To close or not to close?

[malcomtent]

Hi,

I'm a new pool owner. I'm trying to work out whether it would be better to close my pool, or just keep it under control (add chlorine, remove leaves) through the winter.

The pool is unheated and will remain that way for the foreseeable future. i.e. nobody is going to be swimming in there.
The pool gets a lot of leaves and at the moment I have no cover (considering getting one)
The pool doesn't get much UV (due to shade) this time of year
'Winter' here is mild average high/lows below

• June 9-17 (46-63F)
• July 8-17 (46-63F)
• Aug 9-18 (46-64F)
• Sept 11-20 (52-68F)
• Oct 14-22 (57-72F)
• Nov 16-23 (61-73F)

So, basically I'm trying to weigh up the FC needs over this period (where algae growth should at least be pretty slow). vs the pain of closing and then opening (a swamp?).

If anyone can give pointers on key things that I should think about to help me decide what to do? It seems like the previous owners just paid someone to keep it clean/balances all year round... they had more cash to burn than I do.

Thanks

 

[kimkats]

With those numbers I would NOT close. I would think about getting a cover to help with the leaves during the big drop times but I think you will make a LOT more work for your self seeing how your temps never get to freezing and are very close to algae growing temps.

Here in Florida I do not close. During the cooler/cold months I use about 1/4 of the chlorine I use during the warmer/hot months. I do have my pump on low for a couple/few hours each day to help with the skimmer of the surface of leaves as I don't even have a cover. (We have cats that love the pool and we are worried they will walk on the cover and get trapped so NO covers for us.)

Kim

 

[needsajet]

Welcome to TFP! Good to have you here

From what I've heard, most here just keep them open. If you adopt Trouble Free Pool Care (TFPC) then the pool is free of algae going into winter, so it's pretty easy to look after in terms of water chemistry.

I do four family pools, and one has no salt water chlorinator and is about the same size as yours. It's getting one litre of chlorine on Wed and Sat. I'm testing it every two weeks, and I suspect that after tomorrow's test, I'll be able to reduce that to once a week. But even at 2 litres a week, that's under $25 for the winter.

It has a suction cleaner that runs whenever the pump runs (3 hrs per day for now). The leaves eventually sink and get picked up by the cleaner. I go there every two weeks and brush the waterline to knock any stuck leaves into the water, and scoop the leaves that are floating while I'm there. The rest go to the skimmer basket so I empty that as well.

Some people here (not TFPers) let them go green in winter and then clean them up in spring. That works too, but I think it creates a risk of black algae the following year, which is a pain to get rid of. Plus a clean pool always looks nice. My backdoor neighbor covers his and lets it go green and swears by his method, but I hear him out there for a full day in spring getting it clean again.

Obviously I'm biased, but I can see both sides and respect the options. I think it's fairly easy keeping it open and not mucking around with the cover during winter, so that's my preference.

 

[malcomtent]

Thanks Kimkats - that makes sense.

I think I just need to work out the right level of chlorine and pump usage to keep things passable. Unfortunately my pump is single speed and no timer, so at the moment it is all very manual. But it should be pretty easy to address this.

 

[malcomtent]

Hi needsajet,

Thank you for your advice.

On balance, and taking into account what you and kimkat have said, I think I will keep it open.

It is nicer to look at (the living area of the house overlooks the pool) and I guess also gives me time to practice keeping the chemistry under control in "easy mode" (no swimmers, low UV). Now I just need to train someone else in my household to split the chores with me...

 

[kimkats]

Good luck with that Wait I have talked my husband in to brushing the sides of the pool. Everything else is no my plate to do.

Kim