I filled the pool, which was clean and clear with only a few leaves at the bottom. Then the onslaught came. Not just from trees and bushes on my property but from trees that I didn't even know were around us! I put the solar cover on to try to slow the inevitable but by April 18th, the water was 68 and my patience was at 0! I climbed in the pool and started scooping out - not vacuuming at this point because of all the seeds, buckets full of maple seeds. Then came oak flowers, cherry and apple flowers, magnolia flowers, and flowers and leaves that I could not identify! I was going crazy trying to keep my pool clean like it had been when the cover originally blew off. It did start the swimming season early for me but I was spending almost an hour cleaning up before I could swim for the first few weeks. That experience alone makes me believe in a winter cover!
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