Freeze threat day by day.

[Pneuking]

So, those living in the South can relate and maybe help me here. In NW Louisiana the weather is all over the place. It can be 70 on day and 20 the next, then back to 70. I'm concerned that about the equipment freezing and cracking.
The panel has a temperature knob set at 38 degrees and that sounds reasonable, but what am I supposed to do to prevent a burst pipe otherwise. The main valve has an "open" setting, sand filter has a drain, and pump has a drain plug. I'm not supposed to do a full freeze protection drain play every time it's going to freeze am I?

 

[JVTrain]

When you know it's going to be below freezing, simply run the pump to circulate water. The only risk of freezing you have is narrow areas of your above ground plumbing if water is stagnant for a long time. Running the pump for about 20-30% of the time when it's below freezing (20+ degrees) is likely enough to prevent any problems. Obviously if it's colder (like below 0 degrees here today!) it takes less time for freezing to occur, but that's not likely in your location. If you're worried, you can simply run the pump all the time any time it's below freezing. Preferably on low speed if you have a 2-speed or VS pump.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

I'm here in Georgia and we have the same dilemma as the OP. One day warm, the next cold as the dickens! We run the pump at night on those bitter cold days (anything in the 40s is bitter cold to us! lol).

Skippy always puts a tarp over the pool equipment come winter, and with an hanging auto light on during freezes and the pump running overnight, we've never had a problem.

 

[ewkearns]

Yep, predicted low of 20°F tonight and then 22°F, tomorrow.... then back to 60°F during the day and above freezing temperatures for the next 10 days or so..... I don't worry, much, until the temperature gets down low and stays there for some time. Nightly lows, with decent daily highs are not usually a problem. Last winter we had a few dips down to 15°F and the palm trees and other tropicals were NOT happy, but the pool emerged unscathed. Keep the pump running and let the outside, unprotected spigots drip. Use heat tape and/or an incandescent bulb for heat.

 

[Isaac-1]

Here in Louisiana the only time you really have to worry are those very rare freak occurrences where the temperature gets down into the teens and stays below freezing for over 48 hours. Otherwise running the pump at night is usually enough, if you have a multi speed pump just run it on low. Putting a tarp over the pump and filter with an incandescent light bulb in a work light fixture will also work, but I would worry about the bulb burning out. If by chance you have an ice storm and a power outage, the best you can do without a generator is to drain the filter and pump basket and hope for the best. Again just covering helps some as the ground rarely freezes here and will often radiate enough heat to keep things from freezing.

 

[Pneuking]

any worries about the sand filter or should I put that to open when it gets down and stays cold for days?

 

[woodyp]

Gonna be an epic event around us if a "hard" freeze last for days. Only happened once in the 30 years or so I've been here (close to you).

 

[zea3]

Keep in mind your pool water is probably in the 50s or 60s, the frost line is very shallow, and only a small area of pipe is exposed above ground. If it looks like you will get an extended freeze (below freezing for 12 hours or more) you may want to take more strenuous precautions. If it is only going to be just below freezing for a couple of hours and the pump is running everything should be fine.

Think about how long it takes a tray of ice cubes to freeze. On average that's about 3 hours for maybe 1"x2" cubes sitting still in your freezer. Your pipes are at least 1 1/2" diameter, and warm (50-60 degree) water is rushing through the pipe. If you took a temperature reading on the pipe at that time it will probably be well above freezing. If you have extensive plumbing runs just hanging in open air for yards rather than inches you might want to wrap those pipes, but that is usually not the case with an inground pool.

If you have a solar blanket that will also help retain some heat in your pool.

 

[Isaac-1]

As Zea said, keep in mind this advice is for a typical inground pool in our region, there are exceptions, for example when we had that brutally cold winter a couple of years ago we had members in the Dallas TX area where their pools froze over and one that had freeze damage in the conduit feeding his pool light. However that was an exceptionally cold (once in 30-50 year) event, and the pool in question was built with a large stone retaining wall at the deep end so was not a typical in ground pool. On top of all that the DFW area is typically a few degrees colder than the Shreveport area. So if we have an extended freeze and you have any extended above ground plumbing runs where water may not normally flow (light niche conduits, water falls, etc.) you may need some extra measures, but most years simply running your pool pump at night is more than enough, and you would likely be ok without even doing that, but why chance it you never know when the low is going to be 5-10 degrees lower than forecast, or when the power may go out in the middle of the night.

Ike